Cangzhou

Not to be confused with Changzhou.
Cangzhou
沧州市
Prefecture-level city

Location of Cangzhou City jurisdiction in Hebei
Cangzhou

Location of the city centre in Hebei

Coordinates: 38°19′N 116°52′E / 38.317°N 116.867°E
Country People's Republic of China
Province Hebei
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 14,383.46 km2 (5,553.48 sq mi)
 • Urban 206.2 km2 (79.6 sq mi)
 • Metro 1,750.7 km2 (675.9 sq mi)
Elevation 13 m (42 ft)
Population (2010 census)
 • Prefecture-level city 7,134,062
 • Density 500/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
 • Urban 536,795
 • Urban density 2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi)
 • Metro 1,205,814
 • Metro density 690/km2 (1,800/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 016001
Area code(s) 0317
Licence plate prefixes 冀J
Website cangzhou.gov.cn

Cangzhou (simplified Chinese: 沧州; traditional Chinese: 滄州; pinyin: Cāngzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2010 census, Cangzhou's built-up (or metro) area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a population of 1,205,814 inhabitants, while the prefecture-level administrative unit in total has a population of 7,134,062. It lies approximately 90 kilometres (56 mi) from the major port city of Tianjin, and 180 km (110 mi) from Beijing.

History

Cangzhou is reported to have been founded in the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420−589 CE).

Administrative divisions

Cangzhou City comprises 2 districts, 4 county-level cities, 9 counties and 1 autonomous county.

Map
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population
(2004 est.)		 Area (km²) Density
(/km²)
1 Yunhe District 运河区 Yùnhé Qū 270,000 138 1,957
2 Xinhua District 新华区 Xīnhuá Qū 220,000 89 2,472
3 Botou City 泊头市 Bótóu Shì 550,000 977 563
4 Renqiu City 任丘市 Rénqiū Shì 770,000 1,023 753
5 Huanghua City 黄骅市 Huánghuá Shì 490,000 1,545 317
6 Hejian City 河间市 Héjiān Shì 770,000 1,333 578
7 Cang County 沧县 Cāng Xiàn 660,000 1,527 432
8 Qing County 青县 Qīng Xiàn 390,000 968 403
9 Dongguang County 东光县 Dōngguāng Xiàn 350,000 710 493
10 Haixing County 海兴县 Hǎixīng Xiàn 220,000 836 263
11 Yanshan County 盐山县 Yánshān Xiàn 400,000 795 503
12 Suning County 肃宁县 Sùníng Xiàn 330,000 497 664
13 Nanpi County 南皮县 Nánpí Xiàn 350,000 794 441
14 Wuqiao County 吴桥县 Wúqiáo Xiàn 280,000 603 464
15 Xian County 献县 Xìàn Xiàn 570,000 1,191 479
16 Mengcun Hui Autonomous County 孟村回族自治县 Mèngcūn Huízú
Zìzhìxiàn		 180,000 393 458

Economics

Cangzhou's urban center is a heavily industrial city but the city's administrative territory also includes strongly agricultural areas, and is well known in China for its Chinese jujubes (Chinese dates) and pear (widely known under the export name of Tianjin Ya Pear). The North China Oil Field is within Cangzhou City's jurisdiction. Cangzhou also encompasses a large fishing port and the coal-exporting Huanghua Harbour.

Geography and transportation

Map of the Grand Canal and vicinity

Cangzhou is located in eastern Hebei, immediately to the south of Tianjin, near the coast of the Bohai Sea of the Pacific Ocean. Bordering prefecture-level cities are Hengshui to the southwest, Baoding to the west, and Langfang to the north. It lies on the Beijing–Shanghai Railway.

The G1811 Huanghua–Shijiazhuang Expressway connects Cangzhou to Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital, and is linked to Beijing via both the G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway and G3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway, which are concurrent within the province, and to Shanghai via G2. Cangzhou's Huanghua Harbour is the end of a main Chinese coal shipping railway, the Shuohuang Railway. Other major highways serving Cangzhou's urban area are China National Highway 104 and 307.

Major airports located closest to Cangzhou include Beijing Capital Airport and Tianjin Airport.

The Grand Canal passes directly through Cangzhou, and a district of Cangzhou (Yunhe District) is named after it.

Climate

Cangzhou has a four-season, monsoon-influenced climate lying right on the border between the humid continental and humid subtropical regimes (Köppen Dwa/Cwa), with cold, dry winters, and hot, humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from −3.0 °C (26.6 °F) to 26.5 °C (79.7 °F), while the annual mean is 12.90 °C (55.2 °F). Close to 60% of the annual rainfall of 605 mm (23.8 in) occurs in July and August alone. With possible monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 49% in July to 65% in October, the city receives 2,663 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Cangzhou (1971−2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 2.5
(36.5)		 5.4
(41.7)		 12.3
(54.1)		 21.0
(69.8)		 26.9
(80.4)		 31.1
(88)		 31.4
(88.5)		 30.3
(86.5)		 26.6
(79.9)		 20.3
(68.5)		 11.4
(52.5)		 4.2
(39.6)		 18.6
(65.5)
Average low °C (°F) −7.1
(19.2)		 −4.7
(23.5)		 1.1
(34)		 8.7
(47.7)		 14.5
(58.1)		 19.7
(67.5)		 22.4
(72.3)		 21.6
(70.9)		 16.1
(61)		 9.4
(48.9)		 1.4
(34.5)		 −4.8
(23.4)		 8.2
(46.7)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 3.2
(0.126)		 4.2
(0.165)		 8.5
(0.335)		 19.7
(0.776)		 36.6
(1.441)		 85.1
(3.35)		 219.6
(8.646)		 139.9
(5.508)		 48.5
(1.909)		 22.4
(0.882)		 12.8
(0.504)		 4.5
(0.177)		 605.0
(23.819)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 1.6 2.5 3.1 4.4 5.7 8.6 12.6 9.5 5.8 4.8 3.2 2.1 63.9
Average relative humidity (%) 57 54 52 50 54 61 77 77 68 64 62 60 61.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 188.8 184.5 229.2 250.7 274.6 261.5 219.8 229.3 235.2 226.6 186.7 175.8 2,662.7
Percent possible sunshine 63 61 62 64 63 59 49 54 63 65 62 60 60
Source: China Meteorological Administration [1]

Culture

The Iron Lion

The city has historically been known in China for its wushu (Chinese martial arts) and acrobatics (specifically, the Wu Qiao school). Cangzhou is also famed for its historic thousand-year-old 40-ton sculpture, the Iron Lion of Cangzhou. The sculpture is reportedly the largest cast-iron sculpture in the world, cast in 953 in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The famed lion has even given its name to a locally-brewed beer and is a symbol of the city.[2]

Cangzhou is home to a traditional Chinese form of musical performing arts, Kuaiban Dagu.

The city hosts seven mosques for Muslim adherents (mostly Hui). One of them, the West Mosque, has collected at its museum one of China's best collections of Islamic manuscripts and artefacts.[3]

Demographics and society

Cangzhou, though predominated by the Han Chinese majority, is home to a sizable population of the Muslim Hui minority. Intermarriage occasionally occurs between the majority Han and the Hui, but stereotypes of Hui still exist among Cangzhou's Han residents, and some tensions remain. Migration to Hebei province and Cangzhou by Xinjiang Muslim minorities (generally ethnic Uighurs) is increasing.

Language

The dominant first language of Cangzhou's population is a variety of the northeastern Mandarin dialect continuum termed Cangzhou,[4] and is a variety of Ji Lu Mandarin. There are some similarities with the Tianjin variety and the Baoding variety of Mandarin, but both are considered distinct groups from that of Cangzhou . Dialects of the Cangzhou area vary between localities and counties, though are generally intelligible among each other.

Municipal government

The city, like all other Chinese administrative divisions, has a party committee, the People's government, the People's Congress, and the Political consultative conference.

Military

Cangzhou is home to the Cangzhou Airbase of the People's Liberation Army Air Force

Famous residents


References

  1. ↑ 中国地面国际交换站气候标准值月值数据集（1971－2000年） (in Chinese). China Meteorological Administration. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
  2. ↑ Wagner, Donald B. "The cast iron lion of Cangzhou", Needham Research Institute newsletter, no. 10, June 1991, pp. 2-3.
  3. ↑ WEST MOSQUE MUSEUM, CANGZHOU, HEBEI PROVINCE CHINA HERITAGE NEWSLETTER, No. 5, March 2006. (China Heritage Project, The Australian National University. ISSN 1833-8461).
  4. ↑

3. DuBois, Thomas. The Sacred Village: Social Change and Religious Life in Rural North China. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2005.

External links