GBA city guide
Jiangmen is a place to explore the Guangdong roots of Chinese New Zealand history, from Kaiping's fortified village towers to Taishan's overseas-funded market buildings. Its manufacturing towns tell another story: Shuikou makes bathroom fittings, while Xinhui is home to Vinda paper factories.
Jiangmen sits on the western side of the Pearl River Delta. It covers Pengjiang, Jianghai and Xinhui districts and four county-level cities: Kaiping, Taishan, Heshan and Enping. Wuyi, meaning 'five counties', is the historic regional name you will encounter in museums and family histories.
Living & visiting
Changdi and Xuding are part of the old commercial city. Their arcaded shopfronts combine Chinese relief decoration with Western columns; food shops and cafés now share the streets. The Jiangmen Wuyi Overseas Chinese Museum is also in Pengjiang, at Wuyi Overseas Chinese Square.
Xinhui is known for chenpi, dried and aged citrus peel, and as the birthplace of Liang Qichao. Born in Chakeng village in 1873, Liang took reform ideas abroad after the failed 1898 reform movement, publishing Chinese-language newspapers and founding schools for overseas Chinese. His former home and nearby Guifeng Mountain offer cultural and outdoor stops in the district.
Chikan in Kaiping has a large ensemble of arcaded buildings, while Taicheng, Taishan's urban centre, has its own historic shopping streets. Their shop-houses provide a contrast to the rural tower villages and the purpose-built market square at Duanfen.
Jiangmen railway station is in Xinhui. Jiangmen East is a separate station in Jianghai, at the junction of Wuyi Road and Donghai Road. China Railway publishes train services, and Zhuhai Airport's operator lists Jiangmen coach connections. Kaiping, Taishan, Heshan and Enping have their own local centres beyond central Jiangmen.
The January 2026 guide lists work and residence-service windows and their addresses. Enquiries: Jiangmen +86 750 12367; Taishan +86 750 5520 590; Kaiping +86 750 2208 210 or +86 750 2208 217; Heshan +86 750 8820 980; Enping +86 750 7710 189.
Jiangmen Central Hospital's appointment hotline is +86 750 3332 333 for first-patient record enquiries with a passport. Its 2024 guide describes mainland-ID online authentication and a first-floor service window in the Outpatient North Building for specified permit or passport holders. The main campus is at 23 Haibang Street; the hospital also has a separate new east campus.
Siyi means the four historic counties of Xinhui, Taishan, Kaiping and Enping, now within Jiangmen. Te Ara records Siyi among the home regions of early Chinese migrants to New Zealand, alongside Panyu, Zengcheng, Dongguan and Zhongshan. For families with roots here, the villages belong to a New Zealand story too; Guangzhou's Panyu and Zengcheng connect other families to the region.
Inscribed on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 2007, Kaiping's diaolou are multi-storey defensive buildings: some were shared refuges, others family homes or watchtowers. Overseas migrants sent money home to build them, and returning emigrants brought architectural influences that mingled with local traditions. The result is village architecture shaped by both insecurity at home and lives abroad.
In Duanfen, Taishan, overseas Chinese and their families established Meijia Dayuan in 1931. Its 108 arcaded buildings form a rectangle around an open trading space. The individual façades mix Chinese and overseas influences: migration financed a place for everyday commerce as well as the better-known fortified towers.
Business & industry
Pengjiang has a motorcycle and components cluster; Taishan specialises in automotive parts. The municipal cluster list also identifies stainless steel in Xinhui, engineering equipment in Heshan, and electronics in Jianghai. For a business visitor, the town name helps distinguish these different supply chains.
Shuikou's bathroom industry grew out of local metalworking: a workshop began making taps in 1958, followed by a specialist factory in 1965. Today the cluster covers components, assembly, design, testing and distribution, with manufacturers including Huayi. It is a town built around the parts and processes behind bathroom fittings.
Pengjiang makes televisions, air conditioners, fans, rice cookers, coffee machines and bread makers. Tangxia and Pengjiang Industrial Park are among its production locations, supported by suppliers of motors, metal parts and packaging.
Vinda lists paper production bases in Huicheng, Shuangshui and Sanjiang, all in Xinhui.
Pengjiang for motorcycles; Taishan for automotive parts
Shuikou, Kaiping
Pengjiang, including Tangxia and Pengjiang Industrial Park
Population: 4.829 million
Land area: 9,535 km²
2025 GDP: RMB 429.391 billion (approx. NZ$102.9 billion)
NZD conversion uses the same-year SAFE annual average.
Tell NZGBA whether you will be in central Jiangmen, Kaiping or Taishan, and when. Ask about community or WeChat introductions and announced meetups that could fit your visit to the western GBA.