Shantou, also known as Swatow or Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong Province. Today the area is a scenic park but some of the structures are somewhat preserved from its earlier history.

Shantou, a city significant in 19th-century Chinese history as one of the treaty ports established for Western trade and contact, was one of the original Special Economic Zones of the People's Republic of China established in the 1980s, but did not blossom in the manner that cities such as Shenzhen, Xiamen and Zhuhai did. However, it remains eastern Guangdong's economic centre, and is home to Shantou University, a member of the Project 211 group.