ChangLe (simplified Chinese: 长乐; traditional Chinese: 長樂) is a county-level city of suburban Fuzhou located in east Fujian province, People's Republic of China. Administered by Fuzhou city. Changle occupies a land area of 648 square kilometers and a sea area of 1327 square kilometers. Changle was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu-De (623 AD) during the Tang Dynasty, and it became a county-level city on February 18, 1994. Changle faces Taiwan across Taiwan Strait and is connected to Mawei Economic and Technological Zone by Min River. The city may change its present status to a district due to a government proposal.
| Changle | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 長樂 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 长乐 | ||||||
|
|||||||
Located 30 kilometers outside of urban Fuzhou, Changle has a total population of 680,000 and is the home to 400,000 overseas Chinese.
Contents |
The Fuzhou Changle International Airport is a major airport located in the town of Zhanggang, Changle. This airport services the entire northern Fujian area, and it has regular scheduled flights to many domestic and international destinations.
Airport Express Way (Toll Road), Shenghai Express Way, Fujian Provincial Highway S201 and S203
Natives of Changle receive large amount of financial support from overseas, due to there is a significant population of Changle immigrants overseas, particularly in the US and Canada. The focal point for the US is in New York City's East Broadway of Chinatown, Manhattan. Also, Fuzhounese is commonly used in a small section of several blocks in Flushing, Queens as well as in 8th Avenue of Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Currently, there are about 200,000 migrant workers who are not born in Changle.
One of the most notable attractions in Changle is the natural environment. Situated on the banks of the Min Jiang River, the region is surrounded by many mountains and hills. This also has led to many parks and trails which is a popular destination for locals. Industrialization of the region has reduced the natural beauty of some of these areas however.
Some of the tourist attractions includes Xiasha Seaside Vocational Center, Jingang Leg, Bing Xing Literacy Archieves, and Nanshan Park. A considerable amount of oversea remittances, particularly from the US, has been used to construct some of these areas, particularly the parks, over the last few years. Because of this, many of these areas are essentially new and attract a considerable amount of visitors.
Most locals are capable of speaking both Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) and Fuzhou dialect, though Mandarin is spoken in more formal settings such as schools. Generally, those who have higher education are more capable of standard Mandarin.
Most Changle natives can speak both Mandarin and a variant of the Fuzhou dialect. However, instruction in schools is taught in Mandarin. At home, Fuzhou dialect is the norm. Older generations' Mandarin typically has a strong accent due to their mother tongue of the Fuzhou dialect, which does not distinguish between z and zh, c and ch, s and sh initials and n and ng finals.
The Fuzhou dialect (Changle/Fuzhou Hua-长乐/福州话) faces a high risk of lingual extinction due to the government policy that intended to push for the common use of Chinese Mandarin. Some locals are concerned that this would lead to gradual disappearance of their cultural identity. Though the dialect is expected to remain one of the most spoken languages in the Changle area, it is primarily spoken by the older generation. Though the younger generations are fluent to a degree because of their environment and family, generational attrition of the language will cause a continual drop in the number of capable speakers. The areas where the local dialect is the strongest is primarily in the surrounding towns and areas, which are typically less economically developed than Changle city, the Changle dialect is still the dominant language.
The younger Generation prefer pop culture, arts, music and other forms of entertainment from Hong Kong and the West. The older generation of Changleners enjoy Min Opera (闽剧), a form of Chinese opera.
International fast food chains: KFC, McDonald's, and Walmart.
Due to geographic location, Changle cuisine consists of a lot of seafood, such as clams, shrimps, conch, sea snails, etc.
As of 2003 Changle has two Street Committees (街道), fourteen Towns (镇), and two townships (乡):
See also: Changle's Government
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
pin yin: chang le