Jinhua

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金华市
Jīnhuá Shì

Administration Type	Prefecture-level city
Area	10,918 km²
Population	4,521,700 (2004)
GDP	¥21,637 per capita (2004)
Major Nationalities	Han
County-level divisions	9
Township-level divisions	191
Mayor
Area Code	579
City Flower	Camellia
License Plate Prefix	浙G

Jinhua (Simplified Chinese: 金华; pinyin: Jīnhuá; lit. "Golden brilliance") is a prefecture-level city in central Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing the northeast.

[edit] Administration

The prefecture-level city of Jinhua administers 9 county-level divisions, including 2 districts, 4 county-level cities and 3 counties.

Wucheng District (婺城区)
Jindong District (金东区)
Lanxi City (兰溪市)
Yiwu City (义乌市)
Dongyang City (东阳市)
Yongkang City (永康市)
Wuyi County (武义县)
Pujiang County (浦江县)
Pan'an County (磐安县)

These are further divided into 191 township-level divisions, including 107 towns, 73 townships and 11 subdistricts.

[edit] History and Culture

The history of Jinhua goes back to the 2nd century BC, when it was a county subordinate to Shaoxing. It was given the name Jinhua under the Sui dynasty in 598, and later became the seat of a prefecture. The present city and its walls date to the time of the time of the Mongol emperors in 1352.

The most famous native of Jinhua is the Immortal Huang, a Daoist holy man of the 4th century AD, whose descendants still live in the area. Wuyang Shan (Reclining Sheep Mountain) is said to be a sheep which was turned to stone by the Immortal Huang, a trick which he learned through his years of diligently studying Daoism.

Economically Jinhua has always prospered from its position as the collecting and processing center for agricultural and forestry products (chiefly rice and bamboo). It is currently the second most important grain producing area in Zhejiang Province. In 1985 Jinhua was promoted to City status, and now is responsible for administering four cities, four counties and a district. Animals raised there include dairy cattle, meat hogs (for the production of Jinhua ham, a famous local product for 900 years) and honey bees. Jinhua's industrial sector has developed more recently, producing machinery, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, building supplies and electrical and electronic equipment.

The Tang dynasty painter Guan Xiu (Kuan-hsiu) was born in Jinhua. He is known for his paintings of Buddhist holy men.

There are numerous scenic and historical sites in the Jinhua region, including many places associated with the Immortal Huang, and a palace of the Dukes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

[edit] External links

Government website of Jinhua (available in Chinese and English)
Jinhua First Social Welfare Institute (orphanage)
The Jinhua Swine

Prefecture-level divisions of Zhejiang

Sub-provincial cities:	Hangzhou \| Ningbo
Prefecture-level cities:	Huzhou \| Jiaxing \| Jinhua \| Lishui Quzhou \| Shaoxing \| Taizhou \| Wenzhou \| Zhoushan