Guangzhou

Located near the South China Sea, Guangzhou has long been known as the "southern gate of China." As the alternate terminus of the Maritime Silk Road, Guangzhou has always been an important port city for China's foreign trade. During the Tang and Song dynasties, Guangzhou was a world-renowned oriental port with a special agency tasked with managing foreign trade matters. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Guangzhou was the only window for trade and cultural exchange between East and West. The thirteen trading houses ("the Thirteen Hongs in Canton"), the only legal institutions designated by the Qing government to specialize in foreign trade, developed direct trade relations with major countries in Asia, Europe, and the Americas. Guangzhou was the conduit for most Western technologies, industries, religions, and cultures to spread to China. Chinese artefacts, ideas, and culture also traveled from Guangzhou to other parts of the world.

Since ancient times, Guangzhou has been the political, economic, and cultural center of Guangdong and the wider Lingnan region (south of the Five Ridges). A gathering point for Western envoys, missionaries, and merchants to China, Guangzhou was a vanguard for welcoming Western civilizations and facilitating Sino-foreign cultural exchange and assimilation.

廣州

廣州，瀕臨南海，素有中國“南大門”之稱。作為海上絲綢之路的起點城市，廣州一直是中國對外商貿的重要港口城市。唐宋時期，廣州是世界著名的東方大港，開設了管理外貿事務的專門機構。明清時期，廣州是東西方貿易往來和文化交流的唯一窗口，廣州十三行作為清政府指定專營對外貿易的唯一合法機構，與亞洲、歐美主要國家都有直接貿易關系。西方的科技、工業、宗教和文化大多經由廣州向中國傳播。來自中國的器物、思想、文化等也通過廣州走向世界。

自古以來，廣州是廣東乃至嶺南區域政治、經濟和文化中心。廣州集散了來華的西方使臣、傳教士、商人等，成為中國接納西方文明的先行地和中外文化交流融合的樞紐。