Wenzhou

Coordinates: 27°59′38″N 120°41′57″E / 27.9938°N 120.6993°E / 27.9938; 120.6993
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Wenzhou
温州市
Wenchow, Yujeu, Iu Tsiu
License Plate
浙C
Spoken languageWenzhounese
Websitewww.wenzhou.gov.cn
Wenzhou
"Wenzhou" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters
Simplified Chinese温州
Traditional Chinese溫州
WuIu1-ciou1 (Wenzhounese)
Uen1tseu1 (Shanghainese)
Tâi-lô
Un-tsiu
Bbánlám PìngyīmŪnziū

Wenzhou

residents originally from outside of Wenzhou.[5]

During the 19th century, the progenitor city of modern Wenzhou was known as Yungkia (

foreign treaty port that remains well-preserved today. Being situated in the mountains, it has been isolated for most of its history from the rest of the country, making its local culture and language, known as Wenzhounese, particularly distinct, even from its direct neighbours. The city is also the native land of many emigrants to Europe and the United States, with many Wenzhounese immigrants abroad becoming entrepreneurs, restaurantiers, and retail and wholesale businesspeople in their adopted countries.[7] Wenzhou people make up a large proportion of the Chinese residents in Italy, constituting approximately 90% of Tuscany's Chinese population.[8] Significant concentrations of Wenzhounese also live in New York City, as well as across France and Spain.[9]

History

Ancient history

The area that would become Wenzhou has history tracing back to c.2500 BC, when it became known for its pottery production, and as one of the origins of celadon in ancient China.

Imperial China

In the early second century BC, shortly after the destruction of the

Hui named Zhou Yao as the king of the Dong'ou kingdom, with its new capital near present-day Wenzhou. This polity would last from 191 BC until it was conquered by the Minyue kingdom
in 138 BC.

Around 760,

Emperor Gaozu of Tang
became the earliest known figure to refer to the city by its present name, the label owing to the city's mild weather.

The city walls were built in the 10th century, and its seven gates were erected in 1598.[10]

Modern era

Throughout its history, Wenzhou's traditional economic role has been as a port giving access to the mountainous interior of southern Zhejiang Province. In early European sources, the name Wenzhou-Fu or -Foo was often transcribed Ouen-tcheou-fou or Wen-tcheou after the accounts of French-speaking missionaries.[11] In 1876, Wenzhou opened for tea exports, which led to a significant Wenzhounese diaspora of merchants in France, but no foreign settlement was ever established there.[10] Between 1937 and 1942, during the Second Sino-Japanese War (i.e., World War II), 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.

Fengshui of Wenzhou

Wenzhou is the only city in China designed by

Fengshui philosophical system along with the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and the Five Elements. These philosophies develop and manage architecture and geography as a whole in metaphoric terms of "invisible forces" that unite the universe, earth, and humanity together.[12][14][15][16]

Throughout its history, Wenzhou has avoided numerous militant activities that were originally set out to invade the city of Wenzhou. However, none of them were successful, and this protection is concluded [

Northern Song Dynasty, when the Fangla Revolution took place in the now Zhejiang province, the invading army surrounded Wenzhou for over 40 days, but the mountainous isolation blocked the army's movement and the army ended up retreating.[12][15][17]

Wenzhou is still considered [

Fengshui development by Guo Pu.

Guo Pu

When Guo Pu climbed to the top of West Guo Mountain (西郭山) in Wenzhou, [

Lucheng District is the name of downtown Wenzhou and the White Deer theater located at downtown is the most popular theater among the locals .[12]

Guo Pu is honoured today by the renaming of West Guo Mountain, where he stood to observe the city, into Guo Gong Mountain. At the bottom of Guo Gong Mountain, a temple was also built and named Guo Gong Temple. In 2003, the local government constructed a statue of Guo Pu in downtown Wenzhou.

Geography

Wenzhou (labelled as YUNG-CHIA (WENCHOW) 永嘉) (1953)
On the coast of the Dayu Bay in Cangnan County

With jurisdiction over four districts, two county-level cities and five counties, Wenzhou covers a land area of 11,784 km2 (4,550 sq mi) and sea area of 11,000 km2 (4,200 sq mi). The population of the prefectural level city is 9.12 million including 2.30 million urban residents, divided among 3 county-level cities and 4 districts.

Most of Wenzhou's landscape is mountainous, with many mountain tops reaching altitudes in excess of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), for example in the

Yandang Mountains, a coastal mountain range dominating the eastern part of prefecture. Another dominating landscape element is the Ou River, the largest river in Wenzhou prefecture. There are some coastal plains, notably around the mouth of the Ou (where the city proper of Wenzhou is located), the Nanxi River, a tributary of the Ou, and further south, around the mouth of the Feiyun River (in Rui'an
, a county-level city). Coastal plains are used intensively for agriculture but also host much of the population and industry.

The 339 kilometres (211 mi) long coastline gives the city abundant marine resources and has many islands.[citation needed] Dongtou, one of the districts in Wenzhou, has also been called the "County of One Hundred Islands." Dongtou County was renamed as Dongtou District in September 2015 following the State Council-sanctioned administrative region adjustments.

Wenzhou boasts wonderful landscapes with rugged mountains and tranquil waters, including three state-level scenic spots, namely the

Yandang Mountains, the Nanxi River and the Baizhangji Fall-Feiyun Lake, and two national nature reserves, the Wuyanling Ridge and the Nanji Islands. Yandang Mountain has been named as a World Geopark, while the Nanji Islands are listed a UNESCO Marine Nature Reserve of World Biosphere Reserves
. Scenic areas account for 25% of the city's land space.

Climate

Wenzhou derives its present name from its climate, and has a

plum rains of the East Asian monsoon, while typhoons
are commonly a threat in the second half of summer causing considerable damage and destruction. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 26% in March to 53% in August, the city receives 1,706 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Wenzhou (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 25.6
(78.1)
27.3
(81.1)
29.5
(85.1)
33.2
(91.8)
35.7
(96.3)
37.5
(99.5)
41.7
(107.1)
38.5
(101.3)
38.0
(100.4)
35.0
(95.0)
30.0
(86.0)
25.9
(78.6)
41.7
(107.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F) 12.9
(55.2)
14.1
(57.4)
17.1
(62.8)
22.1
(71.8)
26.2
(79.2)
29.4
(84.9)
33.3
(91.9)
33.1
(91.6)
30.1
(86.2)
25.9
(78.6)
20.8
(69.4)
15.6
(60.1)
23.4
(74.1)
Daily mean °C (°F) 8.7
(47.7)
9.7
(49.5)
12.6
(54.7)
17.3
(63.1)
21.8
(71.2)
25.2
(77.4)
28.7
(83.7)
28.5
(83.3)
25.7
(78.3)
21.2
(70.2)
16.4
(61.5)
11.0
(51.8)
18.9
(66.0)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F) 5.9
(42.6)
6.8
(44.2)
9.6
(49.3)
14.1
(57.4)
18.8
(65.8)
22.5
(72.5)
25.6
(78.1)
25.5
(77.9)
22.7
(72.9)
17.9
(64.2)
13.3
(55.9)
7.9
(46.2)
15.9
(60.6)
Record low °C (°F) −4.5
(23.9)
−3.9
(25.0)
−1.7
(28.9)
2.4
(36.3)
9.0
(48.2)
14.9
(58.8)
17.9
(64.2)
19.1
(66.4)
13.7
(56.7)
5.7
(42.3)
0.2
(32.4)
−3.5
(25.7)
−4.5
(23.9)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 65.3
(2.57)
81.8
(3.22)
146.3
(5.76)
139.3
(5.48)
178.3
(7.02)
275.9
(10.86)
186.3
(7.33)
250.7
(9.87)
211.1
(8.31)
80.2
(3.16)
77.1
(3.04)
62.5
(2.46)
1,754.8
(69.08)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 12.5 13.8 17.6 16.6 16.9 18.4 13.6 16.2 12.8 8.3 10.7 10.2 167.6
Average snowy days 1.0 0.8 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.3 2.3
Average
relative humidity
(%)
72 75 77 78 80 84 80 79 76 71 73 70 76
Mean monthly sunshine hours 94.4 90.7 99.2 118.1 121.0 111.5 193.8 183.4 149.7 146.6 110.7 103.4 1,522.5
Percent possible sunshine 29 29 27 31 29 27 46 46 41 41 35 32 34
Source: China Meteorological Administration[19][20][21]

Administration

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

The prefecture-level city of Wenzhou currently administers four

counties. Its population at 2010 census:[4]

Map
# Name
Hanzi
Hanyu Pinyin
Population
(2020 Census)
Area(km2) Density(/km2)
1
Lucheng District
鹿城区 Lùchéng Qū 1,167,164 294.38 4,393
2
Longwan District
龙湾区 Lóngwān Qū 725,049 279 2,686
3
Ouhai District
瓯海区 Ōuhǎi Qū 963,238 614.5 1,622
4
Dongtou District
洞头区 Dòngtóu Qū 148,807 100 877
5 Rui'an City 瑞安市 Ruì'ān Shì 1,520,046 1,271 1,121
6 Yueqing City 乐清市 Yuèqīng Shì 1,453,090 1,174 1,183
7 Longgang City 龙港市 Lónggǎng Shì 464,695 184 2,525
8 Yongjia County 永嘉县 Yǒngjiā Xiàn 869,548 2,674 295
9 Pingyang County 平阳县 Píngyáng Xiàn 863,166 1,042 731
10 Cangnan County 苍南县 Cāngnán Xiàn 843,959 1,088 931
11 Wencheng County 文成县 Wénchéng Xiàn 288,168 1,271 167
12 Taishun County 泰顺县 Tàishùn Xiàn 265,973 1,762 132

Economy

Wuma Shopping Street