Tongzhou District (, alternate spellings ''Tungchow'' ''Tungchou'' (T'ung-chou), or Tong County during 1914–1997) is a district of

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the nation's capital. Downtown Tongzhou itself lies around east of central Beijing, at the northern end of the Grand Canal (on the junction between the Tonghui Canal and the Northern Canal) and at the easternmost end of

Chang'an Avenue 250px, Chang'an Avenue hosts military parades. Here are 1999 National Day parade.">50th anniversary of the People's Republic of China">1999 National Day parade. Chang'an Avenue (), literally "Eternal Peace Street", is a major thoroughfare in ...

. The entire district covers an area of , or 6% of Beijing's total area. It had a population of 673,952 at the 2000 Census, and has seen significant growth and development since then, growing to a population of 1,184,000 at the 2010 Census. The district is subdivided into four subdistricts, ten towns, and one ethnic township.

History

Tongzhou was founded in 195 BC during the Western

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

under the name of Lu (路) County, although there is evidence for human settlement in the

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several p ...

. At the start of the Eastern Han Dynasty the character Lu by which it was known was altered by the addition of a water radical to become Lu (潞). In 1151 under the Jin dynasty Lu County was renamed Tongzhou, roughly meaning 'the place for passing through', in recognition of its importance as the land and water approach to Beijing.

Ming, Qing & Republican era

In July 1937, subsequent to the infamous Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Tongzhou became another site of determined Chinese resistance. In the Tongzhou Mutiny troops of the nominally Japanese-puppet

East Hopei Army {{no footnotes, date=July 2015 The East Hopei Army was raised from the former soldiers of the Peace Preservation Corps that had been created by the Tangku Truce of 31 May 1933. The Demilitarized Zone Peace Preservation Corps had been the "neutr ...

rebelled and came to the aid of hard-pressed

Kuomintang The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...

troops, and attacked the Japanese garrison. In the fall of Tongzhou to the Nationalists, many civilians were murdered and abused as well as captured Japanese military personnel.

People's Republic

The place name changed to Tong County () when the area was placed under the new municipal region of Beijing in 1914. It again reverted to "Tongzhou" when the area was upgraded in 1997 to a

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 county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

. On 11 July 2015, Tongzhou became the second administrative seat of Beijing as a "sub-administrative center" for the municipality. Numerous local government departments will be moved to Tongzhou to reduce crowding within the city center of Beijing.

Economy

In 2017, the regional GDP of the district was 75.8 billion yuan, with GDP per capita at 50.3 thousand yuan.

Geography and environment

Tongzhou District borders the Beijing districts of

Shunyi Shunyi District () is an administrative district of Beijing, located to the northeast of the city's urban core. As of 2014, the population of the district is around 983,000, of which approximately 601,000 have local residency permits. The Beiji ...

, Chaoyang and Daxing, Wuqing District of

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

Municipality, and

Langfang Langfang () is a prefecture-level city of Hebei Province, which was known as Tianjin Prefecture until 1973. It was renamed Langfang Prefecture after Tianjin became a municipality and finally upgraded into a prefecture-level city in 1988. Lang ...

City (both the Sanhe City− Dachang County−

Xianghe County Xianghe County () is a county of central Hebei province. It is under the administration of Langfang prefecture-level city. Xianghe has 7 towns and 2 townships. It is southeast of Beijing. Sanhe city, Dachang Hui Autonomous County and Xianghe Co ...

exclave and

Guangyang District Guangyang District () is a district of Langfang, Hebei, China. Administrative divisions Subdistricts: * North Yinhe Road Subdistrict (), East Aimin Street Subdistrict (), Jiefang Street Subdistrict (), Xinkai Road Subdistrict (), Xinyuan Stree ...

) of

Hebei Hebei or , (; alternately Hopeh) is a northern province of China. Hebei is China's sixth most populous province, with over 75 million people. Shijiazhuang is the capital city. The province is 96% Han Chinese, 3% Manchu, 0.8% Hui, and 0 ...

province, and is 12 miles from

Tiananmen Square Tiananmen Square or Tian'anmen Square (; 天安门广场; Pinyin: ''Tiān'ānmén Guǎngchǎng''; Wade–Giles: ''Tʻien1-an1-mên2 Kuang3-chʻang3'') is a city square in the city center of Beijing, China, named after the eponymous Tiananmen ...

and 10 miles from

Beijing Capital International Airport Beijing Capital International Airport is one of two international airports serving Beijing, the other one being Beijing Daxing International Airport (PKX). It is located northeast of Beijing's city center, in an exclave of Chaoyang District ...

. Tongzhou is situated on the North China Plain with an average elevation of . Its climate belongs to the mild temperate zone, with distinct seasons including hot summers and freezing winters. Dust storms are common. It has an annual mean temperature of . and of rainfall. Several large rivers, among them the Wenyu, the Liangshui and Chaobai flow through the district.

Climate

Tongzhou District has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dwa''). The average annual temperature in Tongzhou is . The average annual rainfall is with July as the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in July, at around , and lowest in January, at around .

Administrative divisions

Tongzhou District is divided into six subdistricts, ten towns, and one ethnic township. Two of the towns of which carry the "area" () label.These towns are officially classified as subdistricts, but as they coincide with the area of the same name, they are commonly named "areas" () On May 11, 2020, Tongzhou District Government made a series of changes to its administrative divisions by adding the following subdistricts: *

Wenjing Subdistrict Wenjing Subdistrict () is a subdistrict situated within Tongzhou District, Beijing. It borders Liyuan Town and Linheli Subdistrict to its north, Zhangjiawan Town to its east, Taihu Subdistrict to its south, and Heizhuanghu Township to its west. ...

(文景街道) * Jiukeshu Subdistrict (九棵树街道) * Linheli Subdistrict (临河里街道) * Yangzhuang Subdistrict (杨庄街道) * Luyi Subdistrict (潞邑街道)

Transportation

CRH5G-5150 at Grand Canal Bridge (20170608183052)

Downtown Tongzhou is connected to downtown Beijing by

Jingtong Expressway Jingtong () is a locale in Pingxi District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Originally a coal mining town, today it is known mostly for tourism, with numerous souvenir shops and exhibits on the history of the area and the coal mining industry. Touri ...

and several metro lines operated by

Beijing Subway The Beijing Subway is the rapid transit system of Beijing Municipality that consists of 25 lines including 20 rapid transit lines, two airport rail links, one maglev line and 2 light rail lines, and 463 stations. The rail network extends acro ...

. Beijing's Fifth and Sixth Ring Road are roughly equidistant from Tongzhou's CBD. Highways lead to Shenyang, Harbin and

Tanggu Tanggu District () was a district in the Tianjin municipality, now part of the Binhai New Area. It is on the Hai River where it enters the Bohai Sea, and is a port for Tianjin, which is about upriver. The Tianjin Economic-Technological Develo ...

Metro

Tongzhou is currently served by four metro lines operated by

: * – Wuzixueyuanlu, Tongzhou Beiguan, Beiyunhe West, Beiyunhe East, Haojiafu, Dongxiayuan, Lucheng * – Wansheng Xi (West), Wansheng Dong (East), Qun Fang, Gao Lou Jin, Hua Zhuang, * – Tongzhou Beiyuan, , , , , , Hua Zhuang, * – Tongjinanlu, Jinghailu, Ciqu South, Ciqu,

Suburban railway

Tongzhou is also served by two suburban railway lines: * – Tongzhou, Qiaozhuang East * – Tongzhou West

Industry and tourism

There are seven industrial zones with a total area of in Tongzhou, focusing on manufacturing and high-tech industries. Downtown Tongzhou is earmarked for redevelopment into a comprehensive central business district with an emphasis on consumer retail. In agriculture, the district emphasizes on horticulture, fruit-farming, seed-growing and aquatics. The district government is currently promoting Tongzhou's position at the head of the Grand Canal to attract tourists to its Grand Canal Cultural Park. The Songzhuang artists' village, where many Chinese contemporary artists live and work, is located in the Tongzhou District. The

Universal Beijing Resort The Universal Beijing Resort (), commonly known as Universal Beijing, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex based in Beijing, China. Invite-only test operation started on September 1, 2021, and the full operation started from Septemb ...

is also located in Tongzhou, and opened on 20 September 2021. Canal Business District is under construction. Headquarters of Beijing branches of Central Government-owned Enterprises and Headquarters of Beijing Government-owned Enterprises will move to Tongzhou. Canal Business District plans to develop industrial clusters of headquarters economy and wealth management. Gallery of the construction site of Canal Business District: Canal Business District 01.jpg, Canal Business District 02.jpg, Canal Business District 12.jpg, Canal Business District 03.jpg, Canal Business District 04.jpg, Canal Business District 05.jpg, Canal Business District 06.jpg, Canal Business District 08.jpg, Canal Business District 07.jpg, Canal Business District 09.jpg, Canal Business District 10.jpg, Canal Business District 11.jpg,

Education and health

Tongzhou has good education facilities including 113 kindergartens, 141 primary schools, 51 high schools and many adult education colleges. It also boasts the Beijing Materials Institute,

Beijing University of Technology Beijing University of Technology (), also called Beijing Polytechnic University or Bei Gong Da (), is recognized as one of the Project 211 universities. The university has established a multidisciplinary academic structure, offering a variety ...

and the Beijing Institute of Music. Its hospitals include a specialist tuberculosis treatment center and a hospital specializing in traditional Chinese medicine. Private schools include: * Beijing Shuren Ribet Private School

References

External links

Official website of the Tongzhou District People's Government

Tongzhou website of the Tongzhou Government
{{authority control Districts of Beijing 195 BC 190s BC establishments States and territories established in the 2nd century BC 2nd-century BC establishments in China