Siping, Jilin

Siping 四平市
Prefecture-level city
Siping martyr cenotaph, in Siping City, Jilin province, China.
Siping (red) in Jilin (orange)
Siping Location of the city centre in Jilin
Coordinates: 43°10′N 124°22′E / 43.167°N 124.367°E / 43.167; 124.367Coordinates: 43°10′N 124°22′E / 43.167°N 124.367°E / 43.167; 124.367
Country	China
Province	Jilin
County-level divisions	7
Government
• Type	Prefecture-level city
• CPC Siping Secretary	LIu Xijie (刘喜杰)
• Mayor	Shi Guoxiang (石国祥)
Area
• Prefecture-level city	14,323 km2 (5,530 sq mi)
Elevation	164 m (538 ft)
Population (2010)[1]
• Prefecture-level city	3,386,325
• Density	240/km2 (610/sq mi)
• Urban	613,837
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	136000
Area code(s)	0434
GDP	¥320.66 billion (2006)
License Plate Prefix	吉C
ISO 3166-2	cn-22-03
Major Nationalities	Han - 95.48%
Website	http://www.siping.gov.cn/

Siping (Chinese: 四平; pinyin: Sìpíng), formerly Ssupingkai (Chinese: 四平街; pinyin: Sìpíngjiē), is a prefecture-level city in the west of Jilin province, People's Republic of China. Located in the southwestern part of the province, in the middle of the Songliao Plain and at the intersection of Jilin, Liaoning and Inner Mongolia, Siping covers an area of 14,323 km² (5,530 sq mi). At the 2010 census, Siping has a total population of 3,386,325 while the urban population is 613,837.^[1]

History

Siping's history can be stretched to 3000 years ago during Shang Dynasty. The Kingdom of Yan Ruins indicate that the Han Chinese People started moving into Northeast region of China during the Spring and Autumn Period. Ancient ethnic tribes such as the Fuyu, the Goguryeo, the Khitans, the Jurchen, the Mongols, the Manchus, and Koreans have left behind cultural artifacts, including Hanzhou, Xinzhou, and the Yehe Tribe Cultural Artifacts .

Yehe Town in Siping is also the hometown of two empresses of the Qing Dynasty, Empress Dowager Cixi and Empress Dowager Longyu.^[2]

However, Siping was a place of little importance until the completion of the railway between Changchun and the port of Dalian in 1902. With a rapidly growing population, Siping became a regional commercial center. After 1907, Siping's economy experienced steady growth under the administration of the South Manchuria Railway Company. The construction of a railway linked to Baicheng in northwestern Jilin Province was completed in 1923, while a railway running south to Tonghua and to Korean Peninsula was built in 1939. A new town was built after 1921, going by the name Ssupingkai. After 1932, under the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, some agriculture-based industry including brewing, oil pressing and flour milling grew up. In the latter part of World War II, the Japanese completed a project in the construction of a refinery for the production of synthetic petroleum from coal.

Communist troops in the Battle of Siping.

Siping was the site of several major battles during the Chinese Civil War between the Chinese Communist and Nationalist forces from 1945 to 1949.^[3] After the war, Siping was virtually destroyed.^[4]

• Battle of Siping March 15, 1946−March 17, 1946
• Campaign to Defend Siping April 17, 1946−May 19, 1946
• Siping Campaign June 11, 1947−March 13, 1948

Siping grew rapidly after the Communist government was established in 1949, being the third largest city in Jilin Province.

Geography and climate

Siping is located in the transition between plains and hilly terrain, with hills to the southeast and the Songliao Plain to the northwest. The city has a four-season, monsoon-influenced, humid continental climate (Köppen Dwa). Winters are long (lasting from November to March), cold, and windy, but dry, due to the influence of the Siberian anticyclone, with a January mean temperature of −13.5 °C (7.7 °F). Spring and fall are somewhat short transitional periods, with some precipitation, but are usually dry and windy. Summers are hot and humid, with a prevailing southeasterly wind due to the East Asian monsoon; July averages 23.7 °C (74.7 °F). Snow is usually light during the winter, and annual rainfall is heavily concentrated from June to August. The annual mean temperature is 6.69 °C (44.0 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 46% in July to 71% in January and February, there are 2,684 hours of bright sunshine annually, with autumn and winter being especially sunny.

Administrative divisions

Siping prefecture includes two districts, two counties and two county-level cities. Four commodity grain bases in Jinlin Province, namely Gongzhuling City, Lishu County, Yitong Manchu Autonomous County, and Shuangliao City, are under the administration of Siping.

Map
#	Name	Hanzi	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2010 est.)	Area (km²)	Density (/km²)
1	Tiexi District	铁西区	Tiěxī Qū	278,837	162	1,721
2	Tiedong District	铁东区	Tiědōng Qū	335,000	945	354
3	Shuangliao City	双辽市	Shuāngliáo Shì	420,865	3,121	135
4	Gongzhuling City	公主岭市	Gōngzhǔlǐng Shì	1,093,314	4,027	271
5	Lishu County	梨树县	Líshù Xiàn	782,900	3,545	221
6	Yitong Manchu Autonomous County	伊通满族自治县	Yītōng Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn	475,409	2,523	188

Economy

Siping has GDP of RMB 78.9 billion in 2010, representing a rise of 15.4% year on year.^[5] The city's GDP ranked fourth in Jilin Province. Agricultural products processing, electricity and thermal power, pharmaceutical, and chemicalss are the pillar industries. Private economy is also a major contributor of the industrial sector.

Transport

Siping is a transportation hub in Jilin Province. The Qiqihar-Siping, Siping-Meihekou and Beijing–Harbin railways, as well as the Beijing-Harbin Highway and Daqing-Guangzhou Expressway run through the city. The city is served by both the Siping Railway Station and Siping East Railway Station (IATA: OSQ).

Notable people

• Jia Hongsheng (1967−2010), actor
• John Derbyshire, American writer, lived in Siping 1982−3. The city is mentioned in his 1996 novel Seeing Calvin Coolidge in a Dream, Chapter 9, the city's name translated there as "Fourfold Peace."

Sister cities

• Makhachkala, Russia

References

External links

• http://www.siping.gov.cn/ - Siping City Website