Tianshui

Tianshui
天水市
Prefecture-level city

Tianshui train station in winter 2009

Location of Tianshui City jurisdiction in Gansu
Coordinates: 34°35′N 105°44′E / 34.583°N 105.733°ECoordinates: 34°35′N 105°44′E / 34.583°N 105.733°E
Country People's Republic of China
Province Gansu
Municipal seat Qinzhou District
Area
 • Total 14,300 km2 (5,500 sq mi)
Elevation 1,171 m (3,842 ft)
Population (2010)[1]
 • Total 3,262,548
 • Density 230/km2 (590/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 741000
Area code(s) 0938
Licence plate prefixes 甘E
Website tianshui.gov.cn
Tianshui

The entrance to the Fuxi Temple in Tianshui
Chinese 天水市
Literal meaning City of Sky and Water
Qinzhou
Chinese 秦州
Postal Map Tsinchow
Literal meaning Qin Province
Tianshui Commandery
Chinese 天水郡
Literal meaning Commandery of Heaven and Water
Hanyang Commandery
Simplified Chinese 汉阳郡
Traditional Chinese 漢陽郡
Hanyang County
Simplified Chinese 汉阳县
Traditional Chinese 漢陽縣

Tianshui (Chinese: 天水) is the second-largest city in the People's Republic of China's Gansu province. Tianshui's population is approximately 3,500,000.

History

Qin, whose House of Ying were the founding dynasty of the Chinese empire, developed from Quanqiu (present-day Lixian) to the south. After the invasions of the Rong which unseated the Western Zhou, Qin recovered the territory of Tianshui from the nomads. It became an important region of their duchy and, later, kingdom.[2] Characteristically Qin tombs have been excavated at Fangmatan nearby, including one 2200-year-old map of Qin's Gui County.[3]

Under the Qin Empire, the area was part of Longxi Commandery but the Emperor Wu of the Han separated the region as the Tianshui Commandery as part of his expansion towards the Tarim Basin. The general Li Guang came from the city. The Han conquests and explorations eventually resulted in the development of the Northern Silk Road: Tianshui formed its junction with the Wei River, after which it followed the road past Mount Long to Chang'an (present-day Xi'an).[4] Nearby are the Maijishan Grottoes, filled with thousands of Buddhist sculptures representing figures such as Buddha and the original male form of Guanyin, produced between the Wei and Song dynasties by monks travelling along the road and by local Buddhists.[5]

During the Northern Wei, the city was known as Hanyang and was the center of the Hanyang Commandery. During the Western Wei, this name was changed to Hanyang County. During the Tang and Five Dynasties, the city of Tianshui was known as Shanggui (上邽). It alternated with Chengji (present-day Qin'an) as the capital of the province of Qinzhou (秦州).[6] Li County was separated from Tianshui's jurisdiction during the ninth year of Chenghua (AD 1473) during the Ming dynasty.

Under Qinzhou's former romanization of Tsinchow, Tianshui is a (currently vacant) diocese (Latin: DIŒCESIS ZINCEUVENSIS) of the Roman Catholic church.[7]

Subdivisions

Map
# Name Hanzi Hanyu Pinyin Population
(2004 est.)		 Area (km²) Density
(/km²)
1 Qinzhou District 秦州区 Qínzhōu Qū 650,000 2,442 266
2 Maiji District 麦积区 Màijī Qū 580,000 3,452 188
3 Qingshui County 清水县 Qīngshuǐ Xiàn 310,000 2,003 155
4 Qin'an County 秦安县 Qín'ān Xiàn 600,000 1,601 375
5 Gangu County 甘谷县 Gāngǔ Xiàn 600,000 1,572 382
6 Wushan County 武山县 Wǔshān Xiàn 440,000 2,011 219
7 Zhangjiachuan Hui Autonomous County 张家川回族自治县 Zhāngjiāchuān
Huízú Zìzhìxiàn		 320,000 1,311 244

Geography

Tianshui has a monsoon-influenced, cool semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with four distinct seasons of comparatively equal length. Winters are cold but dry, with January 24-hour average temperature of −2.0 °C (28.4 °F), while summers are warm and somewhat humid, with July 24-hour average temperature of 22.8 °C (73.0 °F). Much of the annual rainfall occurs from June to September, and the annual mean temperature is 11.00 °C (51.8 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 34% in September to 50% in December, the city receives 1,911 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Climate data for Tianshui (1971−2000)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Average high °C (°F) 3.5
(38.3)		 6.7
(44.1)		 12.2
(54)		 19.4
(66.9)		 23.7
(74.7)		 27.1
(80.8)		 28.8
(83.8)		 27.9
(82.2)		 22.3
(72.1)		 16.6
(61.9)		 10.5
(50.9)		 4.9
(40.8)		 17.0
(62.5)
Average low °C (°F) −5.9
(21.4)		 −3
(27)		 1.6
(34.9)		 7.0
(44.6)		 11.3
(52.3)		 15.0
(59)		 17.8
(64)		 17.1
(62.8)		 12.7
(54.9)		 7.0
(44.6)		 0.7
(33.3)		 −4.6
(23.7)		 6.4
(43.5)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 5.1
(0.201)		 6.0
(0.236)		 18.7
(0.736)		 38.0
(1.496)		 54.5
(2.146)		 68.9
(2.713)		 84.6
(3.331)		 78.8
(3.102)		 74.3
(2.925)		 47.1
(1.854)		 12.1
(0.476)		 3.6
(0.142)		 491.7
(19.358)
Avg. precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) 5.0 5.2 7.9 8.9 10.5 11.2 11.8 10.7 11.2 10.6 5.4 3.0 101.4
Average relative humidity (%) 62 60 61 59 62 66 70 71 76 77 71 65 66.7
Mean monthly sunshine hours 144.3 128.4 142.2 182.0 201.7 190.0 195.7 193.4 125.4 123.7 133.4 151.0 1,911.2
Percent possible sunshine 46 42 39 47 47 44 45 47 34 35 43 50 43.3
Source: China Meteorological Administration

See also

References

  1. ↑ Main data bulletin of the sixth national census in 2010, 2011-05-09(Chinese)
  2. ↑ People's Daily Online. "Chinese surname history: Qin".
  3. ↑ Xinhua Online. "Over 2,200-Year-old Map Discovered in NW China".
  4. ↑ Hogan, C. Michael. The Megalithic Portal. "Silk Road, North China".
  5. ↑ Shrotriya, Alok & al. "Artistic treasures of Maiji Mountain caves".
  6. ↑ Dudbridge, Glen. A Portrait of Five Dynasties China: From the Memoirs of Wang Renyu (880–956), pp. 8 ff. Oxford University Press (Oxford), 2013. Accessed 14 Dec 2013.
  7. ↑ Catholic Hierarchy.org. "Diocese of Tsinchow [Tianshui]".

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tianshui.