Taizhou, Zhejiang

For the prefecture-level city in Jiangsu province, see Taizhou, Jiangsu.

Taizhou 台州
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Taizhou (red) in Zhejiang province (orange) and China
Country	China
Province	Zhejiang
County-level divisions	9
Government
• CPC Secretary	Zhang Hongming (张鸿铭)
• Mayor
Area
• Land	9,411 km2 (3,634 sq mi)
• Water	80,000 km2 (30,000 sq mi)
• Urban	1,264 km2 (488 sq mi)
• Metro	1,538 km2 (594 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	5,968,800
• Urban	1,575,252
• Urban density	1,200/km2 (3,200/sq mi)
• Metro	1,125,180
• Metro density	730/km2 (1,900/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	576
GDP 2009	¥202.5 billion
GDP per capita 2009	¥35,148
License Plate Prefix	浙J
Website	http://www.zjtz.gov.cn/
City flower Orchid

Taizhou (T'ai-chow, Chinese: 台州; pinyin: Tāizhōu, not Táizhōu; T'ai-chow dialect: T'e-tsiu) is an emerging city along the eastern coast of Zhejiang province, facing the East China Sea and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It lies between 300 kilometers from the major city of Shanghai, and 230 kilometers from Hangzhou city, the procincial capital of Zhejiang in distance.

Administrativly, it is a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China which is geographically bordered by Ningbo to the north, Wenzhou to the south, and Shaoxing,Jinhua,Lishui prefecture-level city to the northwest, west and southwest respectivly.

Demographics

At the time of 2010 census, the whole population of Taizhou, including the whole prefecture-level city and subsidiary counties is 5,968,800 with 1,575,252 in the emerging urban area(the built up area) made of 3 urban districts (Jiaojiang(椒江), Huangyan(黄岩) and Luqiao(路桥)).

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Taizhou currently administers 3 district, 2 county-level cities and 4 counties.

• Jiaojiang District (椒江区)
• Huangyan District (黄岩区)
• Linhai City (临海市)
• Luqiao District (路桥区)
• Sanmen County (三门县)
• Tiantai County (天台县)
• Wenling City (温岭市)
• Xianju County (仙居县)
• Yuhuan County (玉环县)

History

Taizhou has a history of more than five thousand of years. It's original name is believed to come from the famous moutain, the TianTai Moutain(天台山), now Tiantaishan National Park

Five thousand years ago, the ancestors began to settle in this area.

Early to Xia Dynasty, Shang Dynasty, Zhou Dynasty, Taizhou was part of Dong'ou, and belonged to Minzhong Prefecture by the time of Qin Dynasty, during the reign of Qin Dynasty (221─207 B.C.) it is called Huipu Town. Later it is belonged to Kuaiji Prefecture during Han Dynasty.

On August 22, 1994, Taizhou Municipality was set up in place of Taizhou Prefecture and approved by the State Council. In 1999, Taizhou was approved by the State Council to be a leading city in Zhejiang’s urbanization structure and the center of sub zone of the first-class economy. Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, Taizhou formally became one of the 16 cities of Yangtze River Delta area on Aug.15, 2003.

Economy

Despite of its long and rich history heritage, Taizhou is the 4th most populous, and the 4rd largest industrial prefecture-level city in Zhejiang Provice as of 2011.

Geely AutoMobile founded in Taizhou which completes its aquisition of Volvo in 2010, is one of China’s top ten auto manufacturers.

Climate

Taizhou's climate is characteristic of the subtropical climate. The yearly average temperature in the eatern plain area is around 17°C with precipitation around 1000-2000mm.

The table below displays visually by month the annual typical temperatures, the past year's temperatures, and record temperatures.

Taizhou
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D     92   5 1     61   8 2     38   17 11     102   20 14     118   26 20     361   27 23     114   35 29     138   31 25     44   29 23     67   22 18     119   15 11     21   11 5 Average max. and min. temperatures in °C Precipitation totals in mm
Imperial conversion J F M A M J J A S O N D     3.6   41 34     2.4   46 35     1.5   62 51     4   68 57     4.6   79 68     14   80 73     4.5   94 84     5.4   89 78     1.7   84 73     2.7   72 65     4.7   59 52     0.8   51 40 Average max. and min. temperatures in °F Precipitation totals in inches

Infrastructure & Transport

Taizhou was once a relatively inaccessible area. This has changed due to large infrastructure restructuring in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Presently, Taizhou is served by the Yongtaiwen Expressway, linking the city with Ningbo in the north and Wenzhou in the south. Huangyan Luqiao Airport (IATA:HYN) in the city's Huangyan District serves daily flights to Beijing and Shanghai Hongqiao, and regular flights to other Chinese cities. In September 2009, the high-speed rail line, Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou Railway, opened and Taizhou has several stations along route including the main station in Huangyan District called Taizhou Railway Station.

Recently completed Taizhou Railway Station

High Speed Railway connection major cities

Language and Culture

Like the majority of areas in Zhejiang, most people from Taizhou speak a dialect of Wu Chinese, known as Huangyan Hua. It is not mutually intelligible with Mandarin Chinese, and only partially intelligible with Shanghainese. There is also a small portion of Min Nan and Wenzhou dialect speakers in the southern regions. None of these three languages are mutually intelligible amongst each other, but the linguistic diversity of some regions has resulted in a segment of the population becoming fluent in speaking up to four languages, when Mandarin is included.

The city's people are reputed to be industrious and business-minded, although not to the same degree as neighboring Wenzhou. Many people from the area have migrated abroad after economic reforms began in China in 1978. The city's seafood is of note. The same is true is for the local banking sector. Especially Taizhou City Commercial Bank is renowned for its support of small and medium sized enterprises and its high efficiency and constant innovations.

Tourism

• Linhai Ancient Great Wall, the only Great Wall in southern China.
• Tiantaishan National Park, Tiantai

The Tiantaishan Temple where the Tiantai (Chinese and Japanese: 天台宗; pinyin: tiāntái zōng; ), an important school of Buddhism in China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam originates, is located here. In Japan the school is known as Tendai, and in Korea it is known as Cheontae.

Education

Taizhou College

Sister cities

• Tsuruga , Fukui, Japan
• Santos, São Paulo, Brazil
• Muan, Honam, Korea
• Iquique, Tarapacá, Chile
• Nevers, Nivernais, Burgundy, France
• Timișoara, Timiș, Romania
• Hanau, Hesse, Darmstadt, Germany

External links

• Government website of Taizhou
• Geely Group