Zhang lin gang, Zhanglin port
The chief port of eastern Guangdong before Shantou opened, with a garrison office set here in 1668.
Pronunciation zhāng lín gǎng｜Dialect and emigration｜One entry in the Chaoshan glossary
What it means
In the northeast of Chenghai, on the mouth of a branch of the Han river. Before Shantou opened to trade this was the main port of eastern Guangdong: goods gathered and dispersed here, and people got on and off ships here.
A garrison office was set up in 1668, and the standing of the port followed from it. The red-bowed ships sailed from here, north to Shanghai and Tianjin, south to Siam and Malaya.
When you see it
Busiest in the Qing. After Shantou opened in 1860 the weight moved there and Zhanglin fell back to a local harbour. Today the harbour area sits among old streets and apartment blocks, and is a long way from being the water it once was.
Words easily confused
Zhanglin port is the harbour, Zhanglin the place name, the red-bowed ship the vessel. When people write of the old port of Zhanglin they mean this stretch of harbour and streets together, not one channel of water.
Read next: Zhanglin port: where the red-bowed ships sailed from.
Same group: the red-bowed ship, going across the sea, drawn work.
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Last revised: 3 November 2026