Location: Nanyang 🌎

Nanyang (Chinese: 南洋; pinyin: nán yáng; lit. ‘Southern Ocean’) is the Chinese term for the warmer and fertile geographical region along the southern coastal regions of China and beyond, otherwise known as the ‘South Sea’ or Southeast Asia. The term came into common usage in self-reference to the large ethnic Chinese migrant population in Southeast Asia, and is contrasted with Xiyang (Chinese: 西洋; pinyin: xī yáng; lit. ‘Western Ocean’), which refers to the Western world, Dongyang (simplified Chinese: 东洋; traditional Chinese: 東洋; pinyin: dōng yáng; lit. ‘Eastern Ocean’), which refers to East Asian cultural sphere and occasionally including the Greater India, and Beiyang (Chinese: 北洋; pinyin: běi yáng; lit. ‘Northern Ocean’), which refers to Russia. The Chinese press regularly uses the term to refer to the region stretching from Yunnan Province to Singapore (north to south) and from Myanmar (Burma) to Vietnam (west to east); in addition, the term also refers to Brunei, East Malaysia, East Timor, Indonesia and the Philippines in the region it encompasses.The alternative term, “Great Golden Peninsula”, came into common usage due to the large number of Chinese migrants – attempting to escape the reach of the oppressive Manchu Emperors – it received. The Chinese, especially those from the southeastern seaboard, also ventured to the region to engage in trade. The Nanyang was extremely important in the trading business and one of China’s main trading partners in early years; it encompassed three main trading routes: one through Myanmar (Burma), one through Vietnam and lastly one through Laos.