Saturday, October 11, 2008

Yong'an

Yong'an is a county-level city in China's Fujian province, on the Sha River, which is a tributary of the . It is located approximately 120 miles southeast of Fuzhou. Recent estimates put the city's population at 135,000.

Wuyishan (city)

Wuyishan is a county-level city in Nanping, Fujian Province, China.

Nanping Wuyishan Airport serves the Wuyishan area.

Wangtang, Fujian

Wangtang is a city in Fujian, China.

Tsuchi

Tsuchi is a small town in Yongding County of Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It is famous for its Hakka tulou. The CIA once believed that the tulou were missile bases due to their size and shape.

Songxi County

Songxi County is a in Nanping, Fujian, China. Its county seat is located at Town .

Ninghua County

Ninghua County , Fujian province, China. A in Sanming prefecture.

Area: 2381 km2.

Population: 340,000.

Postal Code: 365400.

The county government is located in Cuijiang town.

Shibi Village in the county is an ancient place for Kejia.

Shaowu

Shaowu is a city in Fujian province in China. It has more than 100,000 inhabitants.

Ningde

Ningde , also known as Mindong , is a prefecture-level city located along the northeastern coast of Fujian province, China. It borders Fuzhou to the south, Wenzhou City and Zhejiang province to the north, and Nanping City to the west.

Administration



The Ningde City administers 1 , 2 , 6 , as well as 124 s, s and subdistricts. Listed below are the district, cities and counties, first four of which are coastal whereas the rest locate in mountainous areas.

*Jiaocheng District
*Fu'an City
*Fuding City
*Xiapu County
*Gutian County
*
*Shouning County
*Zherong County
*Zhouning County

History





Ningde's history dates back to the Stamped Pottery Culture System . As early as 10,000 to 20,000 years ago during the late Upper Palaeolithic period of the Stone Age there were already human beings living and multiplying here. In 282, the government established magistrate rule here. And during the first twenty-three years of the Yuan Dynasty , Funingzhou Administration was set up. In 1736, during the reign of of the Qing Dynasty, Ningde was promoted to Funingfu Administration.

In 1934, an Administration Supervision Zone was set up here under the Republic of China. After 1949, the People's Republic of China established Fu'an Special Administration Zone. Finally in June 1971 the Zone was promoted to Ningde Prefecture.

Geography and climate



Situated roughly 300 kilometers north of the Tropic of Cancer, the prefecture of Ningde spans 13,500 km? in land area. Like the rest of Fujian province, Ningde sits in a mountainous region but it also enjoys almost 200 km of coastline facing the Taiwan Strait and East China Sea.

It is subjected to a humid subtropical climate, with occasional threat of typhoons. The mean annual temperature ranges from 13.4 to 20.2 Celsius , while mean annual rainfall ranges from 1250 to 2350 millimeters. The region also enjoys a frost-free period of 235 to 300 days per year, which is highly beneficial for soil agriculture.

Economy



Agriculture



The warm and moist climate and fertile land in the prefecture of Ningde provide it with favorable conditions for agriculture. The largest agricultural exports from Ningde include mushroom and tea. The area also produces large quantities of various fruits, such as shaddocks, Chinese chestnuts, plums, honey peaches, lychees and longans.

Tea cultivation has long been an important industry of Ningde. By 1999 statistics, the total area of tea plantations in Ningde had reached 463 km? and the output of green tea took up 10.5 percent of that of the entire country. More than 1.2 million jobs were created directly and indirectly in different stages of the tea industry. Famous brands include the Tianshan Silver-Needle Tea, Baihao Silver-Needle Tea, Fenghuangshe, Lianyue Flower Tea and Xianyan Snow Peak.

The mountainous landscape and advantageous climate conditions are also beneficial to the development of forestry. Up to 1999, 8,482 km?, or 65.2 percent of the entire prefecture, are forested. Out of this area, bamboo groves occupy 600 km?, producing an annual output of six million bamboo products. In Fu'an alone, the green bamboo base has extended to 34 km? and its output of green bamboo shoots takes up more than 60 percent of that of Fujian province.

Aquaculture



The prefecture of Ningde is blessed with vast area of shallow sea, which is suitable for aquaculture. In 2000, aquatic products take up 41.3 percent of the total output value of agriculture from Ningde, with an exporting value of USD 82,170,000 and an annual net income exceeding 3,500 for local fishermen. Major products include s, oysters, s, prawns and freshwater eels.

Local government is attempting to use aquaculture as a springboard to eliminate poverty and improve local economy. Up to 2000, aquaculture had created 370,000 jobs directly and indirectly; a total of RMB 4.5 billion had been invested, drawing an annual output value of RMB 2 billion.

Industry



Primary



Ningde is the producer of many nonmetallic mineral resources, such as granite, diorite and basalt. The confirmed volume of granite reserves extends to 1,140 million cubic meters, while estimated amount of deposits undiscovered stands at several thousand million cubic meters. The mining area for basalt in Bailin, Fuding, known as Fuding Black, covers 0.21 square kilometers with a total deposit of up to 50 million cubic meters.

Secondary



Ningde's rich hydropower resources give it a headstart in metallurgical industries. Products such as magnesium, zirconium oxide, aluminum, high-purity silicon carbide, and a series of other silicon products from plants in the prefecture enjoy high reputation and are exempted from examination when exported to Japan. Advances in metallurgical technology also aids the shipbuilding industry, a traditional trade in Ningde. In recent years, local shipyards have been capable of constructing 10,000-ton steamships.

From its many agricultural produces sprouted the long-running food processing industry in Ningde. New techniques and formula adopted in recent years have allowed products such as tea, fruits and vegetables, mushrooms and marine products to be exported to the international market.



Demographics



Ningde has a population of over 3.2 million. It is also the primary residential region for the , who take up 24.72% of the population.

Culture


The folk arts in Ningde are varied and colorful. Among them ''bangtieji'' parade , puppet lion dance, and are the most representative.

The ''bangtieji'' parade, mostly seen during the Chinese new year, is a folk art performance popularized in Ningde since the Qing Dynasty. During the parade, children dressed as characters from various Chinese folklore sit or stand on parade vehicles, which were also decorated to resemble classic scenes such as the Heavenly Palace. The vehicles then cruise along the streets in the company of jovial music.

The puppet lion dance, popular in Huotong Town and Jiaocheng District, originated from toys of the local children. The lions, made of colorful fabrics, are connected to wooden racks by ropes. Each individual rope controls a part of the lion's body, such as the head, tail or foot. The racks are set on vehicles moving through the streets. Performers on the vehicles pull on the ropes to make the lions dance or perform various tricks.

Paper art, mainly practised by women, is a specialty of Zherong County. Common forms of the art include traditional flower patterns, words and daily life objects. Because of her paper art achievements, Zherong County was named "Home of Chinese Folk Arts" by the Ministry of Culture in 2000.

The She people have also created and left many precious cultural heritages in their long historical practice. Owing to projects in recent years to protect the She heritage, three volumes of She folk tales, songs and proverbs have been published. In total, 184 tales, 330,000 words in songs, and 6,000 proverbs have been included. Art works have also been produced out of She folklore, which reflects their way of life.

There are many covered bridges in Ningde, particularly in Pingnan.

Nan'an, Fujian

Nan'an is a county-level city within the Quanzhou Prefecture level city, Fujian province, China. The city has a population of 1,480000 residents.

Nan'an is said to have over 3 million people who have ancestral roots from the city who have migrated in South East Asia and in the west.

History


Nan'an is located on the southeastern coast of Fujian province. It has been the centre of the 3 Wu Kingdoms. Nan'an history dates back 1700 years. Nan'an has been the economic and cultural centre for Minnan people.

Climate and Geography


Nan'an experiences subtropical moonsoonal humid climate. It has an average temperature of 20.9°C. It has 349 days which is frost free.

The city covers an area of 2036 square kilometres.

Nan'an is situated below Anxi County, adjacent to to the east and Tong'an District to the West. Nan'an county is 97 km from Xiamen. It is 30 km from Quanzhou and 220 km from the provincial capital, Fuzhou.

Economy


Nan'an is fast developing into an economic and industrial hub for Quanzhou prefecture. Its close proximity to economic centres such as Xiamen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen makes it an important investment location for foreign investments and Taiwan businessmen.

Nan'an has very strong rail infrastructure and road links making it a gateway for tourism as well as commerce.

Longyan

Longyan is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Fujian , .

Geography


It is situated in the upper reaches of the and rivers. Longyan borders on the municipalities Sanming to the north, Quanzhou to the east, Zhangzhou to the southeast, and the provinces of Jiangxi and Guangdong to the west and south respectively.

Administrative division


Longyan Municipality comprises Xinluo District , , Liancheng County , Yongding County , Shanghang County , Wuping County , and Changting county .

History


In 736 AD, , the Tingzhou was established in western Fujian , administering Changting, and counties. Six years later Xinluo was named Longyan for the nearby cavern, a famous scenic site.

Due to the ancient conflicts in central China and aggression from northern tribes, many Han people moved from central China to Longyan. These were the Hakka people. The city Changting is often referred to as the home of the Hakka and the Tingjiang River is known as the "mother river" of the Hakka people.

in 1734, the area was designated Longyan Prefecture by the imperial court. In 1913, it reverted to its former name Longyan County and in 1981, Longyan City was established.

Minxi was a strategic base during the Chinese Civil War. Minxi is the strategic hub for Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou for distributing goods within Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. It is the main connection between the inland and coastal area.

Economy


Longyan serves as a strategic centre for the distribution of goods to Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. It also acts as a gateway for trade with Guangdong and Jiangxi province.

Longyan is rich in natural resources - important mineral deposits and forest zones. The Septwolves tobacco business is an important contributor to the local economy, as is the Zijin Mining group.

Famous people of Longyan


*Shi Zhiyong , Weightlifter, gold medalist at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
*Zhang Xiangxiang , Weightlifter, gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics.
*Lin Dan , gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics, number 1 badminton player on the world ranking list from 2004 to 2008.
*He Wenna , trampoline gymnast, gold medalist at the 2008 Summer Olympics.
* , number 1 badminton player on the world ranking list from 2002 to 2003.

Longmen, Fujian

Longmen is a township in eastern Fujian, around 30 km distant from the city of Fuzhou. It is home to a population of around 3000, over 90% of whom are surnamed Gao.

Longhai

Longhai City is a county within the prefecture of Zhangzhou. It has a population of 101,884. Longhai is geographically located on the south western region of Fujian province in China.

Jinjiang, Fujian

Jinjiang is a county-level city of Quanzhou Municipality in Fujian. It is located in the southeastern part of the province, on the right or south bank of the , across from Quanzhou's urban district of Fengze. Jinjiang city also borders the Taiwan Strait of the East China Sea to the south, and Quanzhou's other county-cities of Shishi and Nan'an to the east and west, respectively.

Demographics


Jinjiang is known for the large number of foreign-invested factories which operate there, especially clothing and name-brand footwear. Despite appalling sweatshop conditions, many migrant labourers come from around and even outside the province to commit themselves to year-long contracts.

Jinjiang people speak the Quanzhou variant of dialect which is intelligible with Xiamen or Taiwan's variant. Like everywhere in China, Jinjiang people use to communicate with non local people, commerce and during their daily life.

Jinjiang is the site of the Quanzhou Airport, a gift from Lai Changxing . The facility is of international standard but is kept domestic because the province has been allotted only two international airports, one in the capital Fuzhou and one in nearby Xiamen.

Jinjiang in the News


Jinjiang's most infamous son is undoubtedly Lai Changxing who has been described by the official Xinhua news agency as "China's most wanted fugitive". Lai was a major player in the Xiamen-centred Yuanhua corruption and smuggling scandal which broke in 1999. Tipped off by China's central police leadership, Lai fled to Canada on fake Hong Kong SAR documents with his wife Zeng Mingna and their children. He was eventually detained on Canadian immigration charges and put under house arrest at his home in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Jianyang, Fujian

Jianyang is a county-level city in Nanping prefecture in the northern part of Fujian province of the People's Republic of China.

Jianyang has rich natural resources: bamboo, tea and water power. The commercial publishers there, from the 11th-17th Centuries, were amongst the biggest three of the Song dynasty and Yuan dynasty.

Jianyang bore a famous legal medical expert Song Ci, who wrote a famous book Xi yuan ji lu; it was the first book about legal medical research, and laid a solid foundation for China's medical jurisprudence. This year a teleplay called ''A Legal Medical Expert of the Song Dynasty'' was popular, more than 200 million people watching it at 8 pm; the audience rating passed the News.

Zhu Xi was a philosopher of the Song Dynasty who taught in Kaoting college in Jianyang.

Jian'ou

Jian'ou is a county-level city of Nanping in the Fujian province of the People's Republic of China.

Jian'ou is within a major rice-growing area. It is about 70 km from Jianyang.

Jian'ou is famous as the producing area of bamboo.

Hui'an County

Hui'an , Fujian Province, is a county in the Quanzhou prefecture-level city. It is well-known for the walled cities of Chongwu and the uniquely costumed Hui'an maidens.

Fuzhou

is the capital and the largest prefecture-level city of Fujian , People's Republic of China. It is also referred to as Rongcheng which means "city of banyan trees."

It is the capital of the province, and is situated on the north bank of the estuary of Fujian's largest river, the , which gives access to the interior and to the neighboring provinces of Jiangxi and Zhejiang.

History


The exact foundation date of this city is not known. When to the north of Fujian was annexed by in 306 BC, a branch of the royal family of the defeated Yue fled Fujian and became the Minyue tribe.

The first city wall of Fuzhou was built in 202 BC when Liu Bang, the founding emperor of the Han Dynasty, gave permission to Wuzhu , the king of Minyue, to set up his capital in Fuzhou. The city was named Ye , meaning "The Beautiful". The name has changed many times, but the city has been continuously occupied since 202 BC and has never suffered major destruction by wars or natural disasters.

The Minyue was annexed by Han in 110 BC and became a part of China, and Fuzhou became Ye County. During the , West Lake, East Lake and numerous canals in the city were constructed .

When the Jin Dynasty collapsed, the first wave of immigrants of the gentile class arrived in Fujian . During the Tang Dynasty , it started to be called Fuzhou.

More immigrants arrived from the north starting from 892 as the Tang Dynasty was collapsing. After the Tang Dynasty fell in 907, the Wang family managed to establish a kingdom called with its capital in Fuzhou, then known as Changle. Min is still used as another name for the province of Fujian, in names of region such as minnan, and the river that runs through Fuzhou is called Min Jiang.

New city walls were built in 282 AD, 901 AD, 905 AD, and 974 AD, so the city had many layers of walls — more than the Chinese capital.

of the Song Dynasty ordered destruction of all the walls in Fuzhou in 978 AD but new walls were rebuilt later. The latest was built in 1371 AD.

During the Southern Song Dynasty, Fuzhou became more prosperous; many scholars came here to live and work. Among them were Zhu Xi , the most celebrated Chinese philosopher after Confucius, and Xin Qiji , the greatest composer of ci . After them came Marco Polo, who d the placename in as ''Fugiu'' according to Mandarin Chinese.

Hualin Temple in the original Ye city, which has been declared a national heritage site, was built in 964 AD according to documentation, but was to the 4th or 5th century AD. It is probably the oldest existing wooden structure in China.

Between 1405 and 1433 AD, the Chinese navy fleet, led by Zheng He, sailed from Fuzhou to the Indian Ocean seven times; on three occasions the fleet landed on the east coast of Africa. Before the last sailing, Zheng erected a stele dedicated to the goddess near the seaport.

In the 19th century, Lin Zexu, a native of Fuzhou, led an unsuccessful attempt to resist the British fleet at Bay, and Lin was exiled to the Russian border. At the end of the First Opium War, Fuzhou became one of the five Chinese ''treaty ports'' opened by the Treaty of Nanjing . Lin Zexu died on November 22, 1850 at age of 66.

On November 8, 1911, revolutionaries staged an uprising in Fuzhou. After an overnight street battle, the army surrendered. On November 22, 1933, the leaders of the 19th Army set up a short-lived in Fuzhou ; it collapsed in two months.

Around 1940, the army decided to invade Fuzhou. Surrounded by hills on 3 sides, the Japanese army quickly bombed and invaded the city. Japanese planes quickly bombed the only escape route for Chinese civilians- the bridges across the neighbouring river, leaving many civilians dangerously crossing the river on foot. The Japanese soon took the city and held it until Japan's surrender in 1945.

See also: Battle of Foochow

On December 13, 1993, a raging fire swept through a textile factory in Fuzhou and claimed the lives of 60 workers.

On October 2, 2005, floodwaters from Typhoon Longwang swept away a military school, killing at least 80 paramilitary officers.

Districts and counties


The administrative divisions of Fuzhou have changed frequently in history. In 1983, Fuzhou administered 5 districts and 8 counties, whose territory has not changed since then. In 1990 and 1994, Fuqing and Changle counties were promoted to county-level cities. Despite this change, the old statement of "5 districts and 8 counties" is still popular among the local people.

* Districts: Gulou , Taijiang , Cangshan , Mawei, Jin'an.
* County-level cities: Fuqing , Changle .
* Counties: Minhou , Minqing , Yongtai , , Luoyuan , Pingtan .

Economy and transportation




Main airport: Fuzhou Changle International Airport

In 1867 the port was the site of one of China's first major experiments with Western technology, when the was established; a shipyard and an arsenal were built under guidance, and a naval school was opened. A naval academy was also established at the shipyard, and it became a center for the study of European languages and technical sciences. The academy, which offered courses in English, French, engineering, and navigation, produced a generation of Western-trained officers, including the famous scholar-reformer Yan Fu .

The yard was established as part of a program to strengthen China in the wake of the country's disastrous defeat in the trading conflict known as the second Opium War . But most talented students continued to pursue a traditional Confucian education, and by the mid-1870s the government began to lose interest in the shipyard; it had trouble securing funds and declined in importance. Fuzhou remained essentially a commercial center and a port until World War II; it had relatively little industry. The port was occupied by the Japanese during 1940–45.

Since 1949, Fuzhou has grown considerably; its communications have been improved by the clearing of the for navigation by medium-sized craft upstream to Nanping. In 1956 the railway linking Fuzhou with the interior of the province and with the main was opened. The port, too, has been improved; Fuzhou itself is no longer accessible to seagoing ships, but Luoxingta anchorage and another outer harbor at Guantou on the coast of the East China Sea have been modernized and improved. The chief exports are timber, fruits, paper, and foodstuffs.

Industry is supplied with power by a grid running from the Gutian hydroelectric scheme in the mountains to the northwest. The city is a center for industrial chemicals and has food-processing, timber-working, engineering, papermaking, printing, and textile industries. A small iron and steel plant was built in 1958. In 1984 Fuzhou was designated one of China's "open" cities in the new open-door policy inviting foreign investments. Handicrafts remain important in the rural areas, and the city is famous for its lacquer and wood products.

Its GDP was ?29,318 per capita in 2007, no. 21 among 659 Chinese cities.

Culture


Fuzhou, also known as the City of Banyan after the many Banyan trees that dot the city landscape, may not be as rich in history as some other ancient Chinese cities but still boasts a fair number of historical sights.

*Sanfang Qixiang
*West Lake
*Hualin Temple
*Dizang Temple
*Xichan Temple
*Wu Ta
*Bai Ta
*Yongquan Temple
*Gu Shan
*Fuzhou National Forest Park

Colleges and universities


*Fujian Normal University
*Fuzhou University
*Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University
*Fujian Medical University
*Fujian College of Traditional Chinese Medicine
*Minjiang University
*Fujian University of Technology
Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.

Sister cities


*
*
*
* George, South Africa
* Koszalin,Poland
* Campinas, Brazil
* Sibu, Sarawak, Malaysia
* Ayer Tawar, Sitiawan, Perak, Malaysia

Fuqing

Fuqing is a county-level city of Fuzhou in Fujian, China. It is located in the eastern part of the province, just southeast of Fuzhou and borders the East China Sea.

Fuqing, as well as much of Fujian, is known for the large number of its people who travel overseas to find work. The most common destination is Japan, with others going to Australia, Canada, and the United States. Fuqing has its own dialect which is closely related to the Fuzhou dialect, although the two are not completely mutually intelligible. Most of its people can also speak , which is used in schools, businesses, and to communicate with others from different parts of the province. Fuqing county has approximately 1.3 million inhabitants.

Fuding

Fuding City is situated in the northeast of Ningde and next to Zhejiang Province.

It is surrounded by hills and the sea. The total land area is 1,526 km?. The total land area including seawater is 14 957.7 km?.

History


Fuding county was established during the Qing Dynasty in 1739 AD.

Administrative


Fuding was promoted to a city in 1995. The city of Fuding encompasses over 10 towns, 2 villages, 3 neighborhood offices and a population of 554,000 residents.

Transport


Fuding City is located in the strategic region between north east Fujian province and southern Zhejiang province. The main road No. 104 pass through Fuding city. Fuding City is also home to the deep sea port Shacheng. The port enables large ships to come to Shacheng port which in turn lead to increase economic activity and trade.

Attractions


Taimu Mountain


The Taimu mountains are one of the more famous tourist spots. It has many high mountains, rivers and parks. It is known as the "Paradise at Sea" for its steep mountains, spectacular rock formations, secluded caves and foggy climate.

Yushan Island


Yushan Island is a small tourist island that has rolling grassland and beautiful views of hills and lakes. It is sometimes refer to as the "Heavenly Mountain in South China".

Changting County

History


Early History

As early as 3,000 to 4,000 years ago, there were ancient Minyue people thrived along the Tingjiang river, which originates in the north and runs through the county toward the south and enters the South China Sea in Shantou, Guangdong province. Since early years Tingjiang river has been serving as an important water path for traveling and, more importantly, shipping of goods between coastal areas and mountainous in-lands. It was said that the early Hakka ancestors traveled from north through the same path to other parts of China and overseas, so Tingjiang river also gained its name as "Hakka's Mother River".

In year 24 of Kaiyuan, Tang Dynasty , in order to better administer people migrating from north, Tingzhou prefectural administration was set up. Since then and until the end of Qing Dynasty, Tingzhou had been where Zhou, Jun, Lu and Fu was located, and economic and political center of western Fujian. Being the first such place set up by administration for migrants and one of the main concentration places for Hakka people, Tingzhou was also referred to as "Capital of Hakkas". Many Hakkas can trace their origins from Tingzhou.

Revolution Era and Beyond

Tingzhou was changed to Changting in 1913, two years after the Republic of China began. During Chinese Civil War, Changting was the economic and financial center of the Chinese Soviet Republic. Tens of thousands of people from Changting joined the Chinese Red Army but not many survived the Long March.

Since 1949, Changting has been a county under Longyan Prefecture-level city.

With the prosperity of road and railway transportation and more and more dams built along the river, Tingjiang river gradually lost its advantage as a vital transportation means. Changting, once an important concentration place for travellers and goods, became isolated by big mountains. Changting lost its place as the center of western Fujian and became one of the poorest counties in Fujian province.

Today, the situation has improved a lot with first railroad in service in 2005 and first highway in service at the end of 2007.

Geography


Changting borders Liancheng county to the east, Wuping and Shanghang counties to the south , Sanming municipality's Ninghua county to the north, Ganzhou municipality's Ruijin county in Jiangxi province to the west.

Located in the southern end of the Wuyi Mountains , Changting belongs to subtropical zone. The region enjoys abundant precipitation as the warm maritime air meets the cool air in the mountains, generating a large amount of rainfall.

Administration


The County of Changting administers 18 ''xiang'' -level divisions :

Anjie , Cewu , Sanzhou , Tiechang , Yanggu , Xuancheng , Hongshan .


11 of these divisions have been promoted to ''zhen'' :

, Guanqian , Hetian , , Datong , Tongfang , Xinqiao , Nanshan , Zhuotian , Sidu , & Tufang .

Famous people of Changting


* Yang Chengwu , 1914-2004 Revolutionarian and General of People's Liberation Army
* Chen Pixian , 1916-1995 Revolutionarian and CPC official
* Fu Lianzhang , 1894-1968 Revolutionarian and General of People's Liberation Army
* , number 1 badminton player on the world ranking list from 2002 to 2003.

Changle

ChangLe is a county-level city located in east Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. Administered by Fuzhou city, Changle occupies a land area of 648 square kilometers and a sea area of 1327 square kilometers. Changle was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu-De during the Tang Dynasty, and it became a county on February 18, 1994. Changle faces Taiwan across Taiwan Strait and is connected to Mawei Economic and Technological Zone by Minjiang River. The city may change its present status to "Changle District of Fuzhou" due to a government proposal.

Located 30 kilometers outside of urban Fuzhou, Changle has a total population of 680,000 and the number of overseas Chinese has reached 400,000 in recent years.



Travel


The Fuzhou Changle International Airport is a major airport located in Zhanggang, Changle. This airport services the entire Fuzhou area, and it has regular scheduled flights to many domestic and international destinations.

There are also railways in Changle since it is next to Fuzhou, the main rail hub in Fujian. However, due to the mountainous terrain, railroads are slow and arduous.


Local Language



Most locals are capable of speaking both Chinese and Fuzhou dialect, though Mandarin is spoken in more formal settings such as schools.

Most Changle natives can speak both Mandarin and a variant of the Fuzhou dialect. However, instruction in schools is taught in Mandarin, forcefully at times, though home use is still primarily Changlener. Old Chanleners' Mandarin typically have a strong accent because the Chanler's dialect does not distinguish between z, zh, ci ,chi, si, shi.

The Changlener/Fuzhou dialect faces a high risk of lingual extinction because of government policy regarding the standardization of languages . Many locals believe this to be tragic due to the loss in cultural identity. Though the dialect is expected to remain one of the most spoken languages in ChangLe area, it is primarily found mostly in the older generation. Though the younger generation are fluent to a degree because of their environment and family, generational attrition of the language will cause a continual drop in the number of capable speakers. The areas where the local dialect is the strongest is primarily in the surrounding towns and areas, which are typically less economically developed than ChangLe city, the Changle dialect is still the dominant language.


Overseas Changle



There is a significant population of Changle immigrants overseas, particularly in the US. The focal point for the US is in New York City's Chinatown Chinatown, Manhattan. In fact, Fuzhounese is commonly used in
a small section of several blocks on East Broadway as well as the smaller chinatown in 8th Avenue .

Notable Natives & Residents



* One of the well known Changle native is Shie Wan Yin, whose pen name is Bing Xin,known as "The Grandma in Chinese Literacy Circle".

* Changle is also the ancestral home of Zheng Zhenduo, a master of literature.

* Naval Explorer, Admiral Zheng He

Tourism & Attractions



One of the most notable attractions in Changle is the natural environment. Situated on the banks of the , the region is surrounded by many mountains and hills. This also has led to many parks and trails which is a popular destination for locals. Industrialization of the region has reduced the natural beauty of some of these areas however.

Some of the tourist attractions includes Xiasha Seaside Vocational Center, Jingang-washing foot, BingXing Literacy Archieves, and Nanshan Park. A considerable amount of oversea remittances, particularly from the US, has been used to construct some of these areas, particularly the parks, over the last few years. Because of this, many of these areas are essentially new and attract a considerable amount of visitors.

* Zheng He Museum
* San Jiao Feng 三峰塔
* Ba Jiao Ting 八角亭
* He Xia Jie 河下街
* 水井


Culture


The younger Generation prefer pop culture, arts, music and other forms of entertainment from Hong Kong and the West. The older generation of Changleners enjoy Min Opera , a form of Chinese opera.


Cuisine


* Fish ball
* Fish Noodle
* Seafood
* Limulus
* Long yan or longan

Economy/Industry: 纺织, 练钢,


*
** Districts : As of 2003 Changle has 2 Suburban , 14 Township, 2 Village" 2003年底,
*** Suburban Areas: 吴航街道、航城街道
*** Townships: 梅花镇、营前镇、金峰镇、潭头镇、玉田镇 江田镇、古槐镇、鹤上镇、首占镇、文武砂镇、漳港镇、湖南镇、文岭镇、松下镇
*** Villages: 罗联乡、猴屿乡

* Changle Education System
** Fujian Normal University - Changle
** No.1 Junior High School
** Huaqiao Junior High and Senior School


Links

Anxi County

Anxi County , Fujian Province, China, is a county level city in the Quanzhou prefecture-level city. It is well-known for its ancient and famous Oolong tea, the Tieguanyin, which means Iron Goddess of Mercy in English.

Attractions




Qingshui Yan is a mountain hosting a very large Buddhist temple.

China Tea Capital is a large center dedicated to showcasing Anxi County's famous oolong tea.