Jilin City
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Jilin City
吉林市 | |
---|---|
Nickname: River City (江城) | |
Country | People's Republic of China |
Province | Jilin |
County-level divisions | 9 |
Government | |
• Type | Prefecture-level city |
• CPC Jilin City Secretary | Zhang Xiaopei (张晓霈) |
• Mayor | Zhao Jingbo (赵静波) |
Area | |
• Prefecture-level city | 27,120 km2 (10,470 sq mi) |
• Urban | 3,635.8 km2 (1,403.8 sq mi) |
• Metro | 3,635.8 km2 (1,403.8 sq mi) |
Elevation | 202 m (663 ft) |
Population (2010) | |
• Prefecture-level city | 4,414,681 |
• Density | 160/km2 (420/sq mi) |
• Urban | 1,975,803 |
• Urban density | 540/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
• Metro | 1,975,803 |
• Metro density | 540/km2 (1,400/sq mi) |
Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
Postal code | 132000 |
Area code | 0432 |
GDP per capita | ¥42,900 (2010) |
Major Nationalities | Han, Manchu, Korean, Hui |
Licence plates | 吉B |
ISO 3166-2 | cn-22-02 |
Website | http://www.jlcity.gov.cn/ |
Jilin City (Postal map spelling: Kirin City; Chinese: 吉林市; pinyin: Jílín Shì; Wade–Giles: Chi2-lin2 Shih4) Is the second-largest city and former capital of Jilin province in Northeast China. As of the 2010 census, 4,414,681 people resided within its administrative area of 27,120 square kilometres (10,470 sq mi) and 1,975,803 in its built-up area consisting of 4 urban districts. A prefecture-level city, it is the only major city nationally that shares its name with its province.
Jilin City is also known as the River City because of the Songhua River surrounding much of the city. In 2007, it co-hosted the Asian Winter Games.
History
Jilin City is among one of the oldest cities in Northeast China. The ancestors of the Manchus lived there before Qin Dynasty. During the reign of the Yongle Emperor in the early 15th century, efforts were made to expand Chinese control throughout entire Manchuria. Mighty river fleets were built and sailed several times from Jilin City, getting the chieftains of the local tribes to swear allegiance to the Ming rulers.[1] Soon after the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, the territory of today's Primorsky Kray was made under the administration of Jilin. As the Czarist Russian eastward advance to the Pacific coast, Qing Government ordered to set up a naval shipbuilding factory here in 1661. Jilin was officially established as a fort city in 1673 when Anzhuhu (安珠瑚), the Deputy Lieutenant-General (副都统), was ordered to build a castle in Jilin. In 1676, the Military Governor of Ninguta was transferred to Jilin City because of its more conveniently location and increase of the military importance, while the former Deputy Lieutenant-General was transferred in the opposite direction to Ninguta.[2] Since then Jilin City has developed at a rapid pace. The nickname of Jilin City is River City (江城), which was originated from one sentence "连樯接舰屯江城" of a poem written by Kangxi Emperor when he was visiting Jilin City in 1682. Jilin retained its importance into the 18th and 19th century as one of the few cities existing beyond the Willow Palisade, along with Tsitsihar, Ninguta and Mukden.
After Manchukuo established their capital in Hsinking(Changchun), Jilin City's importance decreased. By 1940, Jilin's population was 173,624, while Hsinking's population reached 544,202 at the same time.[3]
Jilin eventually became the provincial capital of Jilin Province after the establishment of the People's Republic of China, until Changchun took this position in 1956.
Geography
Topography
Jilin City is situated in a hilly area near the Songhua River. There are four famous mountains surrounding Jilin City, which is North Mountain in the west, Long Tan Mountain in the east, Zhuque Mountain in the North, and Turtle Mountain in the south, plus Songhua River, it forms a bagua in Taiji pattern. North Mountain, called Beishan, is the most famous mountain in Jilin City. It's said, Emperor Qianlong had come and visited the mountain. It is also said that there are several Buddhist temples on the mountain.
Climate
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Jilin City has a four-season, monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa). Winters are long (lasting from November to March), cold, and windy, but dry, due to the influence of the Siberian anticyclone, with a January mean temperature of −17.3 °C (0.9 °F). Spring and autumn are somewhat short transitional periods, with some precipitation, but are usually dry and windy. Summers are hot and humid, with a prevailing southeasterly wind due to the East Asian monsoon; July averages 22.8 °C (73.0 °F). Snow is usually light during the winter, and annual rainfall is heavily concentrated from June to August.
Climate data for Jilin City (1971−2000) | |||||||||||||
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Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Record high °C (°F) | 5.4 (41.7) |
12.8 (55.0) |
20.0 (68.0) |
30.6 (87.1) |
34.8 (94.6) |
35.1 (95.2) |
35.4 (95.7) |
35.7 (96.3) |
30.4 (86.7) |
27.9 (82.2) |
19.6 (67.3) |
11.5 (52.7) |
35.7 (96.3) |
Daily mean °C (°F) | −17.3 (0.9) |
−13.4 (7.9) |
−2.6 (27.3) |
7.3 (45.1) |
14.7 (58.5) |
20.1 (68.2) |
22.8 (73.0) |
21.2 (70.2) |
14.6 (58.3) |
6.4 (43.5) |
−3.6 (25.5) |
−13.1 (8.4) |
4.8 (40.6) |
Record low °C (°F) | −40.3 (−40.5) |
−37.3 (−35.1) |
−27 (−17) |
−12.1 (10.2) |
−7.5 (18.5) |
5.0 (41.0) |
10.7 (51.3) |
5.3 (41.5) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−15.6 (3.9) |
−29.1 (−20.4) |
−36.4 (−33.5) |
−40.3 (−40.5) |
Average precipitation mm (inches) | 4.6 (0.18) |
6.5 (0.26) |
14.0 (0.55) |
28.6 (1.13) |
57.2 (2.25) |
108.6 (4.28) |
171.5 (6.75) |
134.9 (5.31) |
64.8 (2.55) |
36.6 (1.44) |
12.8 (0.50) |
6.7 (0.26) |
646.8 (25.46) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 5.5 | 6.4 | 7.0 | 9.2 | 12.3 | 15.0 | 16.3 | 13.6 | 10.0 | 7.7 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 116.8 |
Source: [4] |
Administrative divisions
Map | ||||||
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# | Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2010 CENSUS) | Area (km²) | Density (/km²) |
1 | Chuanying District | 船营区 | Chuányíng Qū | 659,188 | 711 | 818 |
2 | Longtan District | 龙潭区 | Lóngtán Qū | 527,532 | 1209 | 475 |
3 | Changyi District | 昌邑区 | Chāngyì Qū | 492,159 | 865 | 715 |
4 | Fengman District | 丰满区 | Fēngmǎn Qū | 296,924 | 1032 | 288 |
5 | Panshi City | 磐石市 | Pánshí Shì | 505,954 | 3867 | 128 |
6 | Jiaohe City | 蛟河市 | Jiāohé Shì | 447,380 | 6235 | 74 |
7 | Huadian City | 桦甸市 | Huàdiàn Shì | 444,997 | 6624 | 71 |
8 | Shulan City | 舒兰市 | Shūlán Shì | 645,925 | 4554 | 140 |
9 | Yongji County | 永吉县 | Yǒngjí Xiàn | 394,622 | 2625 | 150 |
Tourism
Jilin City is a popular destination for tourists to come each winter to view the magnificent rime ice (雾凇/霧凇) on trees along the banks of the Songhua River, (the river is the only river in the region that does not freeze in winter). The rime ice is a natural phenomenon that occurs every year during January and February. It is a result of when water vapor rises up from the warm Songhua River to meet the cold −20 °C (−4 °F) night air, causing the crystallisation of water vapour on willows branches.
Attractions:
- Meteorite Museum (largest stony meteorite of a documented meteorite fall)
- North Hill(Beishan in Chinese) Park (North-West of Jilin)
- Dragon Pool Mountain Park
- Songhua Lake (South-East of Jilin)
- Wulajie (乌拉街; formerly also transcribed as Wulakai[5]) Old City (44°05′N 126°28′E / 44.083°N 126.467°E), a Qing Dynasty walled town in Longtan District, on the east bank of the Sungari River downstream from Jilin's main urban area. The place was the center for collection of local products to the imperial court during the Qing Dynasty.[5] In 1682 - when, according to Ferdinand Verbiest, Wulajie (Ula) was "the most illustrious city of the whole province" - the Kangxi Emperor himself visited the place to enjoy sturgeon fishing.[6] These days, a public school nearby is one of the few schools in the country where some Manchu is taught.[7][8]
Sports
The winter sports in Jilin City are full of interests, such as skiing, skating, sledding, snowboarding, and winter swim.
Ski resorts:
- North Big Lake ski resort
- Songhua Lake ski resort
- North Hill ski resort
- Zhuque Hill ski resort
Winter swimming is widely practised in Jilin city.
International relations
Twin towns — Sister cities
Jilin City is twinned with:
- Nakhodka Primorsky Krai, Russia (1991)
- Spokane, Washington, United States
- Cherkasy, Cherkasy Oblast, Ukraine
- Östersund, Jämtland, Sweden
- Volgograd, Volgograd Oblast, Russia
See also
References
- ^ Shih-shan Henry Tsai, The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. SUNY Press, 1996. ISBN 0-7914-2687-4. Partial text on Google Books. P. 129-130
- ^ Edmonds, Richard Louis (1985). Northern Frontiers of Qing China and Tokugawa Japan: A Comparative Study of Frontier Policy. University of Chicago, Department of Geography; Research Paper No. 213. pp. 113, 115–117. ISBN 0-89065-118-3.
- ^ 新京商工公会刊『新京の概況 建国十周年記念發刊』18-19頁
- ^ Weather.com.cn. Accessed 2011-05-28.
- ^ a b Lattimore, Owen (1933), "Wulakai Tales From Manchuria", The Journal of American Folklore, JSTOR 535718. Lattimore explains that kai is simply a local pronunciation of 街 (jie in most other Mandarin dialects)
- ^ Orléans, Pierre Joseph d'; Verbiest, Ferdinand; Pereira, Thomas (1854), Major, Richard Henry (ed.), Tartar conquerors of China. Translated by Francis Egerton Ellesmere (Earl of), Issue 17 of Works issued by the Hakluyt Society, Hakluyt Society, Printed for the Hakluyt Society, pp. 112–113 (This is an English translation of Verbiest's report originally published in French in the early 19th century)
- ^ Echoes of Manchu: Breaking Ground
- ^ Echoes of Manchu: Wall Mystery Solved!