Shaanxi

 

(shän'shē') or Shensi (shĕn'sē') [west of the mountain passes], province (1994 est. pop. 34,010,000), c.76,000 sq mi (196,840 sq km), N central China. Xi'an is the capital. From north to south Shaanxi has four main regions—the loess plateau, fertile but dry; the Wei River valley, rich agriculturally and the center of population; the Qinling divide, the highest range of the province; and the upper Han River valley. The valleys of the Wei and Han rivers and newly irrigated areas in the northwest are the main farming regions. Extensive reforestation, terracing, and irrigation have reclaimed much eroded land and increased agricultural output. Wheat, millet, cotton, soybeans, and corn are the chief crops. Rice, tea, and tung oil are produced in the south, and fruit orchards are cultivated in the upland areas. Livestock (notably sheep) are raised. Shaanxi has rich coal and iron deposits. Oil is extracted at Yanchang, just E of Yan-an, and salt is obtained from lakes. China's main east-west railroad traverses Shaanxi through the Wei valley. A branch line links the west with Chengdu in Sichuan prov. A highway ties the Wei valley to the northwest. Important population centers are Xi'an, Baoji, Tongchuan, Xianyang, and Yan'an. Since the 1960s, Shaanxi has developed industrially; cotton, once sent to Shanghai for processing, is spun and woven in the province. Shaanxi's main industrial city is Xi'an, which has a variety of heavy and light industries. Shaanxi, especially the Wei River valley, was one of the early major political and cultural centers of N China. The founders of the Chou, Ch'in, and T'ang dynasties built their power there, and the Manchus gave the province its present boundaries. There was a widespread Muslim rebellion in Shaanxi in the 1860s. In 1935 the Communist army came to Yan'an in Shaanxi on its “long march,” and from 1935 until the assumption of power in 1949, Shaanxi was the seat of the Chinese Communists.

陕西省 Shǎnxī Shěng
Abbreviations: 陕 or 秦  (Pinyin: Shǎn or Qín)
Origin of name	陕 shǎn - Shanzhou (now Shan County, Henan) 西 xī - west "west of Shanzhou"
Administration type	Province
Capital (and largest city)	Xi'an
CPC Ctte Secretary	Zhao Leji
Governor	Yuan Chunqing
Area	205,800 km² (11th)
Population (2004)  - Density	37,050,000 (17th) 180/km² (21st)
GDP (2005)  - per capita	CNY 367.4 billion (20th) CNY 10,043 (21st)
HDI (2005)	0.729 (medium) (23rd)
Major nationalities	Han - 99.5% Hui - 0.4%
Prefecture-level	10 divisions
County-level	107 divisions
Township-level†	1745 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-61
Official website www.shaanxi.gov.cn (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 † As at December 31, 2004

 Shaanxi? (simplified Chinese: 陕西; traditional Chinese: 陝西; pinyin: Shǎnxī; Wade-Giles: Shan-hsi; Postal map spelling: Shensi) is a north-central province of the People's Republic of China, and includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River as well as the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of the province.

By regular Hanyu Pinyin rules, if tone marks are not written, both Shaanxi and the neighbouring province of Shanxi should be spelled "Shanxi"; the difference is in tone: Shānxī and Shǎnxī. To make the difference clear without tonal marks, the spelling "Shaanxi" was contrived (following the romanization system of Yuen Ren Chao) for the province of Shǎnxī, while "Shanxi" is used for the province of Shānxī. It is also the official spelling on Chinese Government's official web portal.

History

See also: Chang'an, Zhou Dynasty, Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Sui Dynasty, and Tang Dynasty

Shaanxi (and the city of Xi'an therein) are considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in this province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou Dynasty to the Tang Dynasty. It is also the starting point of the Silk Road which leads to Europe, Arabia and Africa.

Under the Ming dynasty, Shaanxi was incorporated into Gansu but was again separated in the Qing dynasty.

One of the most devastating earthquakes in history occurred near Hua Shan, in south-eastern part of Shaanxi Province on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see 1556 Shaanxi earthquake).

The end of the short-lived Jiangxi Soviet signalled the beginning of the Long March by Mao Zedong and the Chinese Communists to the Shaanxi Soviet at Yan'an.

Geography

Desert in the north along the border with Inner Mongolia, the Loess Plateau in the central part of the province, the Qinling mountains running east to west in the south central part, and subtropical climate south of the Qinling mountains.

The northern part of Shaanxi is cold in the winter and very hot in summer with dry winter and spring. Its southern portion generally receives more rain. Annual mean temperature is roughly between 9°C and 16°C with January temperature ranging from −11°C to 3.5°C and July temperature ranging from 21°C to 28°C.

Other cities include: Baoji, Hanzhong, Lintong, Tongchuan, Xianyang, Yan'an, Ankang.

Administration

Shaanxi consists of nine prefecture-level cities and the city of Xi'an. The prefecture-level cities are:

• Yulin
• Yan'an
• Tongchuan
• Weinan
• Xianyang
• Baoji
• Shangluo
• Ankang
• Hanzhong

See List of administrative divisions of Shaanxi for a complete list of county-level divisions.

Economy

Shaanxi's nominal GDP for 2004 was 288.4 RMB (35.78 billion USD) and GDP Per Capita was 6536 RMB (789 USD). It ranked 22nd in the PRC.

Demographics

Nearly all the people in Shaanxi are ethnic Han Chinese, with pockets of Hui population in the north western region (adjacent to Ningxia). The southern part of Shaanxi, known as Guanzhong, where the provincial capital Xi'an is located, is more populated compared to the northern part.

Culture

• Qinqiang, the representative folk opera of Shaanxi.

Tourism

• Banpo Neolithic village, near Xi'an
• Daqin Pagoda
• Imperial mausoleums
  • Zhao Mausoleum
• Huashan (Mount Hua), one of the five most famous mountains in China.
• Taibaishan (Mount Taibai), the highest peak of the Qinling Range.
• Mausoleum and Terracotta Army Museum of the First Qin Emperor in Xi'an (World Heritage Site)
• The city of Xi'an: City Walls, Great Mosque, Bell Tower and Drum Tower, Forest of Stone Steles Museum, Shaanxi History Museum, Wild Goose Pagoda
• Yan'an, the destination of the Long March and the center of Chinese Communist revolution from 1935 to 1948
• Biang Biang Noodles, one of the "ten strange wonders of Shaanxi" (陝西十大怪)

Media

• Shaanxi Radio serves Xi'an and the surrounding Shaanxi province area with music, and news.

• The Story of Yue Fei, a 17 – 18th century wuxia fiction novel about the life of Song Dynasty general Yue Fei, says his military arts teacher, Zhou Tong, was from Shaanxi.^[1]

Miscellaneous topics

Professional sports teams based in Shaanxi include:

• Chinese Basketball Association
  • Shaanxi Kylins
• Chinese Football Association Jia League
  • Xi'an Anxinyuan

References

External links

• The official website of Shaanxi
• Brief Introductions and Functions of Component Organizations of Shaanxi Provincial Government and Its Subordinate Bodies
• Map of Shaanxi Province and Map of Xi'an City
• Travel guide to Shaanxi
• Large map of Shaanxi
• Snapshots of Xi'an today
• China Shaanxi - a blog about Shaanxi

Province-level divisions administered by the People's Republic of China (PRC)
Provinces	Anhui · Fujian · Gansu · Guangdong · Guizhou · Hainan · Hebei · Heilongjiang · Henan · Hubei · Hunan · Jiangsu · Jiangxi · Jilin · Liaoning · Qinghai · Shaanxi · Shandong · Shanxi · Sichuan · Taiwan1 · Yunnan · Zhejiang
Autonomous regions	Guangxi · Inner Mongolia · Ningxia · Tibet (Xizang) · Xinjiang
Municipalities	Beijing · Chongqing · Shanghai · Tianjin
Special administrative regions	Hong Kong · Macau
1 Claimed by the People's Republic of China, but currently ruled by the Republic of China. See also Political status of Taiwan.

Prefecture-level divisions of Shaanxi Sub-provincial cities: Xi'an Prefecture-level cities: Ankang | Baoji | Hanzhong | Shangluo Tongchuan | Weinan | Xianyang | Yan'an | Yulin

List of Shaanxi County-level divisions

Coordinates: 34°00′N, 109°00′E

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