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Wenzhou
温州
Prefecture-level city
温州市
Statue of Five Horses in Wenzhou, China
Statue of Five Horses in Wenzhou, China
Wenzhou City (yellow) in Zhejiang
Wenzhou City (yellow) in Zhejiang
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceZhejiang
County-level divisions9
Government
 • MayorZhao Yide (赵一德)
Area
 • Land11,784 km2 (4,550 sq mi)
 • Water11,000 km2 (4,000 sq mi)
Population
 (2010)
 • Prefecture-level city9,122,100
 • Urban
1,423,600
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Area code577
GDPCNY 252.8 billion
GDP per capitaCNY 32,595
License Plate浙C
ISO 3166-2cn-11
Local DialectWu (Wenzhou dialect)
and Min Nan
Websitehttp://www.wenzhou.gov.cn
Wenzhou
Simplified Chinese温州
Traditional Chinese溫州
WuIu平ciou平 (Wenzhou dialect)
Uen平tseu平 (Shanghai dialect)
Literal meaningwarm state or Capital of Wen
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinWēnzhōu
Wu
RomanizationIu平ciou平 (Wenzhou dialect)
Uen平tseu平 (Shanghai dialect)
Hakka
RomanizationVûn-chû
Yue: Cantonese
Jyutpingwan1zau1
Southern Min
Hokkien POJUn-chiu

Wenzhou (simplified Chinese: 温州; traditional Chinese: 溫州; pinyin: Wēnzhōu; formerly Yongjia, Yung-chia[1]) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. The area under its jurisdiction, which includes two satellite cities and six counties, had a population of 9,122,100 as of 2010.[2] About 1,423,600 residents live in Wenzhou's city proper. It borders Lishui to the west, Taizhou to the north, and looks out to the East China Sea on its eastern coast.

Wenzhou was a prosperous foreign treaty port, which remains well-preserved today. It is situated in a mountainous region and, as a result, has been isolated for most of its history from the rest of the country, making the local culture and language very different from those of neighbouring areas. It is also known for its emigrants who leave their native land for Europe and the United States, with a reputation for being enterprising natives who start restaurants, retail and wholesale businesses in their adopted countries.

History

Wenzhou, also known as Yongjia (or Yung-chia 永嘉) has a history which goes back to about 2000 BC, when it became known for its pottery production. In the 2nd century BC it was called the Kingdom of Dong'ou. Under the Tang Dynasty, it was promoted to prefecture status and given its current name in 675 AD. The name Wenzhou was formed from the nearby Wenqiao Mountains (Chinese: 温峤岭) and the addition of the -zhou "prefecture" suffix.[3]

Throughout its history, Wenzhou's traditional economic role has been as a port giving access to the mountainous interior of southern Zhejiang Province. In 1876 Wenzhou was opened to the foreign tea trade, but no foreign settlement was ever established there. Between 1937 and 1942, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Wenzhou achieved importance as one of the few ports still under Chinese control. It declined in the later years of the war, but began to recover after coastal trade along the Zhejiang coast was re-established in 1955.

Geography and climate

Wenzhou derives its present name from its mild climate. With jurisdiction over three districts, two county-level cities and six counties, Wenzhou covers a land area of 11,784 square kilometers and sea area of 11,000 square kilometers. The population of the prefectural level city is 7.7 million including 2 million urban residents, divided among 2 "county level" cities and 3 wards.

The coast of Wenzhou is rich in natural resources. The 339 kilometres (211 miles) long coastline gives the city abundant marine resources and many beautiful islands. Dongtou, one of the counties in Wenzhou, is also called the “County of one hundred islands”. Wenzhou also boasts wonderful landscapes with rugged mountains and tranquil waters, including three state-level scenic spots, namely the Yandang Mountain, the Nanxi River and the Baizhangji Fall-Feiyun Lake, and two national nature reserves, namely the Wuyanling Ridge and the Nanji Islands, among which Yandang Mountain has been named as World Geopark, while Nanji Islands listed as UNESCO’s Marine Nature Reserve of World Biosphere Reserves. Scenic area accounts for 25% of the city’s land space, which is a perfect integration of exotic mountains, tender water and charming sea.

Wenzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with short, mild, dry winters and long, hot, humid summers. Summers are similar to the remainder of the province, but winter is much milder, partly due to the southerly location and partly due to the sheltering effect of the surrounding mountains. Mean monthly temperatures range from 8.0 to 28.0 °C (46.4 to 82.4 °F) in January and July respectively. Heavy rainfalls occur in late spring and early summer due to the monsoon, while typhoons are common in late summer causing considerable damage and destruction.

Climate data for Wenzhou (1971–2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 12.2
(54.0) 		12.4
(54.3) 		15.3
(59.5) 		20.6
(69.1) 		24.7
(76.5) 		28.3
(82.9) 		32.2
(90.0) 		31.9
(89.4) 		28.8
(83.8) 		24.8
(76.6) 		20.1
(68.2) 		15.2
(59.4) 		22.2
(72.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.0
(41.0) 		5.7
(42.3) 		8.6
(47.5) 		13.3
(55.9) 		18.0
(64.4) 		22.0
(71.6) 		25.0
(77.0) 		25.0
(77.0) 		21.9
(71.4) 		17.2
(63.0) 		12.1
(53.8) 		6.9
(44.4) 		15.1
(59.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 58.3
(2.30) 		82.7
(3.26) 		145.1
(5.71) 		161.7
(6.37) 		203.4
(8.01) 		245.5
(9.67) 		178.4
(7.02) 		250.1
(9.85) 		204.9
(8.07) 		95.0
(3.74) 		74.7
(2.94) 		42.6
(1.68) 		1,742.4
(68.62)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 13.5 14.8 19.0 18.4 18.4 18.1 14.7 16.6 13.4 10.3 9.4 8.1 174.7
Average relative humidity (%) 76 79 82 83 84 88 84 82 81 77 74 72 80
Mean monthly sunshine hours 113.2 90.5 96.4 119.5 122.0 126.9 214.8 213.3 166.2 157.0 138.2 148.0 1,706
Source: China Meteorological Administration [4]

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Wenzhou currently administers three districts, two county-level cities and six counties.

District (区) Name Population Area(km2)
Lucheng District (鹿城区) 679,600 294.38
Longwan District (龙湾区) 320,900 279
Ouhai District (瓯海区) 405,200 614.5
Wenzhou urban area (市区　"city of Wenzhou") 1,405,600 1187.88
Wenzhou urban population 1,405,600
Ruian City (瑞安市) 1,146,100 1271 (3037 incl water) Urban population 198,400
Yueqing City (乐清市) 1,182,100 1174 (1413 incl water) Urban population 121,900
County Area
Yongjia County (永嘉县)
Pingyang County (平阳县)
Cangnan County (苍南县)
Dongtou County (洞头县)
Wencheng County (文成县)
Taishun County (泰顺县)

Economy

Rui'an, one of the satellite cities under Wenzhou's jurisdiction

Wenzhou exports food, tea, wine, jute, timber, paper, Alunite (a non-metallic mineral used to make alum and fertilizer). Alunite is quite abundant here and sometimes Wenzhou claims to be the "Alunite Capital of the World". Its 10 main industries each exceeding 1.5 billion dollars are electrical machinery, leather products, general equipment, power supply, plastic manufacturing, textile and garment, transport equipment, chemical products, metal products and metal processing.

From the 1990s, low-voltage electric appliances manufacturing became one of the major industries in Wenzhou, with some of the large private enterprises setting up joint ventures with GE and Schneider.

IN 1994, exploration for oil and natural gas commenced in the East China Sea 100 km off the coast of Wenzhou. Companies such as Texaco, Chevron, Shell and JAPEX have started to drill for oil but the operations have been largely unsuccessful.

Wenzhou is a city full of vibrant business activities. When China began economic reforms in 1978, Wenzhou was the first city to set up individual and private enterprises as well as a shareholding cooperative economy in China. It has also taken the lead in carrying out financial system reform and structural reform in townships. Being a pioneer in utilising marketing mechanism to develop urban constructions, Wenzhou has won a number of firsts in China and set many national records.

From 1978 through 2009, the GDP of the city has increased from 1.32 billion RMB to 252.8 billion RMB with the gross fiscal revenue increasing from 0.135 billion RMB to 36.1 billion RMB, and the net per capita income for rural residents increasing from 113.5 RMB to 10,100 RMB. The per capita disposable income for urban residents increased from 422.6 RMB in 1981 to 28,021 RMB in 2009, which is the third highest among Chinese cities, after Dongguan and Shenzhen.

Birthplace of China's private economy

In the early days of economic reforms, the people of Wenzhou took the lead in developing a commodity economy, household industries and specialized markets. Many thousands of people and families were engaged in household manufacturing to develop individual and private economy. Up till now, Wenzhou has a total of 240,000 individually-owned commercial and industrial units and 130,000 private enterprises of which 180 are group companies, 4 among China’s top 500 enterprises and 36 among national 500 top private enterprises. The quantity, industrial output, tax, export and number of employees of the private enterprises account for 99%, 96%, 75%, 95% and 80% of the whole city respectively. There are 27 national production bases such as “China’s Shoes Capital” and “China’s Capital of Electrical Equipment”, China’s 40 famous trademarks and China’s famous-brand products and 67 national inspection-exempt products in the city. The development of private economy in Wenzhou has created the “Wenzhou Economic Model”, which inspires the modernization drive in China.

The city of Wenzhou is a world leader in lighter manufacturing with over 500 such companies in the city.[5]

There are many area in which people of Wenzhou open the first example of private economy. For instance, Junyao Airlines is built on July, 1991, which is the first and still the only private airline company in China. Jinwen Rail Way is also the first rail way company which is built with private capital.

Industrial zones

  • Wenzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone

Wenzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone was established and approved by State Council in 1992. The main traffic system around the zone include No.104 National Highway, Ningbo-Wenzhou Expressway and Wenzhou Bridge. It is located near to Wenzhou International Airport and Wenzhou Port. Industries encouraged in the zone include electrical equipment, electronic information, chemical medicine, building materials, and textiles.[6]

Transport

Air

The Wenzhou Yongqiang Airport serves the Wenzhou area, with scheduled flights to major cities in mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macau. The Airport is situated on the southeast of Wenzhou city proper, 20 kilometers away from the city center. It’s been graded as nation’s Category B civil airport, serving a population of 20 million spanning areas of Wenzhou, Taizhou and Lishui of Zhejiang Province and Ningde of the neibouring Fujian Province. The correlated GDP of the area reaches 300 billion RMB.

The Airport started opening up in 1995 and direct flight to Macau was approved. Air route to Hong Kong was open in 1996. Linking 65 cities in the country with 34 permanently operating air routes, the Airport is among the fastest-growing and profitable among its peers in China.

The Airport ranks 1st in terms of passenger transit among cities of same level in China. In 2004, the Airport handled 29,700 landings, a passenger transit of 2.439 million, cargo throughput of 38,500 tons.

Railway

Because of Wenzhou's geographic location, it is difficult to build a railway to connect it with other cities. Wenzhou's first railway, the Jinhua-Wenzhou Line, opened on June 11, 1998. The railway runs northwest to Jinhua and is operated by the Jinwen Railway Company. The railway has a total length of 251 km, including 135 bridges of 14 km in length 96 tunnels of 35 km in length. The Jinwen Railway was the first in China to be built with local capital, and gave birth to China's first standardized joint-stock enterprise: Zhejiang Jinwen Rail Way Development Co., Ltd.[7][8]

In September 2009, two high-speed railways opened in Wenzhou. The Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou Railway runs north to Ningbo, and the Wenzhou–Fuzhou Railway, runs south to Fuzhou.[9] Both lines accommodate high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) trains running at speeds of up to 250 km/h and have dramatically shortened rail travel time to neighboring cities.

Culture and demographics

Language

Wenzhou natives speak Wu Chinese, which is the spoken language of the people of neighbouring Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. However, geographic isolation and the immigration of Southern Min Chinese speakers from nearby Fujian Province, have caused Wenzhou's spoken language to evolve into a dialect that has been described as "notoriously eccentric."[citation needed] As a result, people from all over China, including those from other regions of Zhejiang and Fujian have trouble understanding the dialect in Wenzhou, which is known as Wenzhouhua ("Wenzhou Dialect" Chinese: 温州话, or "Wenzhounese").

Religion

As in most parts of PRC, most residents are non-religious or atheists. Some claim that around 80% of Wenzhou residents who are religious are Buddhist, with numerous Buddhist temples scattered over the landscape. But recently there has been a rapid growth of Christian community, one source claims[10] that between 15 and 20% of the city's population is Christian. These numbers are further incompatible due to local family churches now saying 30% of the population is Christian. Before the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, there were 70,000 Christians in Wenzhou, representing 1/10 of the Christian population of China. There is no question that there are a number of religious families in the cities. Due to the ambitious Wenzhou business people, English is in high demand and some house churches are now offering English services [11] and Bible studies.

Between late 2000 and early 2002 the government began destroying or closing churches and temples. This affected Christians, Buddhists and Taoists.[12]

Art and literature

Wenzhou is 1682 years old with a profound and brilliant cultural background. It has given birth to many outstanding people and great scholars. Among them were Wang Shipeng, Chen Fuliang, Ye Shi, Huang Gongwang and Liu Ji during the South Song Dynasty, as well as Sun Yirang, Xia Nai, Xia Chengtao and Su Buqing and others of the modern era. All of them have exerted significant influence in the history of Chinese philosophy, literature and science. Wenzhou is also the origin of China’s landscape poetry, the founder of which, Xie Lingyun, was the chief of Wenzhou’s Yongjia Prefecture in the Nan Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, there were 4 distinguished poets from Yongjia representing the River and Lake Poetry. In addition, Wenzhou is home to Nan Drama of China. For instance, “Tale of Lute”, a play by Gao Zecheng of Ming Dynasty, is renowned abroad as one of the most outstanding works of Chinese drama along with Kun Opera of Yongjia which is recognized as the verbal and non-material human heritage. Wenzhou is also the birthplace of China’s Mercantilism. From the Southern Song Dynasty, in contrasted to the Confucianism represented by Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan in China urging people to study to be officials in the future, the theory of Wenzhou’s Yongjia School represented by Ye Shi, emphasized the importance of business. The theory has an enduring impact on the mindset of Wenzhou natives and has become the “cultural gene” in the economic development of Wenzhou ever since.

Renowned as the cradle of mathematicians in China, the city has teemed with over 200 mathematic professors in the recent 100 years, among whom Su Buqing, Gu Chaohao, Jiang Lifu and other mathematicians have enjoyed great fame both at home and abroad. Furthermore, Wenzhou is also reputed as the “Home of Swimming in China”, “City of Chess” and “City of Poetry in China”.

Business culture

Due to both Wenzhou's cultural and geographical remoteness and its lack of natural resources (land, minerals, etc.), the Chinese central government has left the people of Wenzhou relatively autonomous[citation needed]. Away from the center of the political and economic stage, its people are more independent, self-reliant, and generally more business-oriented. Numerous books have been published about the business sense of people from Wenzhou. Hence, when China switched from its planned economy to its so-called capitalist economy with Chinese (socialist) characteristics in the late 1980s, its people adjusted well to the new system and took advantage of it. A popular saying calls Wenzhounese the "Jews of the Orient" (东方的犹太人). Wenzhounese have been stereotyped by other Chinese as real estate speculators. China Daily notes that investments from Wenzhounese buyers play a disproportionately large role in the increase in Chinese property prices.[13]

The people of Wenzhou are equipped with business sense and a commercial culture more dominant than anywhere else in China. Wenzhou has two economic characteristics: it was the first to launch a market economy, and it has the most active and developed private economy in China. In the process of developing its economy, its people have survived adversity, with little positive help from the government.

Education

There are two major universities in Wenzhou: Wenzhou University and Wenzhou Medical College. Wenzhou University resulted from the merger of the former University of Wenzhou, Wenzhou Normal College and other various normal colleges in the rural towns of Wenzhou. Its main campus is situated in the University Town, Cha Shan(茶山). The former campus of Wenzhou Normal College on Xueyuan Road (学院路) is still in use, while the former main campus of the University of Wenzhou now serves as the campus of the Wenzhou Foreign Language School and the Second Experimental Middle School of Wenzhou (No.13 Middle School).

Wenzhou Medical College is a well-known college specializing in ophthalmology (national level key discipline), as well as the provision of other medical courses. Several of Wenzhou's major hospitals are affiliated to this college.

There are also a few vocational colleges, including:

Friendship cities

Notable people

References

  1. ^ "Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection: Historical Maps of China". Retrieved 2010-08-24.
  2. ^ [1]
  3. ^ Zhongguo Gujin Diming Dacidian 中国古今地名大词典, 2941.
  4. ^ "中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年）" (in Simplified Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 2010年5月27日. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  5. ^ Wenzhou Lighter Makers Await EU Decision
  6. ^ RightSite.asia | Wenzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone
  7. ^ http://baike.baidu.com/view/35177.htm
  8. ^ www.jwr.cn
  9. ^ Xiamen-Shenzhen Railway to open by end of next year
  10. ^ "The War For China's Soul". Time. August 20, 2006.
  11. ^ [2]
  12. ^ Fisher, John (5 June 2001). "Official China Press Confirms Wenzhou Church Destruction Campaign". Catholic World News. Retrieved 30 December 2010. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ "Chinese speculators eye property overseas".
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