urban district
Urban district may refer to:
* District
* Urban area
* Quarter (urban subdivision)
* Neighbourhood
Specific subdivisions in some countries:
* Urban districts of Denmark
* Urban districts of Germany
* Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (hist ...
of the city of
Xiamen
Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong'an, ...
,
Fujian
Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...
province, China. It includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen and the government offices of the modern
sub-provincial city
A sub-provincial division () in China is a prefecture-level city governed by a province promoted by half a level. Thus, it is half a level under the provincial level (hence the name sub-provincial) but half a level above the prefecture-level.
T ...
.
Geography
Siming occupies the southern half of
Xiamen Island
Xiamen Island, alternately known as Amoy Island from its Hokkien pronunciation, is an island in southeastern Fujian, China, on the Taiwan Strait. It is administered by the People's Republic of China as the Huli and Siming urban districts of th ...
. It also includes
Gulangyu Island
The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...
to its southwest. The sheltered Yundang Bay responsible for old Xiamen's prized harbor was converted into a lake in the 20th century by the addition of landfill from construction.
History
The modern Siming District includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen, which had its harbor in the sheltered Yundang Bay. The town took the name "Siming" for a brief period in the early
Qing
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-speaki ...
when it was occupied by the
Southern Ming
The Southern Ming (), also known as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the Jiashen Incident of 1644. Shun forces ...
loyalist
Koxinga
Zheng Chenggong, Prince of Yanping (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), better known internationally as Koxinga (), was a Ming loyalist general who resisted the Qing conquest of China in the 17th century, fighting them on China's southeastern ...
, who used it from 1650 as a base to launch attacks on the
Manchu
The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority in China and the people from whom Manchuria derives its name. The Later Jin (1616–1636) and ...
drive southwards. He abandoned the island in favor of
Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...
when he defeated the
Dutch
Dutch commonly refers to:
* Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands
* Dutch people ()
* Dutch language ()
Dutch may also refer to:
Places
* Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States
* Pennsylvania Dutch Country
People E ...
there. The Qing held the city from the early 1660s, restoring its former name.
Gulangyu Island
The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...
, now part of the district, developed as a foreign enclave after Xiamen became a
treaty port
Treaty ports (; ja, 条約港) were the port cities in China and Japan that were opened to foreign trade mainly by the unequal treaties forced upon them by Western powers, as well as cities in Korea opened up similarly by the Japanese Empire.
...
at
the end
The End may refer to:
Films
* ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine
* ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds
* ''The End'' (1997 film), a Canadian film of 1997
* ''The End'' (1998 film), a skateboarding document ...
of the
First Opium War
The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
organized the area around Xiamen as Siming
County
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
. It was renamed the Central
District
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
in October 1945 after its reconquest from the
Japanese
Japanese may refer to:
* Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia
* Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan
* Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture
** Japanese diaspor ...
. Following its capture by the
Communists
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a so ...
at the end of the
Chinese Civil War
The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on m ...
, it was renamed Siming District in 1950. In April 1953, its "district bureau" () administration was upgraded to a "people's government" (). As part of the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
, it was renamed Xiangyang District from August 1966 to October 1979. Along with
Huli District
() is one of the administrative districts of the city of Xiamen, People's Republic of China.
Geography
Huli District occupies the northern half of Xiamen Island, with 3 sides facing the narrow ocean straits that separate Xiamen Island from China ...
to its north, Siming District formed one of the first four
special economic zones
A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...
for foreign investment and trade established by
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...
's
Opening Up Policy
The Chinese economic reform or reform and opening-up (), known in the West as the opening of China, is the program of microeconomic reform, economic reforms termed "Socialism with Chinese characteristics" and "socialist market economy" in the Ch ...
in the early 1980s.
Gulangyu Island
The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...
and
Kaiyuan District Kaiyuan Subdistrict () is a subdistrict of Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian Province, People's Republic of China. It covers an area of and has a registered population of 63,362.
It is located in central Xiamen Island, north of the original Siming ...
were merged into Siming in May 2003.
Administration
Before the merge, Siming originally had five local government street offices ():
* Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'')
* Siming (思明, ''Su-bing'')
* Wen'an (文安, ''Bun-an'')
* Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'')
* Zhonghua (中华, ''Tiong-hua'')
The above five were divided into 58 residential committees () and two villages, Zengcuo'an (曾厝垵, ''Tsan-tshu-uann'') and Huangcuo (黄厝, ''Ng-tshu''). Xiagang Street was originally a district in 1950.
Today, Siming has ten street offices ():
* Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'')
* Zhonghua (中华, ''Tiong-hua'')
* Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'')
* Lianqian (莲前, ''Lian-tsian'')
* Jialian (嘉莲, ''Ka-lian'')
* Yundang (筼筜, ''Uan-tang'')
* Wucun (梧村, ''Ngoh-tshng'')
* Kaiyuan (开元, ''Khai-guan'')
* Lujiang (鹭江, ''Loo-kang'')
*
Gulangyu
The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...
(''Kulangsu'')
These street offices are divided into 95 residential committees ().
Economy
Xiamen Bluebird Cartoon Company (), which makes the ''