Zhanjiang

Zhanjiang
—  Prefecture-level city  —
Guangdong Province
Chinese transcription(s)
- Chinese	湛江
- Pinyin	Zhànjiāng
File:EGXSAQQA.jpg Zhanjiang Building
Zhanjiang is highlighted on this map
Zhanjiang Zhanjiang is highlighted on this map
Coordinates: 21°12′N 110°24′E / 21.2°N 110.4°E / 21.2; 110.4
Country	China
Province	Guangdong
City seat	Chikan District
Government
- CPC Party Chief	Chen Yaoguang (陈耀光)
- Mayor	Ruan Risheng (阮日生)
Area
- Total	12,490 km2 (4,822.4 sq mi)
Population (2008)
- Total	6,902,400
- Density	552.6/km2 (1,431.3/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	524000
Area code(s)	759
Major Nationalities	Han
County-level divisions	9
License Plate Prefix	粤G
Website	http://www.zhanjiang.gov.cn/

Zhanjiang (湛江; French Fort-Bayard) is a prefecture-level city in Guangdong province, in southeast China.

Administration

Zhanjiang has direct juridiction over 9 county-level divisions:

• Chikan District (赤坎区; pinyin: Chìkǎn Qū) - includes the northern part of downtown Zhanjiang
• Mazhang District (麻章区; pinyin: Mázhāng Qū)
• Potou District (坡头区; pinyin: Pōtóu Qū)
• Xiashan District (霞山区; pinyin: Xiáshān Qū) - includes the southern part of downtown Zhanjiang
• Leizhou City (雷州市; pinyin: Léizhōu Shì)
• Lianjiang City (廉江市; pinyin: Liánjiāng Shì)
• Wuchuan City (吴川市; pinyin: Wúchuān Shì)
• Suixi County (遂溪县; pinyin: Suíxī Xiàn)
• Xuwen County (徐闻县; pinyin: Xúwén Xiàn)

Geography

Zhanjiang is located to the southwest of the city of Guangzhou on an inlet of the South China Sea. It is located on the eastern coast of the Leizhou Peninsula. The dialect of Leizhou is not Cantonese (Yue) but a dialect of Min Nan.

History

During the Qin Dynasty (221BC-206BC), the area of today's Zhanjiang belonged to Xiang Shire and the central government of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD) set Xuwen County administering the whole Leizhou Peninsular. It was one of the earliest departure points on the Marine Silk Road. The population spiked during the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties.

The region was still a small fishing port when it was occupied by the French in 1898. The next year, the French forced the Chinese to lease Zhanjiang to them for 99 years as the territory of Kwang-Chou-Wan. The French wanted to develop the port, which they called Fort Bayard, to serve southern China, in parts of which France had exclusive rights to railway and mineral development. Their efforts, however, were hindered by the poverty of the surrounding land. The French retained control of the region until 1943, when the Japanese occupied the area during World War II. At the end of the war the region returned briefly under French rule before being formally returned to China in 1946 by the general De Gaulle, then French head of state.

Following the establishment of the People’s Republic in 1949, Zhanjiang developed new importance. In 1955 a rail link was built to Litang in Guangxi province, where it joined the Hunan-Guangxi rail system. Since then, Zhanjiang has developed into a major modern port serving southern China, usable by ships of up to 50,000 tons. In 1984 Zhanjiang was designated one of the “open” cities of China, where the central government invited foreign investment; this spurred the city’s further industrial development. It has shipyards and engineering works; automobile, electrical-appliance, and textile plants; and sugar refineries, flour and rice mills, and chemical works. In the early 1990s a new rail line was completed, linking Zhanjiang with Guangzhou , the provincial capital. The line was later extended to Hai’an, at the southernmost tip of Leizhou Peninsula, where trains could be transported by ferry across the Hainan Strait to Haikou.

Until the introduction of Pinyin spelling, it was often known in the west as "Tsamkong" due to the Cantonese pronunciation of the name.

Military

Chinese Navy Sea Fleet in Zhanjiang

Economy

Zhanjiang City, the most important resource is the resource port. Zhanjiang Port 241 kilometers long coastline, is the world's first port of 4 times the port of Rotterdam. Zhanjiang Port is the one of the eight major ports, the annual throughput of more than 2,600 million tons. After the founding of New China's first self-designed and built the world's rare in modern deep water port.

It is a seaport and trade center having many varied industries, including shipyards, textile plants, and sugar refining.

Agriculture

Zhanjiang agricultural performance in 2007 is the most prominent sugarcane production: in 2006 9,135,500 tons, 1,000 million tons in 2007.

Industrial

Industrial economy to make a breakthrough, a marked increase in the number of units. Zhanjiang in 2007 of all industrial output value of 112.134 billion yuan, up 17.1 percent, a growth rate of nearly 4-year high of 15.3 billion net increase over the previous year. In 2007 the city's industrial enterprises above designated size reached 714, 71 more than last year, industrial output value of over a hundred million of the 132 enterprises.

Business

Zhanjiang in 2007 total retail sales of social consumer goods 38.216 billion yuan, an increase of 19.5%, the growth rate of nearly 12 years since a new high.

Port of Zhanjiang

Port of Zhanjiang is located in the southernmost tip of mainland China's Zhanjiang City, Guangdong Province, the east port of the South China Sea, south of Hainan Island, the north west Bay, north the Southwest. People's Republic of China after the establishment of their own design and construction of the first modern port, China and Southeast Asia, Australia, European countries bordering the Indian Ocean and the shortest journey between the port's foreign trade.

Tourism

Zhanjiang, a well-known tourist attractions, "Zhanjiang Eight," as follows:

1. East Island
2. Huguangyan National Geopark
3. View of the sea promenade
4. Park Jin-inch
5. Lighthouse
6. Hot for the Botanic Gardens in South Asia
7. South Isles
8. Zhanjiang Port

Major theme attractions

French architectural monuments

• French minister to the Department of the Guangzhou Bay
• France, the Police Department, Guangzhou Bay
• Victor Catholic Church
• Calyon site
• Gospel
• Guangzhou Bay Chamber of Commerce Center

In addition the sea and the sky dragon, Zhanjiang Mangrove National Nature Reserve, Cape Reservoir is well-known tourist attractions, distinctive.

See also

• Kwang-Chou-Wan

International relations

Twin towns — Sister cities

Zhanjiang is twinned with:

• Serpukhov (Russia)
• Cairns (Australia)

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Zhanjiang

• Official website of Zhanjiang Government

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