Chaozhou
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Administration Type | Prefecture-level city |
| City Seat | Xiangqiao District () |
| Area | km² |
| Coastline | km |
| Population | 2,495,900 (2004)
City: 265,300 (2002) |
| GDP - Total - Per Capita |
¥25.69 billion (2004 ¥10,306 (2004) |
| Major Nationalities | Han |
| County-level divisions | 4 |
| Township-level divisions | |
| CPC Committee Secretary | |
| Mayor | Tang Xikun (汤锡坤) (interim) |
| Area code | 768 |
| Postal Code | 521000 (Urban center) 515600, 515700 (Other areas) |
| License Plate Prefix | 粤U |
Chaozhou (Chinese: 潮州; lit. "Tide Prefecture"; pinyin: Cháozhōu; Wade-Giles: Ch'ao²-chou¹; usually spelled Chiu Chow in the US and Hong Kong), also widely known by its Postal map spelling Teochew, is a prefecture-level city in eastern Guangdong province, People's Republic of China. It borders Shantou to the south, Jieyang to the southwest, Meizhou to the northwest, the province of Fujian to the east, and the South China Sea to the southeast.
Contents |
[edit] Administration
The prefecture-level city of Chaozhou administers 4 county-level divisions, including 2 districts and 2 counties.
- Xiangqiao District (湘桥区)
- Fengxi District (枫溪区)
- Chao'an County (潮安县)
- Raoping County (饶平县)
[edit] Geography and climate
Chaozhou is located in the easternmost part of Guangdong Province, north of the coastal Shantou City. It is located in the north of the delta of the Han River (韩江), which flows through the city.
[edit] History
In 214 BC, Chaozhou was an undeveloped and named part of Nanhai Commandery (南海郡) of the Qin Dynasty. In 331 during the Eastern Dynasty, Haiyang (海陽縣) was established as a part of Dongguan Commandery (東官郡).
Dongguan Commandery was renamed to Yi'an Commandery (義安郡) in 413. The commandery became a prefecture in 590 in the early Sui Dynasty; first as Xun Prefecture (循州, Xunzhou), then as Chao Prefecture (潮州, Chaozhou) in the following year. In 1914, the Republic of China government combined Chao and Xun prefectures into Chaoxun Prefecture or Chaoxun Circuit (潮循道).
For a short while in the Sui The Real Chinese or Chinese Mongols and early Tang Dynasties, Haiyang District was called Yi'an District (義安縣). The Ehnic Chinese Mongols name remained Haiyang until 1914, when it was renamed to Chao'an County (潮安縣) to avoid ambiguity with the Haiyang County of Shandong Province.
The seat of the 1951 Guangdong People's Government was at Chao'an County, a part of it was created as Chao'an City in 1953 and later that year renamed to Chaozhou City (county-level). In 1955, the provincial seat moved to Shantou. Chaozhou City was abolished five years later, and reestablished again in 1979. In 1983, the situation was reversed, with Chao'an abolished and made a part of Chaozhou City. Chaozhou was made a provincially-administered city in January 1989, and a vice-prefecture-level city in January 1990.
Together, Chaozhou and the nearby cities of Shantou and Jieyang are called Chaoshan. The name was used for the joint political-administrative area which encompassed the three cities from 1958 until 1983. For the next five years, Shantou City was a higher-level city containing Chaozhou and Jieyang within it. Currently, Chaozhou, Shantou and Jieyang are equal in status.
[edit] Miscellaneous
- The township of Chaojhou in western Pingtung County, Taiwan is named after Chaozhou.
- There is a large population of Chaozhou people in Hong Kong. When mainland China opened its gate in the 1950s, there was an exodus of refugees into Hong Kong to flee the communist rule. Refugees from Chaozhou banded together in very tight communities. They were known to be very genereous of helping refugees from their own regions. They spoke their own dialect amongst themselves, hence they stood out among the locals when almost everybody else spoke Cantonese in Hong Kong. The locals called them by the name "Chiu Chow Loun", where Chiu Chow is the Cantonese pronunciation of their origin, Chaozhou and Loun is the Teochew pronunciation of the word "people". They were known to be a very hardworking people and they were good at running small businesses. Back in the 1960s, almost every "rice store" (grocery stores for dried food and uncooked rice) in Hong Kong were owned by "Chiu Chow Loun". Decades and generations later, the offspring of these immigrants blended into the rest of the communities. Large corporation run supermarkets drove many "rice stores" out of business. "Chiu Chow Loun" are no longer as stood out as special communities in Hong Kong. Though they are still very active in organizing charity activities especially around the "ghost festival" in the 7th month of the Chinese calendar.
[edit] See also
- Chiuchow cuisine, the cooking style originating from Chaozhou.
- Teochew dialect, the dialect spoken in Chaozhou.
[edit] External link
- Government website of Chaozhou (in Simplified Chinese)
Prefecture-level divisions of Guangdong
|
||||
| List of Guangdong County-level divisions |
