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Even if you've never been to China but you have been to Chinatown, Guangzhou should strike a familiar chord. That's because so much overseas Chinese culture is the legacy of immigrants from Guangzhou—formerly known as Canton—and the surrounding Guangdong Province countryside.

Located at the apex of the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou forms a golden triangle with financial powerhouse Hong Kong and upstart Shenzhen. The Delta has become the world's factory floor and recent years have been prosperous. The city has experienced its share of growing pains—namely pollution and congestion—but today is settling into a new phase of its life as a 21st-century Chinese metropolis complete with a well-manicured riverfront, renovated colonial buildings and flashy high-tech skyscrapers.

Beneath the ranks of new glass and steel towers, the famed port retains its soul, and it isn't hard to find the pulse of traditional Cantonese culture in steamy dim sum eateries, bustling markets and ancient streets.

Setting aside the story of the five immortals who long ago descended upon the site of Guangzhou on rams and planted sheaves of grain in the name of peace, the city's history begins some time in the 3rd century B.C.

Originally known as Panyu, the city quickly became a key trading center, with visiting merchants arriving from distant lands as far-flung as Rome showing up in the historical record as early as the 2nd century A.D.

By the 8th century, Middle Eastern traders had established themselves in Guangzhou, and by 1511 the Portuguese were a major factor, though they would soon be displaced to nearby Macau, where their influence is still strongly felt.

Ships from around the world followed and throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, Dutch, English, French, American, Danish, Swedish and Australian flags could be seen flying above trading vessels in the harbor.

Foreign influence helped make Guangzhou a focal point of change in Qing Dynasty China, as commercial, social and political pressures from abroad combined with the imposition of military force to wrest one concession after another from a weakening Beijing.

Today, capitalism has returned to this city of savvy entrepreneurs and traders in a major way, sheparding a healthy portion of the world's consumable goods out of Guangdong's factories and down the Pearl River to the sea.