Lying in the middle and
lower reaches of the Hanjiang River of Guangdong Province, Chaozhou is a famous
national historical and cultural city in South China. It is higher in the north
and lower in the south with hills and mountains covering 65% of the whole city,
mostly in the north of Raoping and Chao'an counties. North of the city are
mainly mountains, while the middle are hills and the Hanjiang alluvial plain.
Starting from Fengshun County, the Hanjiang River runs to the sea via Chao'an
County. The Huanggang River runs through the whole county of Raoping from north
to south.
Hills here are not tall
but marvelous; rivers are not surging, but with beautiful scenery. With Jinshan
Mountain in the north, the Penholder Mountain in the east, the Calabash Mountain
in the west and the Hanjiang River in the south, Chaozhou is a city surrounded
by three mountains and a river. The well known historic sites are the Xiangzi
Bridge, which is a key cultural relics site under the state protection and one
of the top four ancient bridges, the other three are the Zhaozhou Bridge, the
Luoyang Bridge and the Lugou Bridge; the Xu's mansion of the princess's husband,
which is a rarely seen mansion architecture of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and
one of the Three Treasures of the ancient architecture of Chaozhou; the Kaiyuan
Temple in Chaozhou, which is one of the only four extant Kaiyuan temples in
China and one of the big four temples of Chaozhou; the Hanwengong Memorial
Temple which is the oldest and best preserved one in China; the Thai-style
Buddhist temple with the largest land area of the like in China; the Beige
Buddhist Lantern which originated in the Song Dynasty and being one of the eight
major scenic spots of Chaozhou; The relics of the imperial kiln of the Song
Dynasty, which is called the Village with Hundreds of Kilns; the Huanggong
Memorial Temple, which is famous for its wooden carvings; the Jinsha Congxi
Memorial Temple, which is claimed as the Number One in the south of the Qingling
Mountain area; the Guangji city tower, which is as famous as the Yuexiushan
Building of the Five Ram City; the Ganlu Temple with a stone carving the Smiling
Buddhist carved 16 meters deep the granite rock; the group of stones eroded by
the ancient sea with a lot of stones like eagles, dogs, dragons and phoenixes;
others like the Phoenix Pagoda, the Confucius Temple, the Wangda Tomb and the
Lindaqin Tomb, etc.
With a coastal line of
136 kilometers, Chaozhou is located in the subtropical zone with a subtropical
oceanic climate. With an average annual temperature of 21.4oC, Chaozhou has a
long summer and a short winter. No snow can be found here throughout the whole
year. Chaozhou is a city with mild climate and abundant rain.