Deyang

Deyang 德阳
—  Prefecture-level city  —
德阳市
Location of Deyang City jurisdiction (yellow) within Sichuan
Deyang Location in China
Coordinates: 31°08′N 104°24′E / 31.133°N 104.4°E / 31.133; 104.4Coordinates: 31°08′N 104°24′E / 31.133°N 104.4°E / 31.133; 104.4
Country	China
Province	Sichuan
City seat	Jingyang (旌阳区)
Area
- Total	5,818 km2 (2,246.3 sq mi)
Population (2004)
- Total	3,810,000
- Density	654.9/km2 (1,696.1/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	618000
Area code(s)	0838
Website	http://www.deyang.gov.cn/

Deyang (simplified Chinese: 德阳; traditional Chinese: 德陽; pinyin: Déyáng) is a prefecture-level city in Sichuan province, China. Deyang is a wealthy, mostly industrial city, with the Erzhong Heavy Machinery Company (中国二重）, Dongfang Electrical Company (东方电机), and various high-tech industry contributing to its economy. It has a population of around 3,810,000 in 2004 and an area of 5818 km².^[1]

Shifang, Deyang

This county less than 1 hour from Chengdu city is known for a liquor factory called jiannanchun in the county-level city of Mianzhu and the Sanxingdui museum in Guanhan City (county-level) about the ancient Shu culture famous for its bronze mask. Deyang's main city of Jinyang is based on the Jinghu River passing under 7 bridges flowing North to South. The River has been widened and 5 of the bridges are part dams and has assumed the name of Jinghu Lake. A very large proportion of local residents can be found walking or dancing to music every evening along the riverbank's beautiful parks. Although Deyang is not a tourist city this is actually an advantage for a tourist being able to see more traditional Chinese daily culture without roadside sales people or professional beggars in your face every few minutes. The city boasts Confucian temples and a stone sculpture park, the beautiful East mountain and lake areas but interestingly beautiful countryside in all directions leading to villages that go about their daily business as they did 100 years ago.

Although Deyang is primarily based on industry, it is remarkably clean (and well known throughout Sichuan Province for it) with the local government vigilant in this area and air quality is very high being supplied with breezes coming from the immediate East mountain ranges and large expanse of countryside. With the high turnover of industry, many businessmen visit the city so there is many established accommodation options from cheap hostels through to expensive 5 star style hotels and the same for eating where a whole meal can be had for as little $1 USD through to restaurants where only millionaires dare enter. Transport is well serviced with an extensive bus service and routes and a typical taxi at around $1 USD would get you halfway across the city and to typical local destinations.

On May 12, 2008, a magnitude 8.0 earthquake occurred. An estimated 90,000 people were killed or still missing with an estimated 400,000 injured. Around 5 million were effected through property losses, many left homeless. ^[2][3] Schools in Mianzhu and Shifang collapsed.^[4][5]

Deyang county has mostly recovered from the devastation of the 2008 earthquake with most people now compensated where required (injury etc.) and established in new houses and in some cases new areas as well as factories and works being re-established. For the new houses in most cases, the new owners are requested to meet 30% of the cost while the Government covers the rest. While the Government didn't meet its initial (and ambitious) 1 year plan to rehouse all victims it did manage to mostly be successful within 2 years while in the meantime residents lived in Government provided mobile home type cities with weekly cash payments for all victims in order to purchase food and clothing.

Subdivisions

Map
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2004 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Jingyang District	旌阳区	Jīngyáng Qū	630,000	648	972
2	Shifang City	什邡市	Shífāng Shì	430,000	863	498
3	Guanghan City	广汉市	Guǎnghàn Shì	590,000	551	1,071
4	Mianzhu City	绵竹市	Miánzhú Shì	510,000	1,245	410
5	Luojiang County	罗江县	Luójiāng Xiàn	240,000	448	536
6	Zhongjiang County	中江县	Zhōngjiāng Xiàn	1,410,000	2,063	683

Sister city

Deyang is a sister city with Muncie, Indiana and Lahti, Finland.

References

1. ^ (Chinese) Profile of Deyang.
2. ^ "Casualties in Wenchuan Earthquake" (in Chinese). Sina.com. 2008-06-01. http://news.sina.com.cn/pc/2008-05-13/326/651.html. Retrieved 2008-06-01. 
3. ^ "Earthquake Information of Deyang as of June 7, 19:00 CST" (in Chinese). Official website of Deyang Government. 2008-06-08. http://www.deyang.gov.cn/zt_dy/showinfo.asp?id=620&bigclass=%BF%B9%D5%F0%BE%C8%D4%D6%D7%A8%CC%E2&smallclass=%D7%DB%BA%CF%D0%C5%CF%A2. Retrieved 2008-06-08. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Over 1,000 Children Killed in the Sichuan Quake." Epoch Times.
5. ^ "Earthquake Site at a Town Called Shigu Recorded by Our Reporter, 2008.05.12--05.14." Shifang.

External links

• Government of Deyang