Zibo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

淄博市
Zībó Shì
Zibo is highlighted on this map
Administration Type Prefecture-level city
City Seat Zhangdian District
( 36°47′N, 118°3′E)
Area 5,938 km²
Population 4,149,900
GDP
- Total
- Per Capita
 
¥164.5 billion (2006)
¥
Major Nationalities Han
County-level divisions 8
Township-level divisions
CPC Committee Secretary
Mayor Liu Huiyan (刘慧晏)
Area code 533
Postal Code
License Plate Prefix 鲁C

Zibo (Chinese: 淄博; pinyin: Zībó) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.

Contents

[edit] Administration

The prefecture-level city of Zibo administers 8 county-level divisions, including 5 districts and 3 counties.

[edit] History

Zibo was once the capital of the ancient State of Qi, the most prosperous state during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods over 2,000 years ago in China. Lord Huan of Qi, ruler of Qi, appointed Guan Zhong, the famous thinker and economist, as his prime minister, and adopted Guan's thoughts and policies to administer his country, reform the economic system and develop relations with other states, After scores of years, Qi became the strongest state for its economic and military strength, and was named as the "state with one thousand chariots" and the "head of the five strongest states". The culture and education undertakings were rather developed in Qi. Both poetry and music were of high level. The much-told story about Confucius' "not knowing what minge smells like" while listening to the graceful music is a best proof to that. Linzi District remained its capital for as long as 638 years, and was them the biggest city in the then orient.

As the birthplace of the Qi Culture, Zibo has quite a number of cultural scenic spots. In the national city of history and culture, Linzi District, the ruins of the ancient Qi city, the pit for burying the funerary horses and chariots and other famous cultural relics and historic sites, have been discovered and unearthed. All of them exemplify the past prosperity of the Qi State. The ancient city of Qi, one of the first batch of cultural relics protection units, is rich in cultural relics and historical sites, and, therefore, has won the title of the "Underground Museum".

Development, reform and opening are the dynamics of Qi Culture. That is to say, the tradition of Qi of developing economics, advocating opening policy and enriching the state and benefiting the people has become the cultural background and historical resource for Zibo's constant development in economy, culture and opening to the world today.

In 2004, FIFA President Sepp Blatter visited Zibo to celebrate FIFA's 100 year anniversary. FIFA has since then recognized the city as the birthplace of football.

[edit] Economy

The "Silk Road", prosperous through the Han and Tang Dynasties, is the famous passageway in China's history for economic and cultural exchange between East and West. As a result of textual research, Shandong area, with Zibo as its center, was the major place of silk supply at that time, and was one of the origins of the "Silk Road", Today, Zibo, as producer of silk and light textile products, remains an important place in the whole country and enjoys tremendous reputation on the market both at home and abroad.

[edit] Education

Shandong University of Science and Technology is Zibo's largest national university. It is located in Zhangdian. Zibo Vocational College is also located in Zhangdian.

[edit] Twinning

Zibo has one sister city. It is: