Zhangzhou

Zhangzhou 漳州 Chiang-chiu
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Chinese transcription(s)
- Simplified	漳州
- Traditional
- Pinyin	Zhāngzhōu
- POJ	Chiang-chiu
Zhangzhou City
Country	China
Province	Fujian
Area
- Total	12,607 km2 (4,867.6 sq mi)
Population
- Total	3,760,000
- Density	298.2/km2 (772.5/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	363000
Area code(s)	596
GDP	62.9 billion
City trees	Cinnamomum camphora
City flowers	Narcissus tazetta
Website	www.zhangzhou.gov.cn

Zhangzhou (Chinese: 漳州; pinyin: Zhāngzhōu; Wade-Giles: Chang¹-chou¹; Min Nan (Hokkien): Chiang-chiu) is a prefecture-level city in southern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Located on the banks of the Xi River, Zhangzhou borders the cities of Xiamen (廈門) and Quanzhou (泉州) to the northeast, Longyan City to the northwest and the province of Guangdong to the southwest.

In older English works, its name may appear as Chang-chow or Changchow and in Southeast Asian contexts it appears as Chiang-chew or Chiang Chew from the Hokkien name.

Dialect

The main dialect spoken in Zhangzhou is Hokkien, one of the major Min Nan (simplified Chinese: 闽南语; traditional Chinese: 閩南語) languages. But officially, people use Standard Mandarin in government, commerce and official business.

History

In the early 20th century, Zhangzhou-fu was surrounded by 42 miles of wall (in circumference). ^[1] Its streets were paved with granite, but struck some Western visitors as dirty, as reported in the Enyclopedia Britannica. The Jiulongjiang River was crossed by an 800-foot bridge of wooden planks supported on twenty-five stone piers. ^[2] At this time, heavy silk trading activity occured in the city, while brick kilns and sugar-manufactures were among its primary industrial activities. ^[3] In 1911, its population was estimated around 1,000,000. ^[4]

Zhangzhou's central urban area (now Xiangcheng District) was occupied in April and May 1932 by a column of Communist guerrillas under Mao Zedong. Due to the presence of Western gunboats in Xiamen Bay, arms shipments from the Soviet Union were unable to get up the Jiulong Jiang River to Mao's forces and on to the main Communist base area. According to some reports, Mao's forces took with them a substantial amount of loot from bourgeois residents when his column retreated from the city. ^[5]

Administrative divisions

The prefecture-level city of Zhangzhou administers 2 districts, 1 county-level city and 8 counties.

1. Longwen District (龙文区)
2. Xiangcheng District (芗城区)
3. Longhai City (龙海市)
4. Changtai County (长泰县)
5. Dongshan County (东山县)
6. Hua'an County (华安县)
7. Nanjing County (南靖县)
8. Pinghe County (平和县)
9. Yunxiao County (云霄县)
10. Zhangpu County (漳浦县)
11. Zhao'an County (诏安县)

Colleges and universities

• Zhangzhou Normal College

Notable persons

• Chen Yuanguang (陳元光), 657 - 711 CE, Han-nation pioneer of South China.
• Khaw Soo Cheang, 1786 - 1882, South China Sea merchant and a royally-favoured Governor in Thailand.
• Lin Yutang (林语堂), 1895 - 1976, international author, cultural ambassador and inventor.

References

External links

• Government website of Zhangzhou (in Simplified Chinese)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zhangzhou

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Coordinates: 24°31′N 117°39′E / 24.517°N 117.65°E / 24.517; 117.65

v • d • e Fujian Province History · Politics · Economy · Music Sub-provincial cities Xiamen Prefecture-level cities Fuzhou · Longyan · Nanping · Ningde · Putian · Quanzhou · Sanming · Zhangzhou See also: List of Fujian County-level divisions