Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships participating in Guangzhou's foreign trade. Traders from the "Southern Sea", including Indians, Arabians, and most Europeans, were required to keep their ships at Pazhou while smaller craft ferried goods to and from the Thirteen Factories area of Guangzhou's western suburbs. Traders rented storage for ships supplies and repair shops on Whampoa Island. Images of the anchorage were a common theme in 18th-century art. With the expansion of Guangzhou, the subdistrict is now part of its downtown area, with many commercial and recreational facilities. The Guangzhou International Convention and Exhibition Center is the current site of the annual Canton Fair. Names The English, French, and Danish Whampoa and Swedish are irregular romanizations of the Chinese 黃埔 , "Yellow Bank". The name was used to refer indifferently to the island, its settlement, and its anchorage. Geography Modern Pazhou is an island in the Pearl River with an area of about . It lies upriver of the Humen Strait and historically about east of the walled city of Guangzhou proper, although Guangzhou has since expanded so greatly that Puzhou forms part of its city center. Since the Thirteen Factories—the ghetto assigned to foreign traders in the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries—was located in Guangzhou's western suburbs, the trip between the anchorage and the wharves at Jack-ass Point was about . Before modern dredging, the silt carried by the Pearl River made it shallow and unpredictable as far south as Macao, with large sand banks and swift currents impeding navigation from the Humen Strait on. Foreign ships usually depended on local pilots; the relative lack of wind also meant that most sailing ships required towing north from the strait. The main anchorage was off southeastern Pazhou. Southeast of this was Changzhou ("Dane's Island"). South of Pazhou was Xiaoguwei ("French Island") and southwest Henan ("Honam Island"). History The Baiyue peoples had settlements around Guangzhou since the Neolithic era, although the Chinese date the city to the foundation of Panyu by soldiers under Zhao Tuo during the Qin conquest. From then on, it formed a major port on the South China Sea, connecting its traders with Hunan and northern China via a network of canals. The port