Gongqing
Gongqing City (Chinese: 共青城; pinyin: gòngqīngchéng) is a small planned city of around 120,000 people located in Jiangxi Province in the People's Republic of China. The city is relatively famous for its association with its founder, former CCP General Secretary Hu Yaobang.
History
During the 1950s and 1960s, hundreds of thousands of students were sent from China's cities into the countryside and directed to become farmers. Gongqing was founded in 1955, when the first group of 98 students from Shanghai were directed to go into the countryside to farm a wilderness area near Poyang Lake. Hu Yaobang, as the leader of the Communist Youth League, made a special trip to the area forty days after the students arrived, and he consoled and ate with them. Hu led the students to a barren area of land in Jiangxi, determined that the current site of Gongqing was suitable for cultivation, and founded the settlement. Hu named the city, writing gong qing zhen to describe the results of the students' efforts.[1]
After 37 years, Gongqing gradually grew from a village commune into a small city. It is known by the nickname "Little Shanghai", and has a library, stadium, amusement park, and hospitals.[2] Modern Gongqing is covered by a network of canals, lakes, and rivers, in which fish and ducks are farmed. it has a wide variety of industries, manufacturing textiles, electronics, machinery, building materials, and foodstuffs. It is a center of agriculture, and has industries related to plantation, breeding, and processing agricultural produce.[2]
On May 3, 2010 there was a ground breaking ceremony for "The world's first" digital ecological city. DigiEcoCity LTD of Finland with the help of Nokia Siemens Network will develop a city that will be energy plus self-sufficient, producing more energy then it consumes, and it is also intended to have zero emissions in harmful pollution. "The President of China, Hu Jintao, has set a goal of developing Gongqing into a model city for China's urbanization program."<digiecocity.com>
Administration
The administrative center for this area is in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province. Rail and bus connections can be made to both the major cities of Jiujiang and Nanchang. There is a major toll road, 105/316 according to the Collins' map of China, connecting these three cities with Gongqing being roughly in the middle. Buses are plentiful (1.25 hours to Nanchang and improved, 1+ hour to Jiujiang) The local taxi service is cheap, reliable, and plentiful. There are now many high speed trains connecting Nanchang and Jiujang with Gongqing with a new train station, as a stop. Nanchang Changbei International Airport is 30 kilometers to the south.
The area is noted for its ducks and many orange orchards are present. The ducks are important for their feathers used in production of clothes, the most important industry of Gongqing. The Yaya company - once famous all over China for its winter clothes, duck down coats, - is situated here. The tile and clothing industries are the base of the economy with clothing having reportedly 20,000 workers. A large in progress industrial park is expanding this base.
Education
Gongqing College of Nanchang University, Nanchang University Poyang Hu Campus, is located here with an enrollment of over 10,000 students and in 2012 was given a higher accreditation by Jiangxi Province. Like the city it is expanding. It had a student riot in 2004, which caused considerable damage. A second university is being built.
Twinning
In 2009 Gongqing became a sister city of the Argentinian city of Marcos Juarez. The two cities formed their partnership in response to an invitation by the Chinese government to the President of the International Business Center for a Productive Argentina, Gustavo Biagiotti. After initial exchanges made by Mr. Biagiotti, official approval was obtained to perform the act of twinning during the Expo Central China 2009, which was held in Hunan. The event involved numerous mayors, prime ministers, ministers, and secretaries from both China and Argentina. The mayor of Marcos Juarez, Eduardo Raul Avalle, signed the twinning agreement on September 22, 2009.
Geography
Gongqing is located 56 kilometers from Jiujiang, the most northern important city in Jiangxi, and equally far from Nanchang, the provincial capital. Gongqing is located in close to patty fields and a river, reflecting its history as a farming colony. The city covers a few hectares of land, and is approximately 42.7 metres above sea level.[3]
Every year, thousands of white cranes nest on Poyang Lake, China's largest fresh water lake, making it an important bird Sanctuary.[2] The Poyang Lake Ecosystem Research Center is under construction in Gongqing.
Mount Lu, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a place where Chairman Mao and other senior CCP leaders held several historical meetings, is located north of Gongqing.
Tourism
There is a post office but it does not handle overseas mail. The city has a movie house, a roller rink, and at least four tourist-level hotels. The new Lushan International Golf Club developed by the Jiahao Company of Hong Kong can be found on the city's perimeter.
Restaurants are plentiful, with the more upmarket including Yushan and Chashan, which are also the best hotels. The city also boasts a coffee/karaoke bar: Chengshi kafei (City Coffee). Most hotels will also have karaoke rooms.
Its two hospitals can provide for basic medical problems.
The city does contain a Bank of China in the city center where dollars for yuan can be exchanged but the other four banks in the city are for local currency only. It is very difficult to cash in travelers checks. Three large grocery stores have been added in 2005. As of May 2012 a Walmart was being built. There are plans for the city to expand to 400,000 people.
The city is dusty but has, by Chinese standards, relatively good air and water quality. It is currently under constant construction and there are frequent electric and water stoppages.
Hu Yaobang's Tomb
Hu Yaobang's tomb, the most impressive tomb of any senior leader in the history of the People's Republic of China, is arguably the most impressive site in Gongqing. The tomb can be seen from a great distance, and is marked by a huge plaque engraved with Hu's portrait. Because Hu died when he was 73, the tomb's architect build 73 steps from ground level to the entrance to the tomb. The view from the tomb's entrance is "breathtaking". There is an engraving beside the tomb of Hu's achievements to the Communist cause.[3]
A ceremony, led by Chinese prime minister Wen Jiabao, was held in Beijing in November 2005 to commemorate the popular leader for the first time since his death. A similar event was also held in Gongqing later the same winter.
References
Bibliography
- Lee, Khoon Choy. Pioneers of Modern China: Understanding the Inscrutable Chinese. Singapore: World Scientific Publishing. 2005. ISBN 981-256-464-0.
Coordinates: 27°54′N 114°51′E / 27.900°N 114.850°E