Why it looks like this

The county of Xiangshan took the name Zhongshan in 1925, after the death of its most famous son: Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan), founding father of modern China, born in Cuiheng village on the county's edge. His former residence is now the city's shrine.

The map is classic western Pearl River Delta: a federation of manufacturing towns — each specialized, one in lighting, another in appliances — spread among fish ponds and waterways, gradually fusing as bridges and the Shenzhen–Zhongshan link pull the delta's two shores together.