Foshan, which “was founded in Jin Dynasty and was given the name in Tang Dynasty “, is a famous cultural city with a long history. As early as in Qin and Han dynasties, this was already a considerable inhabiting village of people engaging in agriculture and fishery. At the Zhenguang Second Year of Tang Dynasty (A.D. 628), three Buddhist figurines were dug out at Tapogang in the city, hence the city was named ¡°Foshan¡±. In the Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, Foshan was already famous for handicraft, commerce and culture, which was an important trade port in Southern China. In the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, it evolved into an economically developed town in Lingnan area, which together with Hankou Town in Hubei, Jingde Town in Jiangxi and Zhuxian Town in Henan were listed as Four Famous Towns in China. It was also the biggest commodities terminal, listed as one of the ¡°Four Terminals¡± (Beijing in North, Foshan in South, Suzhou in East and Hankou in West). From the old, Foshan has been enjoyed the reputation as ¡°Guang Yard Center¡±, ¡°Southland Ceramic City¡±, ¡°Cradle of Lingnan Medicainal Materials¡±.
¡¡¡¡After establishment of the People¡¯s Republic of China, the Foshan City (the current city proper) was set up on January 12, 1951. In 1958, the Foshan Administrative Region was established, governing 3 cities of Foshan, Jiangmen and Shiji and 13 counties like Zhongshan. In 1970 Foshan Administrative Region was renamed Foshan Prefecture, governing 14 counties (cities); In June 1983 the system of City Leading County (City) was implemented
¡¡¡¡Foshan Ctiy governs Chancheng District ,Shunde District, Nanhai District ,Sanshui District and Gaoming District. The total area is 3813.64 square kilometers, where the city proper area is 153.69 square meters. The total population of the whole city is 3.3585 million, including city proper population of 0.8008 million. Foshan is a famous homeland of overseas Chinese, with more than 1 million living overseas, including 0.6 million living in Hong Kong and Macao.
¡¡¡¡In recent years, due to its rapid economic development, Foshan has been assessed as one of the Top 50 City of Overall Strength in China, Top 10 City of Social Economic Development Level, Top 40 City of Investment Hardware Environment and one of the Top 36 Cities of Well-being Level. Besides, Foshan is awarded the titles of ¡°Sate Historical and Cultural Famous City¡±, ¡°State Sanitation City¡± and ¡°Double-Support Model City¡±. These are the unsual advantages of Foshan to develop tourist industry.