Jinhua

Jinhua 金华
Prefecture-level city
金华市
Clockwise from top: Bridging Tea House in Jinhua Architecture Park, Jinhua Railway Station, Jinhua City 1, Jinhua City 2
Location of Jinhua City jurisdiction in Zhejiang
Coordinates: 29°05′N 119°39′E / 29.083°N 119.650°E / 29.083; 119.650
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
County-level divisions	9
Township-level divisions	191
Government
• CPC Party Secretary	Chen Yixing (陈一新)
• Mayor	Chen Kunzhong (陈昆忠)
Area
• Prefecture-level city	10,916 km2 (4,215 sq mi)
• Urban	2,021 km2 (780 sq mi)
• Metro	2,021 km2 (780 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	4,614,100
• Density	420/km2 (1,100/sq mi)
• Urban	1,077,300
• Urban density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
• Metro	1,077,300
• Metro density	530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	579
GDP	¥168.2 billion
GDP per capita 2008	¥36,538
License Plate Prefix	浙G
City Flower Camellia

 Jinhua (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 金华; traditional Chinese: 金華; pinyin: Jīnhuá; Wade–Giles: Chin-hua; lit. "Golden brilliance"), formerly romanized as Kinhwa, 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 to the northeast.

Its population was 5,361,600 at the 2010 census including 1,077,300 in the built-up area. One can notice that the cities of Dongyang and Yiwu are now in the same agglomeration, a built-up area of 2,038,400 inhabitants bigger than the one of Jinhua itself.

Jinhua is rich in red soil and forest resources. The longest river Jinhua River (or Wu River) flows through Lan River, Fuchun River and Qiantang River, and reaches the Grand Canal and other coastal ports.

The city is best known for its dry-cured Jinhua ham.

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 Mongol emperors in 1352.

The most famous native of Jinhua is the Immortal Huang, a Daoist holy man of the 4th century, 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 regional 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. 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 honeybees. 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^[1] (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.

Geography

Jinhua in the Yangtze River Delta

Jinhua is located at latitudes 28° 32'−29° 41' N and longitudes 119° 14'−120° 46' E in the center of Zhejiang. It borders Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing to the northeast.

Climate

Jinhua has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with four distinctive seasons, characterised by hot, humid summers and chilly, cloudy and drier winters (with occasional snow). The mean annual temperature is 17.33 °C (63.2 °F), with monthly daily averages ranging from 5.2 °C (41.4 °F) in January to 29.0 °C (84.2 °F) in July. The city receives an average annual rainfall of 1,450 millimetres (57.1 in) and is affected by the plum rains of the Asian monsoon in June, when average relative humidity also peaks.

Administrative divisions

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

Map	№	Subdivision	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin
	1	Wucheng District	婺城区	Wùchéng Qū
	2	Jindong District	金东区	Jīndōng Qū
	3	Lanxi	兰溪市	Lánxī Shì
	4	Yongkang	永康市	Yǒngkāng Shì
	5	Yiwu	义乌市	Yìwū Shì
	6	Dongyang	东阳市	Dōngyáng Shì
	7	Wuyi County	武义县	Wǔyì Xiàn
	8	Pujiang County	浦江县	Pǔjiāng Xiàn
	9	Pan'an County	磐安县	Pán'ān Xiàn

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

Economy

Jinhua has a rather flexible economic system with distinctive economic characteristics in different areas. Its economic structure is largely dependent on private sector activity. 90% of enterprises are in the private sector. Up to 88% of its GDP comes from the private sector.

Industry

A bus made by the Jinhua Youngman Vehicle one of the city's famous companies

Jinhua enjoys an advanced civilian-owned economy, with its industry mainly supported by processing and manufacturing. Leading industries of the City include clothing and textile, mechanics and electronics, pharmacy and chemistry, manufacturing crafts, metalwork processing architecture and building materials, automobile-and-motorcycle accessories, food processing, plastic ware, etc.

Industries are distributed with different characteristics in different counties or county-level cities. For instance, Yiwu is characterized by its light-industry commodities, Yongkang by its automobile-and-motorcycle accessories and mechanical and electric tools, Dongyang by its clothing, architecture and magnetic materials, the City Proper by its pharmacy, construction materials and industrial measures, Lanxi by its non-ferrous metal, cement, towels and daily chemicals, and Pujiang by its textile, lockmaking, and lantern ornaments of crystals, etc.

Handicraft

Traditional handicrafts have been flourishing in Jinhua. The wood carving and bamboo weaving in Dongyang, the straw plaiting, lace purling and crystals carving in Pujiang, and the hardware crafts in Yongkang, all enjoy a long history of development and the products sell well both abroad and at home.

Transportation

Jinhua is approximately three hours by car from Shanghai. There is also the D-train which will take approximately 2.5 hours, or about four hours by ordinary train.

Jinhua Railway Station

Jinhua enjoys convenient transportation, being the communications center in Southeast China between coastal and inland areas, and one of the major hubs of landway transportation in the country. The Zhejiang-Jiangxi, Jinhua-Wenzhou and Jinhua-Qiandaohu Railways intersect in the City. The Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou Expressway, the Jinhua-Lishui-Wenzhou Expressway, the No. 330 and 320 National Highways, and other provincial highroads, also traverse the area. The city aggregation around Jinhua Proper has formed a "Half-an-Hour's-Ride Economic Circle", there being merely a 90-minute and a 3-hour journey driving from the city to Hangzhou and Shanghai respectively. At present, Yiwu Airport offers airlines destined for Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Qingdao, Hong Kong.

Landmarks

Jinhua Architecture Park, a collection of 17 pavilions designed by Chinese and international architects, set on the banks of the Yiwu River.

References

External links

• Government website of Jinhua (Chinese)
• Government website of Jinhua(English)
• Jinhua First Social Welfare Institute (orphanage)
• The Jinhua Swine, breeds of livestock

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