Jiaxing

Jiaxing 嘉兴
—  Prefecture-level city  —
嘉兴市
Jiaxing (red) in Zhejiang province (orange) and China
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
County-level divisions	7
Township-level divisions	75
Government
– CPC Secretary
– Mayor	Li Weining (李卫宁)
Area
– Total	3,915 km2 (1,511.6 sq mi)
Population (2006)
– Total	3,355,500
– Density	857.1/km2 (2,219.8/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	573
GDP	¥229.6 billion
GDP per capita	¥67,410
License Plate Prefix	浙F
Website	http://www.jiaxing.gov.cn/
City Flower Blossom of pomegranate City Tree Camphor laurel Cinnamomum camphora (L.) Sieb.

Jiaxing
Simplified Chinese	嘉兴
Traditional Chinese	嘉興
Wu	Gāshīng [kɑɕiŋ]
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Jiāxīng - Wade–Giles Chia-hsing - Postal Map Kashing Min - Hokkien POJ Ka-Hing Wu - Romanization Gāshīng [kɑɕiŋ] Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping gaa1hing1

Jiaxing (Chinese: 嘉兴; pinyin: Jiāxīng; Wu Chinese: Gāshīng [kɑɕiŋ]) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province of Eastern China. Lying on the Grand Canal of China, Jiaxing borders Hangzhou to the southwest, Huzhou to the west, Shanghai to the northeast, and the province of Jiangsu to the north.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Jiaxing administers 7 county-level divisions, including 2 districts, 3 county-level cities and 2 counties.

• Nanhu District (南湖区)
• Xiuzhou District (秀洲区)
• Haining City (海宁市)
• Pinghu City (平湖市)
• Tongxiang City (桐乡市)
• Jiashan County (嘉善县)
• Haiyan County (海盐县)

These are further divided into 75 township-level divisions, including 60 towns, 2 townships and 13 subdistricts.

History

• Spring and Autumn Period: Jiaxing is known as Zuili (Drunken Plums) and is an important city in the state of Yuè.
• 210 BC: Qin Shi Huang changed the name of Jiaxing from Changshui District (长水县) to Youquan (由拳縣).
• 231: Master Yedao (野稻) of Jiaxing informed Sun Quan of the Kingdom of Wu that there was a sign of auspice, so Sun changed Youchuan to Hexing District (禾興縣). This why Jiaxing's abbreviation is He. Sun also changed his era name to Jiahe (嘉禾) in the following year.
• January 242: Sun He was made the crown prince. To prevent the name taboo, Jiahe was changed to Jiaxing.
• 938: (Later Jin of the Five Dynasties): Xiu Prefecture (秀州) established
• 1117: (Song Dynasty): Lianghe District (亮禾郡)
• 1429: (Ming Dynasty): Xiushui District (秀水縣) was established northwest of Jiaxing.
• Early 1900s (the Republic of China): Xiushui and Jiaxing were combined into Jiahe County
• 1914: Reverted to Jiaxing County (because there's a Jiahe in Hunan Province)
• 1921: Communist Party of China founded at the South Lake in Jiaxing.
• 1949 – 1958, 1979 (PRC): Upgraded to a city
• 1981: Old Jiaxing County merged into the city
• 1983: Upgraded to prefecture-level city

Economy

Jiaxing is known as the 'home of silk', and hence is a producer of textiles as well, including woollens. It is one of the world's largest exporters of leather goods. There are mechanical, chemical and electronic industries there.

Jiaxing is an important energy base in East China area. Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, the first self-designed nuclear power station in China, is located Haiyan County.

Industrial Zone

Jiaxing Export Processing Zone

Established in 2003, Jiaxing Export Processing Zone is a state-level export processing zone approved by State Council. It has a built-up area of 2.98 sqkm. Its development goal is to become the export processing base for IT, IC, mechanical and electrical, electronics and other high-tech industries.^[1]

Nuclear Sites

Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant and Fangjiashan Nuclear Power Plant (under construction) are located in Haiyan county of Jiaxing.

Tourism

• South Lake, where the Communist Party of China was officially founded.

Transportation

Jiaxing is situated at the juncture of the Hangzhou-Shanghai Railway.

Jiaxing will be a station on the proposed Shanghai-Hangzhou Maglev Train Line.

Jiaxing is on the Shanghai-Hangzhou Highway and 320 National Highway. In the mean time, Beijing-Hangzhou Great Canal runs across Jiaxing.

Culture

Jiaxing dialect is a Northern Wu dialect, and a sister dialect of both Shanghainese and Suzhou dialect. Jiaxing dialect is mutually intelligible with both Suzhou dialect and Shanghainese.

Notable people

• Zhu Yizun (朱彝尊), scholar
• Wang Guowei (王国维), scholar, writer and poet
• Xu Zhimo (徐志摩), poet
• Shiing-Shen Chern (陈省身), mathematician
• Mao Dun (茅盾. or 沈德鴻, or沈雁冰), novelist, critic, journalist
• Zhang Yuanji (张元济), publisher
• Zhang Zhongjun (张钟俊), scientist
• Xu Kuangdi (徐匡迪), scientist, politician
• Zhu Shenghao (朱生豪), translator
• Zhang Leping (张乐平), cartoonist
• Yang Borun (杨伯润), poet, calligrapher, painter
• Jin Yong (金庸), novelist
• Fan Xiping (范西屏), Go player
• Miao Huixin (), artist
• Shen Junru (沈钧儒), politician, patriot
• Wu Outing (吴藕汀), poet, painter, culture scholar
• Yu Dafu (郁达夫）, author
• Zhou Hanming (), mathematician

Twinning

• Sandefjord, Vestfold, Norway signed a friendship agreement in May 2001. The agreement establishes exchange and cooperation in many fields, especially in those of education and environmental protection and technology, the latter focusing on improving conditions of both water, soil, and air.
• Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom. Educational and economic links established between the respective cities and their regions since 2006.
• Fuji, Shizuoka, Japan
• Gangneung, Gangwon-do, South Korea
• Quincy, Illinois, United States^[2]
• Rockville, Maryland, United States
• Bunbury, Western Australia, Australia. Business links since November 2008.

References

1. ^ RightSite.asia
2. ^ http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?RecNum=3506&SubjectID=44

External links

• Government website of Jiaxing (English)

Coordinates: 30°46′N 120°45′E / 30.767°N 120.75°E / 30.767; 120.75