Why it looks like this

Jieyang is one of the three cities of the Chaoshan region, home of the Teochew people. Its old core grew on flat land threaded by the Rong River's channels, around a Confucian temple complex founded in the Song dynasty — one of the largest in the province.

The modern city spread across the delta plain in broad blocks, with jade-working and manufacturing towns merging into it — a dense, water-crossed carpet typical of this crowded corner of Guangdong.