Chongming District () is northernmost district of the provincial-level

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

. Chongming consists of three low-lying inhabited alluvial islands at the mouth of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

north of the Shanghai peninsula: Chongming,

Changxing () is a county of the prefecture-level city of Huzhou, in the northwest of Zhejiang province, China. Situated on the southwest shore of Lake Tai, it borders the provinces of Jiangsu to the north and Anhui to the west. It has a total area of an ...

, and Hengsha. Following its massive expansion in the 20th century, Chongming is now the 2nd-largest

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

administered by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

and the 2nd-largest in

Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...

, after

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

. Chongming does not, however, administer all of the island: owing to its continual expansion from sediment deposited by the Yangtze, it has merged with formerly separate islands and now includes

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

pene-exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

s of

Haiyong Haiyong () is a town of Haimen District in Nantong, Jiangsu, China. Together with neighboring Qilong, it forms a pene-enclave of the province on Chongming Island, most of which belongs to the province-level municipality of Shanghai. Haiyong pre ...

and Qilong. Chongming proper covers an area of and had a population of at the time of the Sixth National Census in 2010. The

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

was established in 1396, the second year of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peo ...

's Hongwu Emperor. With the completion of the Yangtze and Chongqi Bridges, it is now connected to both the rest of Shanghai and southeastern

along the Hushan Expressway. Further development is now proceeding according to an urban and agricultural master-plan led by

Philip Enquist Philip Enquist, FAIA is a partner in the Chicago office of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in charge of Urban Design & Planning. He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects. Since joining SOM in 1981, Enquist has focused on strengthening ...

of SOM, although ambitious plans for an

ecocity The sustainable city, eco-city, or green city is a city designed with consideration for social, economic, environmental impact (commonly referred to as the triple bottom line), and resilient habitat for existing populations, without compromisi ...

named Dongtan have been shelved since the 2006 ouster of

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...

Chen Liangyu Chen Liangyu (; born October 24, 1946, in Shanghai) is a Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Communist Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top office, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, from 200 ...

and other neighborhoods have swelled with immigration from people relocated from central China following the completion of the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world' ...

History

Present-day Chongming first developed as two separate shoals— Xisha and Dongsha—during the

Wude Era Emperor Gaozu of Tang (7 April 566 – 25 June 635, born Li Yuan, courtesy name Shude) was the founding emperor of the Tang dynasty of China, reigning from 618 to 626. Under the Sui dynasty, Li Yuan was the governor in the area of modern-day ...

(AD 618–626) of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdom ...

. By the first year of

Shenlong Shenlong, (, literally "god dragon" or "divine dragon", Japanese: 神竜 Shinryū) is a spiritual dragon from Chinese mythology who is the master of storms and also a bringer of rain. He is of equal significance to other creatures such as Tianlon ...

(705), a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

was established on Xisha which was known as "Chongming"."Chongming County" in the ''Encyclopedia of Shanghai'', pp. 50 ff.
Shanghai Scientific & Technical Publishers (Shanghai), 2010. Hosted by the Municipality of Shanghai. The number, size, and shapes of the islands fluctuated repeatedly over time and with the

flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

s of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

. In the 15th year of

Jiading Jiading is a suburban district of Shanghai. It had a population of 1,471,100 in 2010. History Historically, Jiading was a separate municipality/town, until, in 1958, becoming under the administration of Shanghai. In 1993, Jiading's designate ...

(1222) under the

Southern Song The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, the islands were part of Tongzhou Prefecture. These early settlers were mostly

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

and salt collectors, with its principal

saltern A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but also othe ...

at Tianci. In the 14th year of Zhiyuan (1277) under Kublai Khan of the Yuan, was organized within

Yangzhou Yangzhou, postal romanization Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province (Suzhong), East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north ...

. Owing to the shifting sands of the islands, however, the district seat needed to be repeatedly moved."Chongming Island" in the ''Encyclopedia of Shanghai'', p. 52.
During the late Yuan and early

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

, the sparsely-inhabited shoals of the area began to fill with migrants from

Pudong Pudong is a district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank, directly across from the west bank or Puxi, the historic cit ...

and other areas of Songjiang Prefecture. These immigrants introduced cotton cultivation, which spread widely prior to China's opening to international trade in the later Qing. There was small-scale textile production in the area, but most was exported for use in

Songjiang Songjiang, from the Chinese for "Pine River" and formerly romanized as Sungkiang, usually refers to one of the following areas within the municipal limits of Shanghai: * Songjiang Town (), the former principal town of the Shanghai area * Songjia ...

Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whic ...

, and other more developed areas of

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

.Walker, Kathy Le Mons
"The View from the Periphery: Tongzhou and the Northern Delta" in ''Chinese Modernity and the Peasant Path: Semicolonialism in the Northern Yangzi Delta'', pp. 52 ff.
Stanford University Press ( Stanford), 1999. In the 2nd year of

Hongwu Hongwu () (23 January 1368 – 5 February 1399) was the era name of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty of China. Hongwu was also the Ming dynasty's first era name. Comparison table Other eras contemporaneous with Hongwu * C ...

(1396) under the

, the prefecture was elevated to a

but, shortly afterwards, a major subsidence provoked a mass emigration back to the mainland. This county was later placed in Suzhou and then Taicang Prefectures. The unification of over 30 shoals in 1681 was effectively the creation of the present-day Chongming, although it remained much smaller at the time. Under the Republic, the county was organized first under the

Nantong Nantong (; alternate names: Nan-t'ung, Nantung, Tongzhou, or Tungchow; Qihai dialect: ) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. ...

and then the

Songjiang Special Administration District Songjiang is a suburban district (formerly a county) of Shanghai. It has a land area of and a population of 1,582,398 (2010). Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai. Songjiang Town, the urban center of the ...

. Nine years after the establishment of the

, it was placed under the

municipality of Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

in December 1958.

Reclamation Reclaim, reclaimed, reclaimer, reclaiming or reclamation means "to get something back". It may refer to: * Land reclamation, creating new land from oceans, riverbeds, or lake beds * Dedesertification, reversing of the land degradation in arid ...

, particularly large-scale work on the island's northern and eastern

tidal flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal fl ...

s in the 1960s and '90s, doubled the size of Chongming between 1950 and 2010. Dongtan was a proposed

which was planned to open along with the

2010 World Expo Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the t ...

in Shanghai but stalled following the 2006 ouster of Shanghai mayor

. In mid-2016 Chongming was approved by the State Council of China to upgrade into a district of Shanghai; the District government was formally established in January 2017.

Landmarks and tour

Dongping National Forest Park is located in the district, as are the Dongtan Nature Reserve, the Chongxi Wetland Park, and the

Chongming National Geological Park Chongming is an island in the Yangtze estuary north of Shanghai, China. It may refer either to: * Chongming Island itself * Chongming District Chongming District () is northernmost district of the provincial-level municipality of Shanghai. Cho ...

. With its unspoiled environment, Chongming Island is one-of-a-kind destination great for eco-tours and restorative vacations. Chongming runs two 4A-class attractions and four 3A-class attractions. The tourism of the island focuses on three zones – East Chongming, Central Chongming and West Chongming. East Chongming features Dongtan Wetland Park and agritainment options in Yingdong Village and Nanjiang Village. Central Chongming features Dongping National Forest Park, agritainment options at Qianwei Village, Gaojia Zhuangyuan and Ruihua Orchard, Genbao Football Base, Chongming Xuegong (Chongming Museum), Jinaoshan Park, Shou’an Temple and Sanmin Cultural Village. West Chongming offers Mingzhu Lake Park, Xiling Resort, Xisha Wetland and agritainment at Lugang Village.

Town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...
s

The district government seat and largest settlement of Chongming is the

of Chengqiao on

Chongming Island Chongming, formerly known as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing and Hengsha, it forms Chongming District, the northernmost area of the ...

. There are 227 communities and villages in the district, administered as 16

towns A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and 2

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, C ...

. Changxing Island is administered as a single town, also named

. Other town-level divisions of Chongming include (from northwest to southeast): Xinhai, Lühua, Sanxing,

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

, Dongping, Gangxi, Jianshe, Xinhe, Shuxin, Gangyan, Bu, Xianghua, Zhongxing, Chenjia.

Hengsha Island Hengsha (横沙岛, Shanghainese: ''Waan So Tau'') is a low-lying alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze River in eastern China. Together with the islands of Chongming and Changxing, it forms Chongming District, the northernmost area of the ...

is administered as a single

, also named Hengsha and Xincun. The other

township-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...

of Chongming are Qianwei Farm, Dongping Forestry Zone, and Shangshi Contemporary Agricultural Park. To its southeast along the northern shore is the township of

; southeast of Haimen is Qilong. Both of these are

s of

; they are administered from

Haimen District Haimen (, Qihai dialect: , Shanghai: ) is a district of Nantong, Jiangsu province, with a population of approximately 1 million. It is located at the opposite side of the Yangtze River to Shanghai and is directly north of Chongming Island except ...

and Qidong, respectively.

Climate

Transportation

Whereas the district was previously only connected to the mainland by ferry service, the

Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel The Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge is a bridge–tunnel complex across the south fork of the Yangtze River near the river mouth in Shanghai. The tunnel connects the Pudong District of Shanghai on the south bank of the river with Chang ...

now connects Changxing Island with

in Shanghai, while the

Shanghai Yangtze Bridge The Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel and Bridge is a bridge–tunnel complex across the south fork of the Yangtze River near the river mouth in Shanghai. The tunnel connects the Pudong District of Shanghai on the south bank of the river with Chan ...

connects it with Chongming Island. Chongming is presently connected with

by the Chongqi Bridge and these three bridges and tunnels form part of the Hushan Expressway connecting northern Shanghai with

Xi'an Xi'an ( , ; ; Chinese: ), frequently spelled as Xian and also known by other names, is the capital of Shaanxi Province. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong Plain, the city is the third most populous city in Western China, after Chongqi ...

in central China. The Chonghai Bridge connecting western Chongming with

Haimen Haimen (, Qihai dialect: , Shanghai: ) is a district of Nantong, Jiangsu province, with a population of approximately 1 million. It is located at the opposite side of the Yangtze River to Shanghai and is directly north of Chongming Island except ...

is under construction. Hengsha Island is connected via ferry. 18 ferries continue to operate in the district. On Chongming, Chengqiao's Nanmen Port offers service to

Shidongkou , is a suburban district of Shanghai. It has an area of and had a population of 1,905,000 at the time of the 2010 Chinese census. History The area was the scene of heavy fighting during the Battle of Shanghai. Landmarks The War of Resistance ...

and Baoyang Rd in Baoshan and to

Liuhegang Liuhe (; (Liuho) lit. "Liu Creek") is a town under the jurisdiction of Taicang county-level city in Suzhou, China. Liuhe has an area of , with around permanent residents. Name Liuhe town was called Liujiagang (; lit. "Liu Family Harbor"). It is s ...

in southern Jiangsu; Xinhai's Niupeng Harbor to Qinglonggang in

;"Shanghai Chongming Industrial Zone".
Shanghai Municipal Government, 2015. and other ports offer connections with

Wusong Wusong, formerly romanized as Woosung, is a subdistrict of Baoshan in northern Shanghai. Prior to the city's expansion, it was a separate port town located down the Huangpu River from Shanghai's urban core. Name Wusong is named for the Wus ...

and the two other islands of the county. The major arteries running along the length of Chongming Island are the Beiyan Highway on the north side and Chenhai Highway on the south. Another 38

highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

cross the island. The main artery along the length of Changxing Island is the Panyuan Highway, while Fengle Road runs north and south across central Hengsha Island. There are 41 bus lines in Chongming, connecting over 98% of its 227 communities.

Chongming line The Chongming line () is a rapid transit line on the Shanghai Metro that is part of the 2018–2023 Shanghai Metro plan. The Chongming line was previously treated as the last phase of Line 9, and was Line 19 until 2016, when it was renamed the ...

of the Shanghai Metro will link station on Line 9 in Pudong to Chongming via Changxing Island. The first phase of the line from to Changxing Island is currently under construction.

Sports

The Tour of Chongming Island International Cycling Race has been held on Chongming Island since 2007. It is held annually and includes a stage race and an

UCI Women's Road World Cup The UCI Women's Road Cycling World Cup was a season-long road bicycle competition for women organized by the Union Cycliste Internationale between 1998–2015. This competition consisted of a series (which has varied from 6 to 12 events) of rac ...

race for elite women.

Notable people

* Li Fengbao (1834-1887) –

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-spea ...

diplomat

References

External links

* {{Authority control Islands of Shanghai Districts of Shanghai Island counties of China