Jiaxing

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Jiaxing
嘉兴
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Chinese transcription(s)
 - Simplified 嘉兴
 - Traditional 嘉興
 - Pinyin Jiāxīng
 - Wu Chinese pronunciation Gāshīng
 - IPA in Wu pronunciation [kɑ ɕiŋ]
Country 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 ¥181.5 billion
GDP per capita ¥43,129
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pinyin: Jiāxīng; Wade-Giles:Chia-hsing; Postal map spelling: Kashing) is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of 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.

Contents

[edit] Administration

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

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

[edit] History

  • 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

[edit] 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.

[edit] Tourism

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Notable people

[edit] Twinning

[edit] References

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

[edit] External links

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