Zhenjiang

For other uses, see Zhenjiang District.
Zhenjiang
镇江市
Prefecture-level city

Jinshan

Location of Zhenjiang City (yellow) in Jiangsu
Zhenjiang

Location in China

Coordinates: 32°12′N 119°25′E / 32.200°N 119.417°E / 32.200; 119.417Coordinates: 32°12′N 119°25′E / 32.200°N 119.417°E / 32.200; 119.417
Country China
Province Jiangsu
Government
 • Party Secretary Yang Xingshi (杨省世)
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 3,799 km2 (1,467 sq mi)
 • Urban 1,059 km2 (409 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
 • Prefecture-level city 3,113,384
 • Urban 1,189,320
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 212000, 212100
(Urban center)
212200-212400
(Other areas)
Area code(s) 511
GDP (2013) ¥292.8 billion
($41.69 billion)
GDP per capita ¥92,782 ($14,981)
Major Nationalities Han - 99.43%
Hui
Uyghur
Kazakh
Tatar
County-level divisions 6
Township-level divisions 77
License Plate Prefix 苏L
Website http://www.zhenjiang.gov.cn
Zhenjiang
Simplified Chinese 镇江
Traditional Chinese 鎮江

Zhenjiang (Chinese: 镇江) is a city in Jiangsu province, in eastern China. Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Zhenjiang is governed as a prefecture-level city and was formally the provincial capital of Jiangsu before being replaced by Nanjing. It borders Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.

Once known as "Jingjiang" (Chinese: 京江; postal: "Kingkiang") or "Jingkou" (Chinese: 京口; Chinese Postal Map Romanisation: "Kingkow"), Zhenjiang is today an important transportation hub, owing to its location near the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal.

History

Zhenjiang was the seat of feudal domains from the 8th century BC onwards, known first as Yi and later as Zhufang and Guyang. After it was captured by Qin Shi Huang, the first Chinese emperor, in 221 BC, it became a county town and was given the name Dantu. It became the seat of a higher administrative division during the middle of the 3rd Century BC. Conquered by the Sui dynasty in 581 AD, it was made a garrison to guard the entrance to the Yangtze River, hence its name which means "Garrison [of the] River". In 595 it became a full county or jun (郡). Its importance grew with the building of a precursor to the Grand Canal, when it became the chief collection and forwarding center for tax grain paid by residents of the Yangtse delta region.

The city reached its zenith under the Song dynasty (960-1279), when it produced fine silks, satins, and silverware for the emperors. In a garden estate on the outskirts of Zhenjiang, the scientist and statesman Shen Kuo (1031-1095 AD) lived the rest of his days in isolation, where he wrote his famous Dream Pool Essays (1088). In about 1300, a census reported that some Nestorian Christians were living in Zhenjiang.

Zhenjiang suffered from strife during the First Opium War (1839–42) when it was captured by the British at the Battle of Chinkiang on 21 July 1842, and again during the Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864). Zhenjiang declined economically with the closure of the northern portion of the Grand Canal in the 1850s, and the obstruction of the entrance to the southern canal in the 20th century.

From 1928 to 1949, during the Nationalist (Guomindang) regime of Chiang Kaishek, Zhenjiang was made the capital of Jiangsu Province, while Nanjing (the present-day capital of Jiangsu) served as the capital of China.

Zhenjiang is still one of China's busiest ports for domestic commerce, serving as a hub for trade between northern Jiangsu and Anhui provinces, and Shanghai. The trade mostly consists of grain, cotton, oils, and lumber. The other main industries are mostly in the field of food processing and paper pulp manufacturing. It is famous among Chinese for its heroic resistance against the British (in 1842) and the Japanese (in the Second World War).

Culture and folklore

The Jinshan Temple
The roof of Longchang Temple
Coolie labourer in Zhenjiang, circa 1900

Zhenjiang dialect is a form of Eastern Mandarin related to Nanjing dialect. It is incomprehensible to speakers of the Taihu dialect used in neighboring Changzhou.

In a park on the edge of Zhenjiang there is a spring which was described in the Tang dynasty (618-907 AD) as being the best in Jiangsu for the making of tea, now famous as "Number One Lifespring Under Heaven".

The hilly scenery in Zhenjiang's southern suburbs was considered beautiful enough to be the theme of many landscapes by Chinese painters.

Near the Zhenjiang Museum in Boxian Park is the Shaozong Library, which among other documents contains a 100-volume collection of old sayings and proverbs, dating from the 7th to 11th centuries.

Zhenjiang is home to the Silkworm Raising Research Institute of the Academy of Agricultural Science of China.

A local specialty is a steamed meat pastry called Crab Cream Bun. Other famous special products include fragrant black vinegar (鎮江香醋), Chinkiang pork (镇江肴肉), and pickles.

Because of its strategic location on the Yangtze River, Shi Huangdi, the first Emperor of China, believed that the power of fengshui in Zhenjiang was too strong, so he ordered 3,000 prisoners to dig a tunnel through a hill to divert the power away.

In the traditional Chinese story Madame White Snake, a magical, 1000-year-old snake who could take the form of a woman escapes through a cave in Gold Hill (金山, Jinshan), to be reunited with her lover in the far-away city of Hangzhou.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Zhenjiang administers 6 county-level divisions, including three districts and three county-level cities.

These are further divided into 77 township-level divisions, including 66 towns, 1 township and 10subdistricts.

Map Subdivision Hanzi Pinyin Population (2010) Area (km2) Density
City Proper
Jingkou District 京口区 Jīngkǒu Qū 601,671 115 5,231.92
Runzhou District 润州区 Rùnzhōu Qū 296,453 133 2,228.96
Suburban
Dantu District 丹徒区 Dāntú Qū 302,276 749 403.57
Satellite cities (County-level cities)
Danyang 丹阳市 Dānyáng Shì 960,418 1,059 906.91
Jurong 句容市 Jùróng Shì 617,680 1,387 445.33
Yangzhong 扬中市 Yángzhōng Shì 334,886 332 1,008.69
Total 3,113,384 3,799 819.52

Transport

The new Zhenjiang Railway Station

Zhenjiang is located in the convenient Yangtze River Delta transport corridor, at the crossroads of the Grand Canal and the Yangtze, and between the Shanghai and Nanjing economic regions. The Port of Zhenjiang is the third largest port on the Yangtze. The city has two Yangtze River crossings. The Runyang Yangtze River Bridge complex, which has one of the one of the longest suspension bridge spans in the world, connects to Yangzhou. The Taizhou Yangtze River Bridge, one of the longest cable-stayed bridges in the world, connects Yongzhong with Taizhou.

Rail

Zhenjiang has been connected by rail since 1906, at the completion of the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway. The railway was extended to Beijing after the completion of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge in 1960, connecting Zhenjiang to China's political and commercial hubs. The primary railway station was Zhenjiang West Railway Station, which was demolished in 2004 due to congestion it caused in the city centre. Since then Zhenjiang Railway Station has served as the city's principal railway station. Since April 2010, Zhenjiang has been on the route of the Shanghai-Nanjing Intercity Rail, the first high-speed rail with a design speed of over 300 km/h (186 mph) to serve the city. In 2011, the Beijing–Shanghai High-Speed Railway was completed. Trains on the line stop at Zhenjiang South Railway Station. The two high-speed lines have reduced travel time between Zhenjiang and Shanghai to under an hour, and travel time to Beijing to under five hours. Rail service to Shanghai is frequent - averaging one train in less than half an hour.[1]

Air

Zhenjiang does not have a commercial airport within its city limits, although there is a military airfield, Zhenjiang Dalu Airport (镇江大路机场), which may open for regional flights in the future. Zhenjiang city centre is 62 km (39 mi) away from Changzhou Benniu Airport, about one-hour drive (80 km) away from Nanjing Lukou International Airport via Nanjing Provincial Highway 243, and approximately two-hour (143 km) drive away from Sunan Shuofang International Airport. Check-in facilities are available for Lukou Airport in the New Zhenjiang Bus Station (镇江汽车新站).[2]

Roadways

Zhenjiang is on the route of Beijing-Shanghai Expressway, and China National Highway 312.

Public transport

As of 2014, Zhenjiang had an extensive number of bus routes - numbering nearly one hundred. Since 2012 the city's entire fleet of city buses are equipped with GPS and are managed centrally through a "smart transport network system."[2]

Industry

Zhenjiang Export Processing Zone was approved by the State Council on March 10, 2003 with a total planned area of 2.53 square kilometres (0.98 square miles). The first-phrase project completed in December 2003 covers 0.91 square kilometres (0.35 square miles) and was certified by the Customs General Administration and other seven ministries for operation on Dec.24, 2003. Zhenjiang Export Processing Zone is located close to Changzhou Airport and Zhenjiang Port.[3]

Education

Public institutions having full-time Bachelor's degree programs include Jiangsu University (江苏大学) and the Jiangsu University of Science and Technology (江苏科技大学).

Notable people

Twin towns – Sister cities

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Huoche".
  2. 1 2 "镇江交通运输".
  3. ↑ RightSite.asia | Zhenjiang Export Processing Zon
  4. ↑ "Testvértelepülések". Retrieved 30 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cities abroad keen to forge ties with Kuching". New Straits Times. 2 August 2012. Archived from the original on 4 June 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2014.
  6. ↑ http://www.euroasia-uclg.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=363%3A2013-01-22-11-26-12&catid=8%3A2011-10-06-12-01-02&Itemid=8&lang=en
  7. ↑ "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  8. ↑

External links

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