The name Dongguan translates to "East Grass", "Dong", because the area is east of Guangzhou and the Pearl River, and "Guan", after the "guanaco" grass that grew in the area.
Dongguan is located about half way between Hong Kong and Guangzhou, 23 North Latitude, 114 East Longitude if you are going by lat/lon or about 30km south of Guangzhou on the Guang-Shen expressway if you are going by highway.
Dongguan is a city of prefecture level, and has a collection of other smaller cities within, so you may hear of areas of Dongguan like Humen, Changping, Dalan, Dalinshan, etc mentioned as being in Dongguan. In addition, there are districts of Dongguan that correlate to the old villages that existed in the past. So within Dongguan you have Dong Cheng, Fu Cheng, Dao Jiao, etc.
Being an industrial manufacturing base for such industries as footwear, furniture, computer parts and all sorts of other items, most of the population is transient migrant workers, so getting a handle on the population count is not particularly easy. Average figures are about 1.8 million permanent residents, and another 6 to 7 million migrants workers working in the area#s factories and offices
Historically Dongguan dates back to the the Zhide Reign of Tang Dynasty (757). Some say China#s history starts in this area. Humen, a southern city in Dongguan, the opium wars took place, and during World War II against Japan, Dongguan was a base of the resistance forces in the East River Basin area.
Dongguan is a city of contrasts, with modern glass and concrete buildings near small older villages, luxury European cars vying for street (and sometimes sidewalk space) with bicycles, large mansions down the street from factory dormitories, farms next to factories.
Life in Dongguan for the expat can either be interesting and active, or quiet and lonely, it#s up to the individual. One thing for sure it#s a challenge.