Nanhai District

Nanhai 南海区
District
Skyline of Guicheng CBD
Coordinates: 23°05′46″N 113°08′34″E / 23.09611°N 113.14278°E / 23.09611; 113.14278Coordinates: 23°05′46″N 113°08′34″E / 23.09611°N 113.14278°E / 23.09611; 113.14278
Country	China
Province	Guangdong
Prefecture-level city	Foshan
Area
• Total	1,074 km2 (415 sq mi)
Population (2010 Census)
• Total	2,588,844
• Density	2,400/km2 (6,200/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Website	http://www.nanhai.gov.cn/

Nanhai District, is a district of Foshan, Guangdong, China. Its government is the first to have developed e-government informatization at the county level in China.

The town was established in 1271 by two brothers carrying their father's bowls. They were fleeing south from the Mongols on a bamboo raft when a violent storm shipwrecked them and broke all the bowls. The brothers settled down there and the position of the wreck is commemorated by a shrine. This area was named Broken Bowls Point. 15 February 1921 eastern part of Nanhai County was ceded to the newly established City of Guangzhou which became part of what is now western part of Liwan. On 26 June 1951 Foshan Town (present Chancheng) was ceded to the newly established City of Foshan. Nanhai County was upgraded into a county-level city on 2 September 1992 until 8 December 2002 Nanhai was consolidated as a district of Foshan.

Nanhai was a county-level city until December 8, 2002, when it became a district of Foshan prefecture-level city.

Nanhai was designated by the central government as a pilot city for e-government and informatization in 2001.