Longgang is a

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , Chinese postal romanization, also romanized as Chekiang) is an East China, eastern, coastal Provinces of China, province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable citie ...

, China. As of 2018, its population was 378,000, spread across divided into 14

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (British English, Irish English, Australian English and Canadian English) or neighborhood (American English; see spelling differences) is a geographically localised community within a larger city, town, suburb or rural area, ...

, 22 residential areas, and 171

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

. Longgang is administered as a part of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China ...

Wenzhou Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou �y33–11 tɕiɤu33–32 ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Zhejiang province in the People's Republic of China. Wenzhou is located at the extreme south east ...

, whose downtown is about away.

Geography

Longgang lies on the south side of the estuary of the , opposite the town of in

Pingyang County Pingyang County (, Wenzhounese:''ben yi'') is a county in the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou, located along the southern coast of Zhejiang province, China. There are two main cities with many surrounding villages in Pingyang. The two main settl ...

Name

The winding Ao River is also called the Qinglong River ''Qīnglóng jiāng'') by locals on the south bank of the river, after the Azure Dragon of

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature in the geographic area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology includes many varied myths from regional and cultural traditions. Much of t ...

. This gave its name to the village of Longjiang ''Lóngjiāng cūn'', " Dragon River"). In 1982, Longjiang was joined with nearby Yanjiang ''Yánjiāng cūn'', "Village upon the River") under the name Yanjiang Port Area ''Yánjiāng gǎngqū''), but because this could be misunderstood as "a port area upon the river" instead of as a proper name it was soon renamed the Longjiang Port Area ''Lóngjiāng gǎngqū''). When the port was elevated to

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 ...

status the next year, Chen Junqiuits chief officialrenamed it Longgang ''Lóngjiāng zhèn'') as a

blend A blend is a mixture of two or more different things or substances; e.g., a product of a mixer or blender. Blend Blend may also refer to: * Blend word, a word formed from parts of other words * ''Blend'' (album), a 1996 album by BoDeans * ...

of "Longjiang" and "Port Area".

History

The villages of Longjiang and Yanjiang were selected as the location of a new sea port after the establishment of

Cangnan County Cangnan County ( ) is a county in the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang. The county government is in Lingxi. Cangnan has 20 towns, 14 townships, and two nationality townships. The predominant Chinese dialect spoken in Cangnan ...

in 1981, during China's Opening Up Period. When this was publicly announced in February 1982, the people of the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

at Lingxi began protesting against the decision out of fear that Cangnan's county government would be relocated to the new port. They even

beat Beat, beats or beating may refer to: Common uses * Patrol, or beat, a group of personnel assigned to monitor a specific area ** Beat (police), the territory that a police officer patrols ** Gay beat, an area frequented by gay men * Battery (c ...

some of the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

officials from

responsible for the decision. The new port area was promoted to town status in 1983, incorporating another three nearby villages, but Lingxi was left as the county seat. In 1984, the No. 1 Document of China's

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of South Korea, headed by the President * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative auth ...

provided that "farmers who can live self-sufficiently can be given the ''

hukou ''Hukou'' () is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "''huji''" (), and has origins in ancient China; ''hukou'' is the registration of an individual in the system (''kou'' li ...

'' of city and town dwellers". Longgang quickly opened its ''hukou'' to any farmers who bought land to construct new houses or who owned businesses in the town. Within a month, more than 3000 farmers registered for the town's ''hukou''. Its population continued to boom as more people came in from the countryside, reaching 40,000 by 1989, and it became a center of the Chinese

printing industry Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ea ...

. The town began appealing for

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

in 1987 and started urbanizing reforms in 1996. By 2016, the

China Business Network Radio and Television Station of Shanghai (RTS), a Shanghai-based state media outlet, and its wholly owned subsidiary, Shanghai Media Group (SMG), represent one of China's largest state-owned media and cultural conglomerates, with the most comp ...

described it as "probably the largest town in China". After final approval by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zhejiang's provincial government finally elevated it to county-level city status in August 2019.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

龙港网
{{Authority control County-level cities in Zhejiang Geography of Wenzhou