Zhejiang Travel Guide

About Zhejiang Province China

Meaning of the name of Zhejiang        About History and Culture of Zhejiang
"Winding River". Zhejiang is the ancient name of the Qiantang River, which is the estuary on which the city of Hangzhou is located. The same river is called Fuchun Jiang in its upper reaches.

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Geographical location        Map of Zhejiang
Zhejiang is located in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta on the southeast coast of China. It lies in between north latitude 27o 12’and 31o 31’, east longitude 118 o 00’ and 123o 00’. It faces the East China Sea on the east and Fujian on the south. With an extensive hinterland in the rear, it borders Jiangxi and Anhui on the west and Shanghai, the country’s largest city, and Jiangsu on the north.

Zhejiang is renowned for its picturesque landscapes. It boasts well-known mountains such as Yandang Mountain, Xuedou Mountain, Tianmu Mountain, Tiantai Mountain and Xiandu Mountain, and famous lakes such as the West Lake in Hangzhou, the East Lake in Shaoxing, the South Lake in Jiaxing, the Dongqian Lake in Ningbo and the North-South Lake in Haiyan. The Thousand-Islet Lake in Chun’an County of Hangzhou is the largest man-made lake in the country. Major rivers in the province include the Qiantang River, the Oujiang River, and the Nanxi River. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the northern part of the province, and merges into the Qiantang River in Hangzhou.

Climate
Under subtropical and monsoon conditions, Zhejiang has four distinct seasons, and plentiful sunshine. Zhejiang has long been known as a land of fish and rice, home to silk, a paradise for tourists and a place of rich cultural heritage. It has an average annual temperature of 15.3-17.9℃, 230-270 frost-free days and an average annual rainfall of 1000-1900 mm. It has numerous rivers with an average annual surface water runoff flow of over 90 billion cubic meters.

Description
Zhejiang is one of the smallest, most densely populated and wealthiest of China's provinces. Physically, it is divided into lowlands lying near the Yangzi River delta in the north, with mountainous highlands and a rugged coastline filling most of the remaining area. 54.7 percent of Zhejiang's land surface is forested, the highest of any province or autonomous region of China.

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Language
Most natives of Zhejiang Province speak a dialect of Northern or Southern Wu Chinese . Wu is used on local radio and television for soap operas, family planning and other counselling, while Mandarin Chinese is used for news and other official broadcasts.

Inhabitants of northwest Zhejiang and extreme southeast Anhui Province speak Huizhou, considered to be a separate major variety of Chinese. The dialects of Huizhou are said to differ greatly from each other.

Inhabitants of the extreme southeastern and northeastern coastal areas of Zhejiang speak dialects of Southern Min Chinese , which is the dominant variety of Chinese spoken in Fujian Province to the south.

Culture
The native Wu and Yue cultures of Zhejiang have been blended with northern Chinese customs that were brought by the Song emperors in the 12th century. Among many interesting cultural traditions, Zhejiang is the home of several operatic styles, including the Yue Opera of Shaoxing.

Three famous handicrafts of Zhejiang province are: Boxwood Carvings, Dongyang Wood Carvings and Qingtian Stone Carving.

Food
The mingling of southern and northern Chinese peoples in Zhejiang over the centuries has resulted in a unique cuisine that combines southern ingredients with a northern cooking style. Dishes are typically based on fish and seafood, often with local specialties like ham and bamboo shoots added.

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