HòkSäan County 鶴山縣

Heshan also known as Hok San in Cantonese (Chinese: 鹤山) is a county-level city of Siyi prefecture administered from Jiangmen city in the southern part of Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China.

Heshan (鹤山) was decreed as a prefecture in the 10th year (1732) of the reign of Yong Zheng, the 3rd emperor of the Qing (Manchurian) Dynasty. By 1993, its administrative status was raised to that of a municipality. Its name which means 'Mount Crane' literally, was given to it because of a mountain within its boundary that closely resembles the shape of that bird. Situated about 60km south west of the provincial capital of Guangdong province, Guangzhou, it occupies a strategic location on the Pearl River Delta, commanding the northern gateway to Jiangmen's 5 prefectures. Along the opposite bank of the same river, lies the 2 municipalities of Nanhai and Shunde. It would take more than an hour approximately to get to Hong Kong or Macau from Heshan by road. 3000 ton vessels could dock at Heshan's harbour. Ships ply from here to Hong Kong directly. The total land area of Heshan is 1108.3 sq km and its local population is 360000. If the non local are included, it would be around 550000 persons residing within its border. People of Heshan origin or descent living in other parts of the world would also amount to around 360000. Heshan Municipality administers 11 towns. They are Yayao (雅瑶), Gulao （古劳）, Longkou （龙口）, Taoyuan （桃源）, Hecheng （鹤城）, Gonghe （共和）, Zhishan （址山）, Yunxiang （运乡）, Shuanghe （双河）, Zaiwu （宅悟） and Shaping （沙坪）.

Heshan is currently located centrally to one of China's largest furniture producing areas, within approximately 10% of the worlds furniture being produced on its outskirts.

Heshan is the birthplace of NBA player Yi Jianlian.

Heshan is also the birthplace of the Southern lion dance style known as the Hok San-style lion dance.

Translation of text extracted from 鹤邑海外联谊会出版联谊之声第15期

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heshan,_Guangdong