Economy

Traditionally, Tonghua occupied a railhub position in a region of China noted for trade in only three agricultural commodities. These were ginseng

Ginseng

Ginseng is any one of eleven species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots, belonging to the genus Panax of the family Araliaceae....

, marten

Marten

The martens constitute the genus Martes within the subfamily Mustelinae, in family Mustelidae.-Description:Martens are slender, agile animals, adapted to living in taigas, and are found in coniferous and northern deciduous forests across the northern hemisphere. They have bushy tails, and large...

 furs and deer antler products. In the 1980s Tonghua had some success with a wine distillery producing sweet, sticky red wines that proved popular with local consumers. From 1987 onwards a bienniel wine festival was inaugurated, but this and the industry it promoted ultimately failed commercially owing to competition with joint-venture wine companies such as Dragon, who were able to produce a product that was marketable overseas. Following this failure, Tonghua industry was thrown back on its traditional agricultural products - and a few small but viable factories, including one specialising in artificial furs

Fake fur

Fake fur, also called fun fur or faux fur, is any material made of synthetic fibers designed to resemble fur, normally as part of a piece of clothing...

.

A fledgling tourist trade sought to highlight Tonghua attractions such as some impressive ski

Skiing

Skiing is a recreational activity using skis as equipment for traveling over snow. Skis are used in conjunction with boots that connect to the ski with use of a binding....

 slopes, the tomb of the local hero General Yang (a resister to the Japanese occupation of Manchukuo in the 1930s) and the beautiful Changbai Shan Nature Reserve

Changbai Mountains

The Changbai Mountain Range or Jangbaek Mountain Range are a mountain range on the border between China and North Korea...

 for which Tonghua serves as a connecting railway station from the major population centres to the north and west.

Tonghua's population hovers around 300,000, but census information is difficult to assess as it includes demographic information from other towns nearby (for example, Erdaojiang - a suburb of Tonghua, and even Hunjiang

Hunjiang

Hunjiang was a city in Jilin province in China. It was renmaed to Baishan in 1994....

, a city to the east). The inclusion of these suburbs and surrounding towns greatly swells Tonghua's official population beyond the 300,000-mark.

Poor, backward and, at local level, conservatively led, Tonghua was late in benefiting from the economic reforms (gai ge) of national leaders such as Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang

Zhao Ziyang was a high-ranking politician in the People's Republic of China . He was the third Premier of the People's Republic of China from 1980 to 1987, and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China from 1987 to 1989....

. Although the railway provided useful direct links to major cities such as 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...

, Tianjin

Tianjin

' is a metropolis in northern China and one of the five national central cities of the People's Republic of China. It is governed as a direct-controlled municipality, one of four such designations, and is, thus, under direct administration of the central government...

 and Changchun

Changchun

Changchun is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People's Republic of China, in the center of the Songliao Plain. It is administered as a sub-provincial city with a population of 7,677,089 at the 2010 census under its jurisdiction, including counties and...

, few signs of progress could be seen on Tonghua's dirty streets until the mid-1990s, when plans were approved for a plethora of building projects which transformed the city. These have helped fuel a resurgence in Tonghua's commercial strength. Now, however, significant improvements can be seen and the city is dotted with shops and shopping centers all around.

Steel

Erdaojiang District has a number of steelworks, and tens of thousands of steelworkers are employed locally. In July 2009, workers at Tonghua Iron and Steel Group rioted (See main article

Tonghua Iron and Steel Group riot

The Tonghua Iron and Steel Group riot was a riot incident that took place in Tonghua Jilin province People's Republic of China on July 24, 2009. Angry workers rioted after news of a major company layoff...

) at news of a takeover deal by privately owned Jianlong Steel

Jianlong Steel

Jianlong Steel is the largest private-owned enterprise in Tangshan, Hebei province with the output of crude steel 6.5 million tonnes in a year.Tangshan Jianlong Steel is a subsidiary of the large domestic private enterprise Beijing Jianlong Group...

, and the general manager of the firm was beaten to death. The unrest reportedly involved 30,000 workers, with up to 100 injured in clashes with police. The takeover was promptly scrapped.

External links

• Government website of Tonghua