Lishui, Zhejiang

Lishui (zh-sp|s=丽水市|p=Líshuǐ Shì) is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It borders Quzhou, Jinhua and Taizhou to the north, Wenzhou to the southeast, and the province of Fujian to the southwest. Lishui means "Beautiful Water," in Chinese.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Lishui currently administers 1 district, 1 county-level city, 6 counties and 1 autonomous county.

*Liandu District (莲都区)
*Longquan City (龙泉市)
*Qingtian County (青田县)
*Jinyun County (缙云县)
*Yunhe County (云和县)
*Qingyuan County (庆元县)
*Suichang County (遂昌县)
*Songyang County (松阳县)
*Jingning She Autonomous County (景宁畲族自治县)

These are further divided into 64 towns (including 1 She Minority Town), 128 townships (including 6 She Minority Townships) and 5 subdistricts.

Geography

Lishui City is situated in the Southwest of Zhejiang Province where Zhejiang and Fujian province meet. The mountains of the area belong to the Wuyi Mountain System. The terrain in the Lishui Area tilts from the southwest to the northeast with 3 573 mountain peaks that reach an altitude of 1000 meters or more. The highest mountain in Zhejiang Province, which is 1 929 metres high, is located near Lishui and is called Huangmao Peak. The City of Lishui covers approximately 17,298 square kilometers, among which 88.42% is mountainous 5.52% is plantation land, and 6.06% is creek, road and village. Lishui has a subtropical monsoon climate with four distinct seasons. The yearly average rainfall is 1400~2275mm, and the mean annual temperature is 31.5-38.3 degrees Celsius.The Ou River runs past the city and deposits in the East China Sea.

Transportation and Communication

Lishui enjoys a convenient communication and transportation network. Lishui uses optical cables and SPCETSS (Stored Program Controlled Electronic Telephone Switching System) to provide the whole prefecture with communication services such as telephone, fax, telegram, internet, and mobile phones. Over 4000 kilometers of paved roads and highways link every sub-county of the prefecture. These roads, together with the No.330 National Highway and Jinhua-Wenzhou Railway, form the public transportation system of the prefecture.

History

Lishui has a very long history, for during the Liangchu Culture period 4000 years ago, there were tribes living in the area. In 589, a prefecature called Chuzhou was established by the Sui Dynasty with Kuocang, Songyang, Linhai, Yongjia, Angu and Lechen counties under its jurisdiction. Three years later, the prefecature's name was changed to Kuozhou and then to Yongjia County in 607. The name was changed back to Kuozhou in 621 during the Tang Dynasty, to Jinyun County in the 1st year of the Tianbao Era (742) and back to Kuozhou in the 1st year of Qianyuan Era (758).
In 779, during the Tang Dynasty, it was renamed Lishui County. The name of the area was changed again in the year 1276 during the Yuan Dynasty to Chuzhou Lu and to Annan Fu in the 19th year of rule of Zhizheng (1359). The name of the area was maintained as Chuzhou Fu until the Ming and Qing Dynasties when it was changed back to Lishui. In the year 1935, the area was given the official name: Lishui Administrative Supervision District. In 1949, the Lishui Special District was established but then abolished in 1952. Later, it was re-instated in 1963 and the area was renamed as The Lishui Administrative Area, which is what it is called today. By the year 1997, the towns of Longquan, Qingtian, Jinyun, Yunhe, Qingyuan, Suichang, Songyang and Jingning counties under the jurisdiction of the Lishui Administrative Area, with the town of Lishui as its headquarters. An interesting fact is that the only She Nationality Autonomous County in the nation, Jingning, is found here. In the Lishui Prefecature, there are 129 villages, 65 towns, 3661 administrative villages, and 156 neighborhood communities with a total population of approximately 2.45 million.

Main Functions

Under the guide of the basic line of the 3rd Plenary Session of the 11th Party Congress, the local government of Lishui has transformed its work priority to economic development. The government put forward a policy where forestry is the top priority, combining food and livestock husbandry, multi-management, comprehensive development and enhanced the agricultural development. In 1985, the local government proposed the guideline of:
* Emancipate the mind
* Take a bold reforming attitude
* Make Lishui more efficient
* Achieve Double Development Ahead of Schedule
* Promote the Development of Commodity Economy.In 1991, the whole area set out for the great discussion of open-mind and concept innovation, to develop along the River, to run markets along road and develop industry in town. This has played an active role in the development of the agricultural industry, market construction and township industries. From 1994 to 1995, the area set out for further discussion of the open mind, by exploring the idea of the satisfaction of primary achievement, fixing the problem of poverty, trying to fix environmental issues, enhance the awareness of various crises, competitiveness, promotion, foreign development and pragmatism.

Economy Statistics

From 1978-1997, the overall GDP of the Lishui area has increased from 480 million yuan to 11.2 billion yuan and the overall industrial and agricultural volume increased from 601 million yuan to 18.1 billion yuan. There has been a great readjustment in terms of industrial structure- with primary industries decreasing from 58.19% of the workforce to 30.85%; secondary industries from 21.53% of the workforce to 36.52%; tertiary industries rising from 20.28% to 32.63%. The fixed asset investment increased from 350 million yuan to 2.1 billion yuan, the social consumption retail volume increased from 222 million yuan to 4.26 billion yuan, fiscal revenue increased from 57 million yuan to 646 billion yuan. The surplus of financial system in the end of the year increased from 123 million yuan to 9.82 billion yuan, the surplus of loans increased from 145 million yuan to 6.57 billion yuan, the per capita income of rural residents increased from 131 yuan to 2305 yuan, the per capita disposable income of urban residents increased from 402.72 yuan of 1980 to 6614 yuan of 1997. As a result , the goal of primarily shaking off poverty of the area has been realized as expected.

Economy

Timber, waterpower, mineral deposit and wilderness are four major natural resources of Lishui prefecture that rank first in Zhejiang province. 69% of the prefecture is covered with forest, which gives it the name "Foliage Ocean of Zhejiang." The prefecture boasts potential waterpower of about 2 million kilowatt. So far, 57 mineral reserves are proved to scatter the prefecture and 460 mines are available for exploitation. Among its most important minerals, are gold, silver, lead, zinc, molybdenum, fluorite, pearlstone, pyrophylluite, dolianite, kaoline and mineral water, whose reserves claim an important place in Zhejiang, even in China. The biggest privately owned company within Lishui is UPCHEM, which employs 150 people.

In the recent years, Lishui prefecture has seen a rapid development in industry. An industry structure that carries the features of mountainous area is burgeoning. Its main industries are wood and bamboo production, ore smelting, textile, clothes making, construction materials, pharmaceutical chemistry, electronic machinery and food processing.

Over 180 brand name and high quality products of the prefecture sell well both within China and in about 100 foreign countries. Among them, wooden toys, mini electronic machinery, overedger, eider down products, gold pens and quality soaps are the most welcome. The three traditional handicrafts of the prefecture, Longquan celadon, Longquan swords, and Qingtian carved stones, enjoy high popularity both at home and abroad.

A comprehensive agricultural development program is beginning to take effect. The prefecture is now a commercial base for edible fungi, dried and fresh fruit, bamboo and bamboo shoots, tea, commercial forest, oil tea, sericulture, herb medicine, vegetable and nuts. Products like Xianggu mushrooms, tree fungus, Huiming tea, white pond lily, day lily, sun-cured tobacco, and orange and oil tea are produced in large quantities and are well known throughout Zhejiang.

Energy Production

Lishui is abundant in energy resources. With 600 hydraulic power stations in use and 500 more still under construction, the prefecture has a total power capacity of 547,000 kilowatts and an annul output of 1.5 billion KWh. Every city of the prefecture has been incorporated in the east China power network, which provides a 220,000 volt vertical and a 110,000 volt inter-regional power transmission system, with a stable substation capacity of 550,000 KVA.

Tourism

The main tourist attraction in Lishui is the city's beautiful landscape and cultural sites. Lishui is surrounded by mountains and is famous for its mountains, forests, and rivers. Lishui is also known for its food and culture.

Notable People from Lishui

* Zhao Jingshen, 趙景深, a notable Chinese writer

Trivia

* Lishui was featured in the June 2007 National Geographic Magazine [http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/0706/feature4/index.html]

External links

* [http://www.lishui.gov.cn Government website of Lishui] zh icon
* [http://www.lishui.gov.cn/eng/ Government website of Lishui] en icon
* [http://www.lsnews.com.cn Lishui News]
* [http://www.china.org.cn/ChinaToday/Today/ChinaToday/ct98/98-5-6.html A China Daily writeup on Lishui]
* [http://www.chinapages.com/zhejiang/lishui/jg/ The Lishui Page from China Pages]
* [http://www.teach-in-china.net/Classifieds/CPViewInCat.asp?ID=178 Information on Lishui]