Chikan town was founded in the year 1649 and was originally part of Xinhui County.
Due to it being surrounded by the Tan River on all sides, it thrived in waterway transport.
 According to the 1991 town chronicle, a pier was present by the year 1676.
 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chikan became the major regional maritime transportation hub in Kaiping county and, through its numerous ferries via the Tan river (潭江) to Jiangmen, in the Pearl River Delta.
 This came to an end upon the silting of the Tan River in the 20th century.

As a riverport, Chikan became a center for emigration from the Tan river catchment area in the late 19th century, pushed by increasing population pressure, rural poverty and civil disorder, and pulled by opportunities elsewhere and overseas.
 In the early 20th century, Chikan grew rapidly from a rural market for nearby villages of two competing clans, the Guan (关族) and the Situ (司徒族), to an emigrant market town for all comers.
In 1907 the Chikan Chamber of Commerce was founded jointly by a Guan and a Situ.
The rapid growth of Chikan was fueled by (a) local merchants prospering from trade along the Tan, (b) emigrants investing in the local shops, in modern roads to supplant the Tan River trade route, and in new local schools, and (c) young locals graduating from modern schools.
 In addition to investing, emigrants started to return when civil order began to improve.
Thus, by the 1930s, Chikan became one of the largest market towns in South China with about 1,000 shops, the vast majority of them operated by emigrants or their families.
Chikan town was founded in the year 1649 and was originally part of Xinhui County. Due to it being surrounded by the Tan River on all sides, it thrived in waterway transport.  According to the 1991 town chronicle, a pier was present by the year 1676.  In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Chikan became the major regional maritime transportation hub in Kaiping county and, through its numerous ferries via the Tan river (潭江) to Jiangmen, in the Pearl River Delta.  This came to an end upon the silting of the Tan River in the 20th century.
As a riverport, Chikan became a center for emigration from the Tan river catchment area in the late 19th century, pushed by increasing population pressure, rural poverty and civil disorder, and pulled by opportunities elsewhere and overseas.  In the early 20th century, Chikan grew rapidly from a rural market for nearby villages of two competing clans, the Guan (关族) and the Situ (司徒族), to an emigrant market town for all comers. In 1907 the Chikan Chamber of Commerce was founded jointly by a Guan and a Situ. The rapid growth of Chikan was fueled by (a) local merchants prospering from trade along the Tan, (b) emigrants investing in the local shops, in modern roads to supplant the Tan River trade route, and in new local schools, and (c) young locals graduating from modern schools.  In addition to investing, emigrants started to return when civil order began to improve. Thus, by the 1930s, Chikan became one of the largest market towns in South China with about 1,000 shops, the vast majority of them operated by emigrants or their families.
Chikan, Kaiping