Houjie

Houjie (厚街) is a town under the jurisdiction of Dongguan prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, southern China.

Geography

Houjie Town is located at the east bank of the Pearl River Delta, the middle section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen economic corridor. In the south it borders Humen Port, and in the north it links to the Dongguan city proper. There is a total area of 126.15 square kilometers under its jurisdiction, with a permanent population of 93,000, and more than 400,000 as a temporary population.

Economy

It is a town of old and prosperous business and trade, rich in products like Guancao (Dongguan Grass) and sausages renowned both home and abroad. Its industrial, commercial and trading enterprises were all set up and developed from traditional lines and are thriving and deeply rooted in Houjie Town. Throughout 30 years of reform and opening up, rural industrialization and urbanization were achieved, making the town a new modernized industrial town of the Pearl River Delta region. In recent years it has been successfully honored as a "Town of Hygiene in China", "Famous Town of Exhibitions in China", "Town with the Strongest Education in Guangdong", and a "Civilized Town of Dongguan City".

Dongguan

Dongguan (Chinese: 东莞) is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, China.

An important industrial city located in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the south, and the Pearl River to the west. It is part of the Pearl River Delta megacity with more than 44.78 million inhabitants at the 2010 census spread over nine municipalities (including Macao) across an area of 17,573 square kilometres (6,785 sq mi). Dongguan's city administration is considered especially progressive in seeking foreign direct investment. Dongguan ranks behind only Shenzhen, Shanghai and Suzhou in exports among Chinese cities, with $65.54 billion in shipments.

In addition to being an important manufacturing hub, the city has also earned a reputation as the "sex capital of China". It is also home to one of the world's largest, though largely empty, shopping malls, the New South China Mall.

History

Although the earliest traces of human habitation in the area stretch back 5,000 years, Dongguan's emergence as a true city is a recent phenomenon.

Mercure Hotels

Mercure Hotels is a brand of hotels run by French multinational corporation AccorHotels. The slogan is In Harmony with People and Places

Most Mercure hotels are positioned between Ibis and Novotel in the Accor estate. There is also a five star branch of Mercure hotels known as Grand Mercure with a chain of 10 Grand Mercure hotels in China under the Chinese brand name Mei Jue (美爵酒店 Měi Jué Jiǔdiàn). There are about 750 three to four-star Mercure hotels in Europe. In Australia and New Zealand, Grand Mercure Apartments is a growing 4.5 - 5 star short and long stay apartment brand.

History and expansion

Paul Dubrule and Gerard Pelisson founded Mercure in 1967. The first Mercure hotel was established in 1973 in Saint-Witz, France. Mercure Novotel was taken over in 1975 by Société d'Investissement et d'Exploitation, later the Accor Group.

In 1983, Mercure expanded into Germany. In 1993, Accor acquired a stake in the Hungarian Pannonia hotel chain with 24 hotels. The group also expanded into Poland, Asia, Turkey, and Africa. In 1994, hotels opened in the Caribbean, Guyana and Réunion. In 1995, Mercure established themselves in Spain, Sweden, Egypt, Oman, and Dubai, and opened a hotel in São Paulo, Brazil. In 1996, hotels opened in Berlin, Barcelona, Offenburg, Weimar, San Sebastián, Bari, Israel, Croatia, and Malta. In 1997, hotels opened in Estonia, Togo, Madagascar, Colombia, Egypt, Morocco, and Lebanon. In France, Accor acquired 33 Frantour hotels and rebranded them. The group also expanded the brand into the United Kingdom. In 1998, the ten hotels of the Dutch hotel chain Postiljon were acquired.