Changle

Changle
长乐市
County-level city
Nickname(s): Village of Smugglers
Changle

Location in Fujian

Coordinates: 25°55′N 119°33′E / 25.917°N 119.550°E / 25.917; 119.550Coordinates: 25°55′N 119°33′E / 25.917°N 119.550°E / 25.917; 119.550
Country People's Republic of China
Province Fujian
Prefecture-level city Fuzhou
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)

 Changle  (simplified Chinese: 长乐; traditional Chinese: 長樂; pinyin: Chánglè, Foochow Romanized: Diòng-lŏ̤h) is a county-level city located in eastern Fujian province, China. Administered by the City of Fuzhou, it occupies a land area of 648 square kilometres (250 sq mi) and a sea area of 1,327 square kilometres (512 sq mi). Changle was established in the sixth year of Emperor Wu-De (623 AD) during the Tang Dynasty, and it became a county-level city on February 18, 1994. The city faces East China Sea and is connected to Mawei district by the Min River. Due to an increase in businesses, the province is now one of the richest province in China. The city may change its present status to a district due to a government proposal.

Located 30 kilometres (19 mi) outside of urban Fuzhou, Changle has a total population of 680,000 and is the hometown of more than 700,000 overseas Chinese.

Transportation

Air

The Fuzhou Changle International Airport is a major airport located in Zhanggang Subdistrict (formerly, Zhanggang Town) of Changle. This airport services the entire northern Fujian area, and it has regular scheduled flights to many domestic and international destinations.

Major highways

Airport Express Way (Toll Road), Shenghai Express Way, Fujian Provincial Highway S201 and S203

Railways

Presently, there are virtually no railways in Changle. (The Fuxia Railway skirts the western edge of the county-level city, but has no stations there). The closest railway stations are in Fuzhou.

However, in November 2012 a plan has been approved for an 88.5-km-long railway from Fuzhou to Pingtan Island. The railway will run across Changle, and will have 3 stations with the county-level city (Changle, Changle East, and Songxia (松下)). It is expected that the work would start by the end of 2012, and would take about five and a half years.[1]

Demographics

Overseas Changle

Natives of Changle receive large amount of financial support from overseas, due to there being a significant population of Changle immigrants overseas, particularly in the US and Canada. The focal point for the US is in New York City's East Broadway of Chinatown, Manhattan. Also, Fuzhounese is commonly used in a small section of several blocks in Flushing, Queens as well as in 8th Avenue of Sunset Park, Brooklyn. A 2001 study by the Changle government found that revealed that about 400,000 Changle people and their descendants were living abroad.[2]

The area has been nicknamed the "Village of Smugglers" because of human trafficking activity.

Notable natives and residents

Migrant workers

Currently, there are about 200,000 non-Fuzhounese migrant workers who are not born in Changle. Many of them come from Sichuan province.

Tourist attractions

One of the most notable attractions in Changle is the natural environment. Situated on the banks of the Min River, the region is surrounded by many mountains and hills. This also has led to many parks and trails which is a popular destination for locals. Industrialization of the region has reduced the natural beauty of some of these areas however.

Some of the tourist attractions includes Xiasha Seaside Vocational Center, Jingang Leg, Bing Xing Literacy Archives, and Nanshan Park. A considerable amount of oversea remittances, particularly from the US, has been used to construct some of these areas, particularly the parks, over the last few years. Because of this, many of these areas are essentially new and attract a considerable amount of visitors.

Culture

Local language

Most locals are capable of speaking both Mandarin Chinese (Putonghua) and Fuzhou dialect, though Mandarin is spoken in more formal settings such as schools. Generally, everyone has a high degree of education.

Most Changle natives can speak both Mandarin and a variant of the Fuzhou dialect. However, instruction in schools is taught in Mandarin. At home, Fuzhou dialect is the norm. Older generations' Mandarin typically has a strong accent due to their mother tongue of the Fuzhou dialect, which does not distinguish between z and zh, c and ch, s and sh initials and n and ng finals.

The Fuzhou dialect (Changle/Fuzhou Hua-长乐/福州话) faces a high risk of lingual extinction due to the government policy that intended to push for the common use of Chinese Mandarin. Some locals are concerned that this would lead to gradual disappearance of their cultural identity. Though the dialect is expected to remain one of the most spoken languages in the Changle area, it is primarily spoken by the older generation. Though the younger generations are fluent to a degree because of their environment and family, generational attrition of the language will cause a continual drop in the number of capable speakers. The areas where the local dialect is the strongest is primarily in the surrounding towns and areas, which are typically less economically developed than Changle city, the Changle dialect is still the dominant language.

The younger Generation prefer pop culture, arts, music and other forms of entertainment from Hong Kong and the West. The older generation of Changleners enjoy Min Opera (闽剧), a form of Chinese opera.

Shopping and dining

International fast food chains have been there for along time now and high end brands are trying to get in to the Fuzhounese market, with their high disposable income and expensive tastes.

Cuisine

Due to geographic location, Changle cuisine consists of a lot of seafood, such as clams, shrimps, conch, sea snails, etc.

Administration

Changle is divided among four subdistricts, twelve towns, and two townships:[3]

Education system

Colleges

High schools

Notes

  1. ↑ 福州至平潭铁路可研报告获发改委批复, 2012-11-10
  2. ↑ Zhao, Xiaojian (2010). The New Chinese America : Class, Economy, And Social Hierarchy. New Brunswick, N.J: Rutgers University Press.
  3. ↑ Changle's Government. (in Chinese)
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