China: Meizhou(梅州)

Guangdong Province Meizhou City(梅州市)

梅州市东部与福建省交界，南部与广东省潮州市、揭阳市、汕尾市毗邻，西部与广东省河源市接壤，北部与江西省相连. 据《光绪嘉应州志》，梅州是因本地有“梅峰”山、“梅溪”水而得名。


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Meizhou is located in the northeast of Guangdong Province, with Fujian Province in the northeast and Jiangxi Province in the northwest.

Meizhou ( 梅州) is a prefecture-level city of eastern Guangdong Province in the south of the People's Republic of China. It has an area of 15,836 km², and a population of 5.05 million. Meizhou is honored with the Hometown of Culture, Hometown of the Overseas Hakka Chinese(“世界客都”) and Hometown of Football

The name Meizhou comes from the Mei River and plum blossom (mei blossom). Meizhou was established as a prefecture named Jingzhou in the Southern Han (917-971). It was changed into Meizhou in the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) and Jiaying Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). After several subsequent shifts of jurisdiction, it became Meizhou City in 1988. Now Meizhou is a famous historical and cultural city.

The municipal government, Intermediate Court and CPC and PSB bureaux are housed in the district of Jiangnan (江南), on the right bank of Meijiang River.

A second district of Meizhou is Jiangbei (江北), on the left bank. The two urban areas are joined by many road and foot bridges.

Counties (县, xian)

1. Meixian (梅县) - Jiangnan(江南), Jiangbei(江北),
2. Dabu (大埔县) - 湖寮镇(Huliao),高陂镇(Gaopi),茶阳镇(Chayang),大麻镇(Dama),三河镇(Sanhe),银江镇(Yinjiang),光德镇(Guangde),桃源镇(Taoyao),枫朗镇(Fenglang),大东镇(Dadong),西河镇(Xihe),青溪镇(Qingxi),洲瑞镇(Zhourui),百侯镇(Baihou)
3. Fengshun (丰顺) - 汤坑镇, 汤西镇, 丰良镇, 龙岗镇, 汤南镇, 潭江镇, 小胜镇, 八乡山镇, 大龙华镇, 埔寨镇,砂田镇, 建桥镇, 北斗镇, 潘田镇, 留隍镇, 黄金镇
4. Wuhua (五华) - 水寨镇、河东镇、郭田镇、双华镇、棉洋镇、安流镇、梅林镇、龙村镇、横陂镇、华阳镇、周江镇、长布镇、潭下镇、岐岭镇、转水镇、华城镇。
5. Pingyuan (平远) - 大柘镇、仁居镇、东石镇、石正镇、八尺镇、差干镇、上举镇、泗水镇、长田镇、热柘镇、中行镇、河头镇。
6. Jiaoling (蕉岭) - 蕉城镇、广福镇、文福镇、新铺镇、三圳镇、南礤镇、蓝坊镇、长潭镇。

County-level city (县级市): Xingning (兴宁)

梅州市现辖六县一市一区，市政府驻地在梅江区。

* 市辖区：梅江区。
* 县级市：兴宁市。
* 县：梅县、蕉岭县、大埔县、丰顺县、五华县、平远县

Meizhou is considered the center for standard Hakka dialect, along with the neighboring Mei County and Dabu County.

Hakkas are a unique ethnic group of Han Chinese originally from around the Yellow River area, who later migrated south to avoid the chaos of war centuries ago. Due to hostility towards the new immigrants, many were forced into the mountainous regions of Guangdong. The migratory tradition has continued with the redistribution of Hakka people to the most remote parts of the world. Many people in Meizhou emigrated during the last century to earn money for their families, with some returning to build their hometowns.





Meizhou heritage buildings 粤东梅州客家人的房屋

在区内有很多古朴的客家民居，包括围龙屋、走马楼、五凤楼、土围楼、四角楼等，其中以围龙屋最有特色和最为著名，并与窑洞、四颗印、四合院有中国四大民居之称。



Meizhou mountain folk Song 粤东梅州客家人的客家山歌

梅州是世界上最具代表性的客家人聚居之地，而梅州客家山歌則是客家文化最具代表性的民間藝術形式之一，已經被列入國家級非物質文化遺產保護名錄。梅州的文藝工作者們正嘗試利用已有千年歷史的客家山歌素材，創作具有客家特色的通俗歌曲和藝術歌曲，讓客家山歌更具時代氣息、更易在民眾間流行。在電台工作的阿華，接觸了許多台灣的客語山歌歌手以及客語流行音樂歌手，本身就熱愛音樂的他，一直很努力在嘗試做出一些屬於自己的客家音樂；透過台內前輩的介紹，認識了在大陸的客家電台主持前輩，與同樣愛好客家音樂的朋友。