Changzhou
Encyclopedia
Changzhou is a prefecture-level city
in southern Jiangsu
province of the People's Republic of China
. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, Jinling, and Wujin. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River
, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing
to the west, Zhenjiang
to the northwest, Wuxi
to the east, and the province of Zhejiang
to the south. The city is situated in the affluent Yangtze Delta region of China.
of Changzhou that was founded over 3000 years ago at the beginning of the Western Zhou dynasty. The earliest record of a settlement on the site of modern Changzhou is as a commandery founded in 221 BC at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty
. Changzhou got its present name meaning "ordinary prefecture" in AD 589. Following construction of the Grand Canal in AD 609, Changzhou became a canal port and transshipment point for locally-grown grain, and has maintained these roles ever since. The rural counties surrounding Changzhou are noted for the production of rice, fish, tea, silk, bamboo and fruit.
During the Taiping Rebellion
of the 1850s, one of five palaces housing the leaders of the so-called "Kingdom of Celestial Peace" was constructed in Changzhou. Today the ruins of the "King's Palace" can be found near the People's No.1 Hospital.
In the 1920s, Changzhou started to attract cotton mills. The cotton industry got a boost in the late 1930s when businesses began relocating outside of Shanghai
due to the Japanese occupation. Unlike many Chinese cities, Changzhou continued to prosper even during the upheavals of the cultural revolution
of 1966-76. Today it is an important industrial center for textiles, food processing, engineering (diesel engines, generators, transformers and other machinery), and high technology.
of Changzhou administers seven county-level divisions, including five districts and two county-level cities
.
(Changzhou campus), Jiangsu Teachers' University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu Teachers' University of Technology, and Changzhou Institute of Technology. The city also has a number of prominent secondary schools, including the Changzhou Senior High School of Jiangsu Province
and the Changzhou International School
.
. The city began to develop a cotton
textile
industry in the 1920s, and cotton mills were established in the late 1930s, when Japan
ese attacks
drove many Chinese businesses to invest outside Shanghai.
The city has remained a textile center and the most important location in Jiangsu Province for weaving
. It also has large food-processing plants as well as flour-milling, rice-polishing, and oil-pressing industries. After 1949 it also developed as a centre of the engineering industry. Qishuyan, some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Changzhou, has one of the largest locomotive and rolling stock
plants in China. Other engineering works in Changzhou produce diesel engine
s, generators, transformers along with agricultural and textile machinery. At the time of the Great Leap Forward
in 1958 a steel plant was also built to provide raw material for heavy industry
.
Since 1908, Changzhou has been linked by rail with Shanghai
and Nanjing
(see below for transportation).
Up until now, Changzhou has remained one of the most developed cities in Jiangsu, ranked third after Suzhou and Wuxi. The city's 2009 GDP per capita of ¥70,103 in 2009, less than that of Suzhou and Wuxi but more than the capital city Nanjing, ranked the city third in Jiangsu, .
Changzhou is also one of the top business cities in China. According to Forbes ranking, Changzhou was the 9th best business city in mainland China in 2008.
Approval for the establishment of Changzhou Export Processing Zone was given in June 2005 with a planned area of 1.66 square kilometre (0.640929583263608 sq mi). Near to Shanghai and Nanjing via convenient transportation links, the zone began operation in October 2006. Investors enjoy a series of preferential policies whilst all handle export procedures are handled inside the export processing zone. The zone focuses on electronic information, electromechanical integration and new materials.
Changzhou National Hi-Tech District (CND) is a state-level high-tech industrial development zone. It is located in the northern part of Changzhou city. With a population of 500,000 and an area of 439 square km, the district is 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) from Shanghai to the east and 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) from Nanjing to the west. The district represents the highest-level and most sophisticated industrial park in Changzhou. More than 1,300 foreign companies and over 5,000 local industrial enterprises have been registered within the district of which around 40% are from European and American countries. Industries encouraged include engineering machinery, transformer & transmission equipment, automotive, locomotive & locomotive components, parts, precision machinery, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, photo-voltaic (PV) and new materials, chemicals, garment and textiles production, computer software and research & development. Some major investors include Terex, Komatsu, Ashland Chemical, Johnson, Caltex Oil Corp., Disa, +GF+, Rieter and General Electronics.
), Changzhou is situated on the main Shanghai
-Beijing
rail line and is one of the main stops on the busy Shanghai-Nanjing
route.
is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the city center. There are flights to Beijing
, Guangzhou
, Shenzhen
, Shenyang
, Kunming
, Harbin
and Dalian
.
(or, if a Changzhou Bus Card is used, either three or six jiao
depending on the type of card) and provides access throughout Changzhou. The BRT has the following specifications: separate bus lanes or bus-only roadways, a vast network of routes and corridors, high capacity buses operating both outside and inside these corridors, greater passenger volume as compared to that in mixed traffic lanes (-3000 pphpd), enhanced station environments (not just simple bus shelters), automated pre-boarding fare collection and fare verification, street level boarding and alighting, low emission vehicle technology (Euro III or higher), weather protection on station platforms, centralized system controls, real-time next bus information display, a distinctive marketing identity, high-quality passenger service at bus stations, segregated bike lanes along main corridor(s) as well as station access for disabled persons.
The BRT is also located in the following cities: Beijing
, Chongqing
, Dalian
, Changzhou, Guangzhou
, Jinan
, Hangzhou
, Hefei
, Kunming
, Xiamen
, Zhengzhou
. and Wulumuqi. A metro network is nevertheless in planning stage.
The Changzhou dialect
is a member of the Wu Chinese language family.
Comb Lane in Changzhou is the scene of the last farewell of Jia Baoyu with his father in the classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions.
Other famous handicrafts of Changzhou are silk embroidery in a "crisscross" style and carvings made from green bamboo
.
Noted snacks made in Changzhou include pickled radish, sesame candy, sweet glutinous rice flour dumpling with fermented glutinous rice, and silver thread-like noodles.
of the city. The 5A rated Dinosaur Park has a collection of dinosaur bones and fossils from all over China. The park has 50 various fossils and more than 30 amusement programs including the Brontosaurus Roller Coaster and the Whirling Dinosaur Carriage. The fossils are located in a museum housed in a single building and the amusement rides are spread throughout the park which is categorized into six themed areas. Besides fossils and family oriented rides, Dinosaur Park is home to a giant panda and sea lions.
The city is also home to the Tianning Temple— one of the largest Zen Buddhist temple and monasteries in China. The city recently rebuilt the Tianning pagoda
in the temple grounds, which is adjacent to Hongmei Park. The pagoda, called the Tianning Baota
, was first built during the Tang Dynasty
(AD 618 907). Since that time it has been destroyed and rebuilt five times. The current reconstruction is built to the height specification of 153.79 metres (504.6 ft). This makes it the tallest pagoda in China and perhaps also the world. Both the Hongmei Park and Tianning Temple are located just to the east of the city centre.
As Changzhou is noted for its combs, the city has reconstructed its Bamboo Comb Lane area with contemporary architecture. Changzhou combs can be purchased in most places in the city.
There is the Hong Mei Park, which includes a small children's amusement park, a zoo, a rose garden and many scenic waterways. Of historical interest in the park is a historical pavilion with exhibits related to the Changzhou comb industry. In addition, there is another pavilion which displays locally produced root carvings. The park attracts large numbers of people during holidays and is often dotted with a variety of vendors.
Other sites include Changzhou's sunken city and area of archaeological ruins from the Spring and Autumn Period.
Changzhou also has attractive gardens such as the Wei Yuan
.
Prefecture-level city
A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...
in southern Jiangsu
Jiangsu
' is a province of the People's Republic of China, located along the east coast of the country. The name comes from jiang, short for the city of Jiangning , and su, for the city of Suzhou. The abbreviation for this province is "苏" , the second character of its name...
province of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
. It was previously known as Yanling, Lanling, Jinling, and Wujin. Located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River
Yangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
, Changzhou borders the provincial capital of Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
to the west, Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang
Zhenjiang is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Jiangsu province in the eastern People's Republic of China . Sitting on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Changzhou to the east, and Yangzhou across the river to the north.Once...
to the northwest, Wuxi
Wuxi
Wuxi is an old city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Split in half by Lake Tai, Wuxi borders Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east. The northern half looks across to Taizhou across the Yangtze River, while the southern half also borders the province of Zhejiang to the south...
to the east, and the province of Zhejiang
Zhejiang
Zhejiang is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. The word Zhejiang was the old name of the Qiantang River, which passes through Hangzhou, the provincial capital...
to the south. The city is situated in the affluent Yangtze Delta region of China.
History
"The Ruins of Yancheng" , comprise the remains of a walled city located in the Wujin districtWujin District
Wujin is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. The postal code for the district is 213161....
of Changzhou that was founded over 3000 years ago at the beginning of the Western Zhou dynasty. The earliest record of a settlement on the site of modern Changzhou is as a commandery founded in 221 BC at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty
Qin Dynasty
The Qin Dynasty was the first imperial dynasty of China, lasting from 221 to 207 BC. The Qin state derived its name from its heartland of Qin, in modern-day Shaanxi. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the 4th century BC, during the Warring...
. Changzhou got its present name meaning "ordinary prefecture" in AD 589. Following construction of the Grand Canal in AD 609, Changzhou became a canal port and transshipment point for locally-grown grain, and has maintained these roles ever since. The rural counties surrounding Changzhou are noted for the production of rice, fish, tea, silk, bamboo and fruit.
During the Taiping Rebellion
Taiping Rebellion
The Taiping Rebellion was a widespread civil war in southern China from 1850 to 1864, led by heterodox Christian convert Hong Xiuquan, who, having received visions, maintained that he was the younger brother of Jesus Christ, against the ruling Manchu-led Qing Dynasty...
of the 1850s, one of five palaces housing the leaders of the so-called "Kingdom of Celestial Peace" was constructed in Changzhou. Today the ruins of the "King's Palace" can be found near the People's No.1 Hospital.
In the 1920s, Changzhou started to attract cotton mills. The cotton industry got a boost in the late 1930s when businesses began relocating outside of Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
due to the Japanese occupation. Unlike many Chinese cities, Changzhou continued to prosper even during the upheavals of the cultural revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...
of 1966-76. Today it is an important industrial center for textiles, food processing, engineering (diesel engines, generators, transformers and other machinery), and high technology.
Climate
Administration
The prefecture-level cityPrefecture-level city
A prefectural level city , prefectural city or prefectural level municipality is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China, ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. Prefectural level cities form the second level of the administrative...
of Changzhou administers seven county-level divisions, including five districts and two county-level cities
County-level city
A county-level city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions....
.
- Zhonglou DistrictZhonglou DistrictZhonglou District is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. The postal code for the district is 213002. Zhonglou covers an area of 71 square kilometers...
(钟楼区) - Tianning DistrictTianning DistrictTianning District is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. The postal code for the district is 213003....
(天宁区) - Qishuyan DistrictQishuyan DistrictQishuyan District is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. The postal code for the district is 213011. It covers an area of 31.58 square kilometers...
(戚墅堰区) - Xinbei DistrictXinbei DistrictXinbei District , alternatively called the New District or the High-tech Development Zone, is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. It covers an area of 425 square kilometers...
(新北区) - Wujin DistrictWujin DistrictWujin is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. The postal code for the district is 213161....
(武进区) - JintanJintanJintan is a county-level city within Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China.-Location:Jintan, is located in Jiangsu province in the south, surrounded by Shanghai, Hangzhou and Nanjing. The name Jintan developed from Jinshan county, which continued to be used up to now...
City (金坛市) - LiyangLiyangLiyang is a city in the southwest of Jiangsu province of Eastern China. It is administratively a county-level city under the administration of Changzhou City, and in 1999 had a population of 781,430.-Administration:...
City (溧阳市)
Education
Changzhou is an educational hub and is home to several universities, including Changzhou University, Hohai UniversityHohai University
Hohai University is a research university in Nanjing, China under the direct jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education of China...
(Changzhou campus), Jiangsu Teachers' University of Science and Technology, Jiangsu Teachers' University of Technology, and Changzhou Institute of Technology. The city also has a number of prominent secondary schools, including the Changzhou Senior High School of Jiangsu Province
Changzhou Senior High School of Jiangsu Province
Changzhou Senior High School of Jiangsu Province was founded on November 15, 1907.- Political leaders:* Qu Qiubai * Zhang Tailei * Yun Daiying...
and the Changzhou International School
Changzhou International School
Changzhou International School is a key provincial school in the Xinbei district of Changzhou, Jiangsu, People's Republic of China. It has under 1,000 enrolled students from both China and abroad.-History:...
.
Economy
Changzhou's traditional role has been that of a commercial center and in particular a distribution center for agricultural produce, which was shipped by canal to the north and later, to ShanghaiShanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
. The city began to develop a cotton
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal....
textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
industry in the 1920s, and cotton mills were established in the late 1930s, when Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese attacks
Second Sino-Japanese War
The Second Sino-Japanese War was a military conflict fought primarily between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. From 1937 to 1941, China fought Japan with some economic help from Germany , the Soviet Union and the United States...
drove many Chinese businesses to invest outside Shanghai.
The city has remained a textile center and the most important location in Jiangsu Province for weaving
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
. It also has large food-processing plants as well as flour-milling, rice-polishing, and oil-pressing industries. After 1949 it also developed as a centre of the engineering industry. Qishuyan, some 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) southeast of Changzhou, has one of the largest locomotive and rolling stock
Rolling stock
Rolling stock comprises all the vehicles that move on a railway. It usually includes both powered and unpowered vehicles, for example locomotives, railroad cars, coaches and wagons...
plants in China. Other engineering works in Changzhou produce diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s, generators, transformers along with agricultural and textile machinery. At the time of the Great Leap Forward
Great Leap Forward
The Great Leap Forward of the People's Republic of China was an economic and social campaign of the Communist Party of China , reflected in planning decisions from 1958 to 1961, which aimed to use China's vast population to rapidly transform the country from an agrarian economy into a modern...
in 1958 a steel plant was also built to provide raw material for heavy industry
Heavy industry
Heavy industry does not have a single fixed meaning as compared to light industry. It can mean production of products which are either heavy in weight or in the processes leading to their production. In general, it is a popular term used within the name of many Japanese and Korean firms, meaning...
.
Since 1908, Changzhou has been linked by rail with Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
and Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
(see below for transportation).
Up until now, Changzhou has remained one of the most developed cities in Jiangsu, ranked third after Suzhou and Wuxi. The city's 2009 GDP per capita of ¥70,103 in 2009, less than that of Suzhou and Wuxi but more than the capital city Nanjing, ranked the city third in Jiangsu, .
Changzhou is also one of the top business cities in China. According to Forbes ranking, Changzhou was the 9th best business city in mainland China in 2008.
Industrial Zones
- Changzhou Export Processing Zone
Approval for the establishment of Changzhou Export Processing Zone was given in June 2005 with a planned area of 1.66 square kilometre (0.640929583263608 sq mi). Near to Shanghai and Nanjing via convenient transportation links, the zone began operation in October 2006. Investors enjoy a series of preferential policies whilst all handle export procedures are handled inside the export processing zone. The zone focuses on electronic information, electromechanical integration and new materials.
- Changzhou National Hi-Tech District
Changzhou National Hi-Tech District (CND) is a state-level high-tech industrial development zone. It is located in the northern part of Changzhou city. With a population of 500,000 and an area of 439 square km, the district is 160 kilometres (99.4 mi) from Shanghai to the east and 110 kilometres (68.4 mi) from Nanjing to the west. The district represents the highest-level and most sophisticated industrial park in Changzhou. More than 1,300 foreign companies and over 5,000 local industrial enterprises have been registered within the district of which around 40% are from European and American countries. Industries encouraged include engineering machinery, transformer & transmission equipment, automotive, locomotive & locomotive components, parts, precision machinery, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, photo-voltaic (PV) and new materials, chemicals, garment and textiles production, computer software and research & development. Some major investors include Terex, Komatsu, Ashland Chemical, Johnson, Caltex Oil Corp., Disa, +GF+, Rieter and General Electronics.
Railway
Located just south of the Chang Jiang (Yangtze RiverYangtze River
The Yangtze, Yangzi or Cháng Jiāng is the longest river in Asia, and the third-longest in the world. It flows for from the glaciers on the Tibetan Plateau in Qinghai eastward across southwest, central and eastern China before emptying into the East China Sea at Shanghai. It is also one of the...
), Changzhou is situated on the main Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
-Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
rail line and is one of the main stops on the busy Shanghai-Nanjing
Nanjing
' is the capital of Jiangsu province in China and has a prominent place in Chinese history and culture, having been the capital of China on several occasions...
route.
Air travel
Changzhou Benniu AirportChangzhou Benniu Airport
Changzhou Benniu Airport is an airport in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China.-Airlines and destinations:-See also:*List of airports in the People's Republic of China...
is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the city center. There are flights to Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Shenzhen
Shenzhen
Shenzhen is a major city in the south of Southern China's Guangdong Province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. The area became China's first—and one of the most successful—Special Economic Zones...
, Shenyang
Shenyang
Shenyang , or Mukden , is the capital and largest city of Liaoning Province in Northeast China. Currently holding sub-provincial administrative status, the city was once known as Shengjing or Fengtianfu...
, Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
, Harbin
Harbin
Harbin ; Manchu language: , Harbin; Russian: Харби́н Kharbin ), is the capital and largest city of Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China, lying on the southern bank of the Songhua River...
and Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
.
Roads
- China National Highway 312China National Highway 312China National Highway 312 , also referred to as Route 312 or The Mother Road, is an important highway that runs east-west across the breadth of People's Republic of China. It begins at the port city Shanghai and ends at Khorgas in the Ili River valley, on the border with Kazakhstan. In total it...
- Shanghai-Nanjing Highway
- Yanjiang Highway
- Changzhou-Nanjing Highway
Bus Rapid Transport System
Use of the Bus Rapid Transit System costs one yuanChinese yuan
The yuan is the base unit of a number of modern Chinese currencies. The yuan is the primary unit of account of the Renminbi.A yuán is also known colloquially as a kuài . One yuán is divided into 10 jiǎo or colloquially máo...
(or, if a Changzhou Bus Card is used, either three or six jiao
Jiao (currency)
Jiao , or Hou in Cantonese, is a unit of currency used in Greater China, including People's Republic of China , Republic of China , Hong Kong and Macao...
depending on the type of card) and provides access throughout Changzhou. The BRT has the following specifications: separate bus lanes or bus-only roadways, a vast network of routes and corridors, high capacity buses operating both outside and inside these corridors, greater passenger volume as compared to that in mixed traffic lanes (-3000 pphpd), enhanced station environments (not just simple bus shelters), automated pre-boarding fare collection and fare verification, street level boarding and alighting, low emission vehicle technology (Euro III or higher), weather protection on station platforms, centralized system controls, real-time next bus information display, a distinctive marketing identity, high-quality passenger service at bus stations, segregated bike lanes along main corridor(s) as well as station access for disabled persons.
The BRT is also located in the following cities: Beijing
Beijing
Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
, Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...
, Dalian
Dalian
Dalian is a major city and seaport in the south of Liaoning province, Northeast China. It faces Shandong to the south, the Yellow Sea to the east and the Bohai Sea to the west and south. Holding sub-provincial administrative status, Dalian is the southernmost city of Northeast China and China's...
, Changzhou, Guangzhou
Guangzhou
Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...
, Jinan
Jinan
Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in Eastern China. The area of present-day Jinan has played an important role in the history of the region from the earliest beginnings of civilisation and has evolved into a major national administrative, economic, and transportation hub...
, Hangzhou
Hangzhou
Hangzhou , formerly transliterated as Hangchow, is the capital and largest city of Zhejiang Province in Eastern China. Governed as a sub-provincial city, and as of 2010, its entire administrative division or prefecture had a registered population of 8.7 million people...
, Hefei
Hefei
Hefei is the capital and largest city of Anhui Province in Eastern China. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, and cultural centre of Anhui...
, Kunming
Kunming
' is the capital and largest city of Yunnan Province in Southwest China. It was known as Yunnan-Fou until the 1920s. A prefecture-level city, it is the political, economic, communications and cultural centre of Yunnan, and is the seat of the provincial government...
, Xiamen
Xiamen
Xiamen , also known as Amoy , is a major city on the southeast coast of the People's Republic of China. It is administered as a sub-provincial city of Fujian province with an area of and population of 3.53 million...
, Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou
Zhengzhou , is the capital and largest city of Henan province in north-central China. A prefecture-level city, it also serves as the political, economic, technological, and educational centre of the province, as well as a major transportation hub for Central China...
. and Wulumuqi. A metro network is nevertheless in planning stage.
Elevated road
Changzhou built its first elevated road, the "Outer Ring Elevated Road", in 2007 and it came into use in 2008. In 2009, the plan for a second elevated road became part of the city's development blueprint.Culture and folklore
Changzhou dialect
Changzhou dialect is a dialect of Wu, a Sino-Tibetan language, and belongs to the Taihu dialect group. It is spoken in the city of Changzhou and surrounding areas in Jiangsu province of China. It has many similarities with the Shanghainese and Suzhou dialect, but is largely not comprehensible...
is a member of the Wu Chinese language family.
Comb Lane in Changzhou is the scene of the last farewell of Jia Baoyu with his father in the classic novel A Dream of Red Mansions.
Other famous handicrafts of Changzhou are silk embroidery in a "crisscross" style and carvings made from green bamboo
Bamboo
Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....
.
Noted snacks made in Changzhou include pickled radish, sesame candy, sweet glutinous rice flour dumpling with fermented glutinous rice, and silver thread-like noodles.
Tourism
Changzhou is the home of the China Dinosaur Park located in the Xinbei DistrictXinbei District
Xinbei District , alternatively called the New District or the High-tech Development Zone, is a district under the jurisdiction of Changzhou in Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. The local language is the Changzhou dialect of Wu Chinese. It covers an area of 425 square kilometers...
of the city. The 5A rated Dinosaur Park has a collection of dinosaur bones and fossils from all over China. The park has 50 various fossils and more than 30 amusement programs including the Brontosaurus Roller Coaster and the Whirling Dinosaur Carriage. The fossils are located in a museum housed in a single building and the amusement rides are spread throughout the park which is categorized into six themed areas. Besides fossils and family oriented rides, Dinosaur Park is home to a giant panda and sea lions.
The city is also home to the Tianning Temple— one of the largest Zen Buddhist temple and monasteries in China. The city recently rebuilt the Tianning pagoda
Pagoda
A pagoda is the general term in the English language for a tiered tower with multiple eaves common in Nepal, India, China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam and other parts of Asia. Some pagodas are used as Taoist houses of worship. Most pagodas were built to have a religious function, most commonly Buddhist,...
in the temple grounds, which is adjacent to Hongmei Park. The pagoda, called the Tianning Baota
Pagoda of Tianning Temple (Changzhou)
The Tianning Temple , located in Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, China, is noted for its giant wooden pagoda, the Tianning Pagoda . Construction began in April 2002 with the opening ceremony for the completed structure held on April 30, 2007, where a crowd of hundreds of Buddhist monks gathered...
, was first built during the Tang Dynasty
Tang Dynasty
The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...
(AD 618 907). Since that time it has been destroyed and rebuilt five times. The current reconstruction is built to the height specification of 153.79 metres (504.6 ft). This makes it the tallest pagoda in China and perhaps also the world. Both the Hongmei Park and Tianning Temple are located just to the east of the city centre.
As Changzhou is noted for its combs, the city has reconstructed its Bamboo Comb Lane area with contemporary architecture. Changzhou combs can be purchased in most places in the city.
There is the Hong Mei Park, which includes a small children's amusement park, a zoo, a rose garden and many scenic waterways. Of historical interest in the park is a historical pavilion with exhibits related to the Changzhou comb industry. In addition, there is another pavilion which displays locally produced root carvings. The park attracts large numbers of people during holidays and is often dotted with a variety of vendors.
Other sites include Changzhou's sunken city and area of archaeological ruins from the Spring and Autumn Period.
Changzhou also has attractive gardens such as the Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan , born Wei Yuanda , courtesy names Moshen and Hanshi , was a Chinese scholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved to Yangzhou in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the provincial degree in the Imperial examinations and subsequently worked in the secretariat of...
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Notable people
A Qing dynasty poet declared "there are none such under heaven as Changzhou, where famous persons come from." Numerous memorial halls in Changzhou and the surrounding area commemorate its famous citizens, including soldiers, scholars, revolutionaries, industrialists, physicians, artists and writers.- Su Dongpo (also known as Su Shi; 1036–1101), poet and essayist lived and died here.
- Sheng XuanhuaiSheng XuanhuaiSheng Xuanhuai , November 4, 1844—April 27, 1916, 盛宣懷) was the Minister of Transportation during the Qing Dynasty. He is also known as Sheng Gongbao ....
(1844–1916), late Qing DynastyQing DynastyThe Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
bureaucrat and reformer. - Zhao Yuanren (1892–1982), prominent linguistLinguisticsLinguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
. - Hong Shen (1894–1955), pioneering dramatist and filmmaker was born here.
- Liu HaisuLiu HaisuLiu Haisu was a prominent contemporary Chinese painter, and noted art educator. He excelled in Chinese painting and oil painting.-Overview:...
(1896–1994), prominent artist. - Lu LanLu LanLu Lan is a female badminton player from the People's Republic of China.-Career:In 2004 she won the Polish Open. In 2006 she won the Korea Open and finished the year in the 5th position in the BWF World Ranking....
(1987-), Olympic athlete and badminton player. Won the woman's championship at the 2009 BWF World Championships2009 BWF World ChampionshipsThe 2009 BWF World Championships was the 17th tournament of the BWF World Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, from August 10 to August 16, 2009...
. - Lu SimianLu SimianLu Simian was a prominent Chinese historian as well as a former professor and history department head at Shanghai Guanghua University, now East China Normal University. He also worked as a professor at Fudan University. Lu took the courtesy name Chéng Zhī and wrote under the pseudonym Nú Niú...
(1884–1957), historian and member of the Doubting Antiquity School - Qu QiubaiQu QiubaiQu Qiubai was born in Changzhou, Jiangsu, China. He was a leader of the Communist Party of China in the late 1920s.-Early life:...
(1899–1935), former General Secretary of the Communist Party of ChinaCommunist Party of ChinaThe Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...
and prominent MarxistMarxismMarxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
thinker and writer. Named "Changzhou San Jie" together with Yun Daiying and Zhang Tailei. - Yun Daiying (1895–1931), revolutioner and pioneer of early Communist Youth activities.
- Zhang TaileiZhang TaileiZhang Tailei was the leader of the 1927 Guangzhou Uprising, during which he was killed.In 1921 Zhang was sent to the Russian Far East to make a report to the Comintern for the Communist Party of China. Zhang then studied in Moscow for a few years...
(1898–1927), one of the founders of Chinese Communist Party, first Chinese ever working in Communist International. - Hua LuogengHua LuogengHua Luogeng was a Chinese mathematician born in Jintan, Jiangsu. He was the founder and pioneer in many fields in mathematical research. He wrote more than 200 papers and monographs, many of which became classics. Since his sudden death while delivering a lecture at the University of Tokyo, Japan,...
(1910–1985), prominent mathematicianMathematicianA mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
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