Huzhou

Huzhou 湖州
—  Prefecture-level city  —
湖州市
Huzhou (red) in Zhejiang province (orange) and China
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
Township-level divisions	5
Township-level divisions	66
Government
• CPC Secretary	Sun Wenyou (孫文友)
• Mayor	Ma Yi (馬以)
Area
• Land	5,818 km2 (2,246.3 sq mi)
Population
• Total	2,570,000
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	572
GDP (2009)	¥111.2 billion
GDP per capita (2009)	¥39,206
License Plate	浙E
Website	http://www.huzhou.gov.cn/

Huzhou
Chinese	湖州
Wu	vu ciu (Huzhou dialect) ghu平tseu平 (Shanghai dialect)
Transcriptions Mandarin - Hanyu Pinyin Húzhōu Min - Hokkien POJ ôo-tsiu Wu - Romanization vu ciu (Huzhou dialect) ghu平tseu平 (Shanghai dialect) Cantonese (Yue) - Jyutping wu4zau1

Huzhou (Chinese: 湖州; pinyin: Húzhōu; Huzhou pronunciation vu ciu) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province of Eastern China. Lying south of the Lake Tai, it borders Jiaxing to the east, Hangzhou to the south, and the provinces of Anhui and Jiangsu to the west and north respectively.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Huzhou administers six county-level divisions, including one economic development zone and two districts and three counties.

• Huzhou Economic Development Zone (湖州经济开发区)
• Wuxing District (吴兴区)
• Nanxun District (南浔区)
• Deqing County (德清县)
• Changxing County (长兴县)
• Anji County (安吉县)

These are further divided into 66 township-level divisions, including 50 towns, 10 townships and six subdistricts.

Location

• Huzhou is in the center of Yangtze River Delta Economic Area, next to Shanghai in the east, on the south beach of Taihu lake—the third big freshwater lake in the China, rejoices Hangzhou in the south and links to Jiangsu and Anhui province in the west.
• The State Way 318 of east-to-west direction, the State Way 104 of north-to-south direction, the Changxing-Huzhou-Shanghai Channel—Eastern Rhine River, Xuancheng-Hanghzou railway—the secondary tunnel in the east of China, Nanjing-Huzhou-Hangzhou express way and Shanghai-Jiangsu-Zhejiang-Anhui express way contributes to a quick and complicated transportation system.

History

• 248 BC, Gucheng County (菰城縣) was set up by the State of Chu.
• 222 BC, Qin Dynasty, Wucheng County (烏程縣) was set up.
• 266, Kingdom of Wu, set Wuxing Shire (吳興郡), its administrative area including the modern Huzhou prefecture city and Hangzhou (杭州), Yixing (宜興).
• 602, Sui dynasty, changed the name of Wuxing to Huzhou (湖州).
• During the Tang Dynasty, Huzhou administered 5 counties: Wucheng (烏程), Wukang (武康), Changxing (長興), Anji (安吉), and Deqing (德清).
• At the beginning of the Song Dynasty, Gui'an county (歸安縣) was divided from the Wucheng county.
• During the Qing Dynasty, Huzhou administered 7 counties: Wucheng, Guo'an, Wukang, Deqing, Changxing, Anji, and Xiaofeng.
• 1949, the People's Republic of China, Huzhou town became the seat of government of the First Special District of Zhejiang, administrative area including the modern Huzhou and Jiaxing prefecture cities.
• 1983, Huzhou prefecture level city was set up.

Economy

• Huzhou is known as the City of Silk, is one of the Four Capital-cities of Silk in China.
• Textiles (especially silk), building materials and agriculture.

Military

Huzhou is headquarters of the 1st Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that comprise the Nanjing Military Region responsible for the defense of China's eastern coast and the recovery of Taiwan.

Tourism

The Lotus Garden (pinyin "Lianhua Zhuang") is a small garden located near the city center of Huzhou. It was built in 1924 and features local history, including a Tea House, and ancient stones transferred from TaiHu-Lake Tai. The park is open during daytime hours, free admission, and many local people will have Taiji exercise or Mahjong games. The park has a lake system where Lotus flowers bloom seasonally, and a large Koi pond attraction. Also, pedal boats are available for leisure.

Notable people

• Zhu Zhi 朱治 (156-224) and Zhu Ran 朱然 (182-248), military general for the Kingdom of Wu during the Three Kingdoms era of China.
• Shen Yue 沈約 (441-513), prominent scholar of the Liang Dynasty and author of the Book of Song宋書.
• Chen Baxian 陳霸先 (503-559), founder and Emperor Wu of Chen dynasty 陳武帝.
• Lu Yu 陸羽 (733-804), sage of tea, author of the Classic of Tea.
• Zhao Mengfu 趙孟頫 (1254–1322), great calligrapher in Yuan dynasty.
• Yu Yue 俞樾 (1821–1906), famous scholar.
• Shen Jiaben 沈家本 (1840–1913), Late Qing Chinese scholar and jurist.
• Wu Changshuo 吴昌硕 (1844–1927), great calligrapher.
• Chen Qimei 陳其美 (1878–1916), revolutionary, member of Chinese Tongmenghui. Chen Guofu 陳果夫 and Chen Lifu 陳立夫 are nephews of Chen Qimei.
• Lei Zhen 雷震 (1897–1979), famous politician and political analyst of the Republic of China.
• Dai Jitao 戴季陶 (1891–1949), famous politician of the Republic of China.
• Zhu Jiahua 朱家驊 (1893–1963), famous politician of the Republic of China.
• Qian Sanqiang 錢三强 (1913–1992), famous scientist of great merit in Chinese atomic bomb study; and his father Qian Xuantong 錢玄同 (1887–1939), famous scholar.
• Tu Shou'e 屠守鍔 (1917-), famous scientist and rocket designer.

See also

• Huzhou ink brush

External links

• Government website of Huzhou (Chinese)