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Geographic Location】Shantou, a city in the east of Guangdong Province, is situated in the south of the Hanjiang River Delta, adjacent to Raoping County, Chaozhou City to the northeast, next to Chaoan County, Chaozhou City to the north, next to Puning County, Jieyang City to the west, bordering on Huilai County, Jieyang City to the southwest, and facing South China Sea to the southeast. Shantou City is situated between longitudes 116°14’40"E to 117°19’35"E and latitudes 23°02’33"N to 23°38’50"E, 187 nautical miles to Hong Kong, and 160 nautical miles to Gaoxiong, Taiwan. Shantou City has been an important traffic pivot in the East Guangdong, South Jiangxi and Southwest Fujian region. It is an import and export port, a commodity distribution center, known as the "Communication Center of South China and Gateway of East Guangdong".
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Topography】 Topographically, Shantou is composed of primarily delta alluvial plains accounting for 63.62％ of the area of the entire city, secondly hilly mountains accounting for 30.40％ of the land area, and thirdly tablelands accounting for 5.98％ of the total area. Shantou City is located on coastal alluvial plains, in between the Lotus Mountain in East Guangdong and South China Sea. Its topography tilts from the northwest to the southeast. From the northwest to the southeast, its terrains are in turn medium and low mountains – hills, tablelands or terraces – alluvial plains or marine plains – sand banks and sea cliffs before the costal frontline – islands. There are the Lotus Mountain to the northeast, the Sangpu Mountain to the northwest, and the Danan Mountain to the southwest. At river outfalls along the southeast coast, there is the distribution of alluvial plains or sea plains and marine erosion topography as well as sea bays and islands. The midstream and downstream of the Hanjiang River, Rongjiang River and Lianjiang River pass through the city; the alluvial plain formed at the outfalls of these three rivers is the largest plain in East Guangdong. Shantou is situated near to the sea, prosperous because of the sea; its downtown and subordinate counties (districts) are all close to the sea. Shantou has a zigzag coastline and many islands.There is a mainland coastline of 217.7 km, an island coastline of 167.37 km and 82 islands of different sizes.The largest island is the Nanao island, whose western peak has an altitude of 587m, being the highest peak in Shantou. The Nanao island is the only island county in Guangdong province; around the island there are the Nanpeng archipelago, Lemen archipelago, Feng island and Hu island.
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Climate】Shantou City is situated along the southeast coast of Guangdong province; its coastline goes from the northeast to the southwest; Shantou is a subtropical zone, located in between the low atmospheric pressure zone of the equator and high atmospheric pressure zone of subtropical zone, at the southern edge of northeast trade wind zone. Shantou City is situated at the southeast end of the Eurasia, the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, close to the South China Sea. Shantou has frequent northward wind in winter and southward or southeast wind in summer, which is provided with obvious characteristics of monsoon climate. The north tropic passes through the north of Shantou City. The city is in a marine climate of south subtropical zone. It is warm and humid; it has sufficient sunlight, an adequate rainfall, and a long frost-free period; in Spring, it has a damp weather and many rainy days; in the early summer, the air temperature rises, and changes a lot, and there are rainstorms from time to time; in midsummer, although the air temperature is high, there seldom are severe heats, and the city is often attacked by typhoons; in autumn, the climate is cool and dry, the sky is clear, the air temperature drops significantly; in winter, there is no severe cold but short term chillness. The annual sunshine time is 2,000-2,500 hours; The shortest sunshine time is in March. The annual rainfall is 1,300-1,800mm; most of the rainfalls happen in between April and September. The annual mean air temperature is 21℃-22℃; the lowest air temperature is above 0℃; the highest air temperature is 36℃-40℃, mostly happens in between mid July and early August, when the climate is controlled by the high atmospheric pressure of subtropical zone of the Pacific Ocean. In winter there are short frosting periods occasionally.
Source:General Office of Shantou Municipal Government