Zhuhai is the name of a city, and Special Economic Zone (SEZ), in Guangdong Province, China. The name means Pearl Sea; Zhuhai is where the Pearl River flows into the South Sea. Zhuhai is known for its beautiful long coastline, waving palm trees, open spaces, low population density, and its many islands; Zhuhai’s nicknames are the city for lovers and the city of a hundred islands. Zhuhai serves as the gateway to Macau, as a tourist destination for Chinese, and as a playground for hedonistic Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan visitors who come for Zhuhai's very colorful nightlife and available female companionship at mainland prices. Located in the Pearl River Delta, Zhuhai borders Jiangmen to the northwest, Zhongshan to the north, and former Portuguese colony Macau to the south. By sea, former British colony Hong Kong and Shenzhen are just across the bay to the east. The provincial capital Guangzhou is about 150 km to the north. The Zhuhai area has been inhabited for thousands of years. Until the 1970s, Zhuhai was a group of fishing villages with a population of around 100,000. Since 1980, when it was designated a Special Economic Zone by the central government, Zhuhai has expanded to include nearby areas and is now a fast-growing modern city with well over a million inhabitants. However, it is still not as large and developed as neighboring cities like Shenzhen and Guangzhou. Zhuhai's northern districts of Jinding and Tangjia, as well as the western district of Doumen, are less developed factory-driven areas that retain a deeper working-man, salt-of-the-earth quality. Zhuhai is one of China's cleanest and prettiest cities, and received numerous accolades for its excellent ecological development efforts. In 1998, it was awarded the International Award for Best Practices in Improving Living Environment by the United Nations Center for Human Settlements. It is also commonly agreed to be one of the best cities in China to retire in. With a low population density compared ...