Zhoushan
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East China (华东) » Zhejiang (浙江) » Zhoushan (舟山)
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[edit] Overview
Zhoushan is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. The only prefecture-level city consisting solely of islands, it lies across the mouth of the Hangzhou Bay, and is separated from the mainland by a narrow body of water. --from wikipedia.org
[edit] History
The archipelago was inhabited 6,000 years ago during the Neolithic by people of the Hemudu culture. During the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhoushan was called Yongdong (涌东), referring to its location east of the Yong River, and belonged to the State of Yue.
The fishermen and sailors who inhabited the islands often engaged in piracy and became recruits for uprisings against the central authorities. At the time of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Zhoushan Islands served as the base for Sun En's rebellion. Sun En, an adherent of the Taoist sect Wudou Midao (Five Bushels of Rice), launched his rebellion around the year 400 and was defeated by Jin forces in 402.[1]
In 863, the Japanese Buddhist monks Hui'e (慧锷) and Zhang-shi (张氏) of Putuoshan, Zhoushan placed a statue of Guanyin at Chaoyin Cave (潮音洞) that would later become a popular tourist destination.
During the Ming dynasty, especially between the years 1530 and 1560, Japanese and Chinese pirates used Zhoushan as one of their principal bases from which they launched attacks as far as Nanjing; "the whole Chinese coast from northern Shandong to western Guangdong was ravaged to a distance of sixty miles inland."[2]
After suppression of the pirates, Zhoushan became an important commercial entrepôt. Under the early Qing dynasty, it played a similar role to Amoy and Canton as a frequent port of call for Western traders.[3] The restriction of all European trade to the port of Canton in 1760 forced Westerners to leave Zhoushan. One of the requests of Lord Macartney's embassy to emperor Qianlong in 1793 was an acquisition of "a small unfortified island near Zhoushan for the residence of English traders, storage of goods, and outfitting of ships." Emperor Qianlong denied this request together with all the rest.[4]
British forces under Captain Charles Elliot seized Zhoushan in the summer of 1840 during the First Opium War and evacuated it in early 1841, after Elliot reached an agreement with Qishan, the governor general of Tianjin and grand secretary to emperor Daoguang, in exchange for cession of Hong Kong.[5] At that time, Zhoushan was a well known port while Hong Kong was only a fishing village. The British Foreign Secretary Palmerston was famously livid when he learned that Elliot agreed to cession of Hong Kong ("a barren island with hardly a house on it") while giving up Zhoushan. Elliot was dismissed in April 1841 for his blunder.[6] His replacement Sir Henry Pottinger led a British fleet that recaptured Zhoushan in late August 1841.[7] The First Opium War ended with conclusion of the Treaty of Nanjing in which China opened up the cities of Canton, Fuzhou, Amoy, Ningbo, and Shanghai to residence by British subjects for the purpose of trade. As a result, Britain had no longer any use for Zhoushan but it kept the island until 1846 as a guarantee for the fulfilment of the stipulations of the treaty.
Zhoushan was also occupied by the British in 1860 (Second Opium War).
In February 13, 1862, Wang Yijun (王义钧) of the Heavenly Kingdom of Taiping attempted overtake Zhoushan from Qing forces, but died in the unsuccessful attempt.
Sun Yat-sen visited Zhoushan on August 25, 1916 and wrote Travelling to Putuo (游普陀志奇 You Putuo Zhiqi).
On October 1, 1942, the Japanese Lisbon Maru (里斯本丸) transported 1,800 POW back to Tokyo, but Lisbon Maru sank after being hit by a torpedo near Qingbing Island (青浜). 384 of the British POW overboard were rescued by the fishermen of Dongji Township (东极乡) nearby.
[edit] Administrative history
Today's Zhoushan city was made Wengshan District (翁山县) of Ming Prefecture (明洲) in 738 (Tang). In 1073 (Song), it was renamed Changguo (昌国县). It was upgraded to a prefecture (昌国州) in early Yuan Dynasty, and changed to Dinghai District (定海县) of Zhejiang Province in 1688 (Qing). It was upgraded to a direct-control subprefecture (定海直隶厅) in 1841, but reverted to a county after the end of empire.
Under the Republic of China's rule, Dinghai County was, as during always in the Qing Dynasty, part of Zhejiang Province. However, Shengsi was separated into an Archipelago Direct-control District (列岛直属区) of Jiangsu Province in 1946, and made a county in October 1949. In that same year, the last year under rule of the Republic, the remaining Dinghai County was divided into Dinghai and Wengzhou (翁洲) Counties.
Zhoushan came to be under communist control on May 17, 1950, and Wengzhou was merged back into Dinghai County, which was then under Ningpo Zhuanqu (宁波专区). Shengsi was made a tequ (特区) of Songjiang Zhuanqu (松江专区), still of Jiangsu this year, and upgraded to a county the following year.
In March 1953, the Council of Ministers approved to divide Dinghai County into the counties of Dinghai, Putuo, and Daishan. In addition, Shengsi County was returned to Zhejiang, to be administered, with the three former Dinghai counties, as Zhoushan Zhuanqu of Zhejiang Xiangshan County (象山) of Ningpo Zhuanqu was briefly incorporated into Zhoushan from 1954 to 1958.
All subdivisions' county status abolished, the commission became a county of Ningpo Zhuanqu in 1958, and was reverted to a zhuanqu on its own in May 1962, and changed to a prefecture (地区) on 1967 (approved by the State Council on January 23, 1962).
Shengsi was temporarily assigned to Shanghai in the early 1960s. Created in 1962, the short-lived Daqu (大衢) County was halved into parts of Daishan and Shengsi four years later.
The prefecture-level city status was granted on January 27, 1987 to Zhoushan, and Dinghai and Putuo Counties were upgraded to districts. The municipal People's Government was established on March 8 of that year. April of the same year, the ports of Zhoushan became open to foreign ships. On April 10, 1988, it became a coastal economic open zone.
--from wikipedia.org
[edit] Map
Click here to open Zhoushan map.
[edit] Weather
Current Conditions (2010-03-15 14:00:00, local time)
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Zhoushan |
Temp: 70°F (21°C) |
Zhoushan Weather Forecast
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[edit] Getting in & Getting out
[edit] By Air
Zhoushan Airport serves the area with scheduled passenger flights to major cities in China.
