Dongguan, China

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Dongguan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. Founded 331 A.D. Coordinates: 23°2′N 113°43′E
An important industrial city located in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the south, and the Pearl River to the west.
It is also home to the world's largest, though mostly empty, shopping mall, New South China Mall. City administration is considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment. The three neighboring municipalities of Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Shenzhen are home to over 25 million residents, accounting for a large proportion of the Pearl River Delta Region's population.
Dongguan ranks behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports among Chinese cities, with $65.54bn in shipment.
The climate of Dongguan is humid subtropical. It lies south of the Tropic of Cancer. The average temperature is 22.8 °C (73.0 °F) throughout the year. The average rainfall is 1,756.8 millimetres (69.17 in).
Dongguan had 6,949,800 inhabitants at the end of 2008, among which there are 1,748,700 local residents and 5,201,100 permanent migrants from other parts of the country.
Dongguan is also a known hometown for many overseas Chinese, the root for over 700,000 people in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau and over 200,000 nationals living abroad.
Many foreign travelers to Dongguan fly into Hong Kong, which gives visa on arrival to citizens of over 170 countries. After landing, visitors must apply for a visa to enter mainland China.

One can travel from Hong Kong to Dongguan by bus, ferry, or train. Passengers travelling overland must disembark from their transport at the Hong Kong/China border to go through customs and immigration, except for those traveling on the Mass Transit Railway intercity services (former Kowloon-Canton Railway) from Hung Hom Station to Dongguan, Guangzhou and beyond.

Depending on the time of day, using the ferry may be the most convenient way to travel from Hong Kong, as it allows one to avoid long queues at the land border checkpoint between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Dongguan serves as one of the regional railway hub in Guangdong, where Guangzhou-Kowloon Railway, Guangzhou-Meizhou-Shantou Railway and Beijing-Kowloon converge.

Rail services in and out of the city call at Dongguan railway station where there are direct train services to Guangzhou East railway station in Guangzhou; and Hung Hom Railway station in Hong Kong.

The Humen Pearl River Bridge is a suspension bridge over the Pearl River. Completed in 1997, it has a main span of 888 m.

Twin towns — Sister cities Dongguan is twinned with:

Hartford, Connecticut, United States since (March 5, 2001)
Thessaloniki, Greece since (October 24, 2008)

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