Wenling ( Wenling dialect: Ueng-ling Zy ; ) is a coastal

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 ...

in the municipal region of Taizhou, in southeastern

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 ...

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 ...

, China. It borders

Luqiao Luqiao District (; Tai-chow dialect: Lu-giao K'ü) is a district of Taizhou in Zhejiang Province, People's Republic of China. The district has an area of and a population of approximately 425,200. Luqiao District was established in 1994, havin ...

and

Huangyan ( Tai-chow dialect: Wông-ngæn K'ü; ) is a district of Taizhou, a city in Zhejiang Province, China. Huangyan has an area of and a population of approximately 570,000. It has an average annual precipitation of and an annual average temperatur ...

to the north, Yuhuan to the south,

Yueqing Yueqing () is a county-level city under the administration of Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, in eastern China. It lies on the coast of the East China Sea, by the Yueqing Bay. Much of the Yandang Mountains lie in Yueqing. History China's ancient ( ...

to the west, looks out to the East China Sea to the east. Wenling locates on 28°22'N, 121°21'E, approximately south 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 flowin ...

Jiangxia Tidal Power Station The Jiangxia Tidal Power Station (江厦潮汐电站) is the fourth largest tidal power station in the world, located in Wuyantou, Wenling City, Zhejiang Province, China. Although the proposed design for the facility was 3,000 kW, the cur ...

is located there as well as a number of e-waste recycling centers which have contributed to

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activity ...

in the region. Because of its geographical location, Wenling has long suffered from typhoons. On August 12, 2004,

Typhoon Rananim Typhoon Rananim, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Karen, was the strongest typhoon to make landfall on the Chinese province of Zhejiang since 1956. It formed on August 6, 2004, intensifying into a tropical storm on August 8. Rananim ...

, the sixth strongest typhoon in PRC history, landed in Shitang Town, Wenling. On 10 August 2019,

Typhoon Lekima Typhoon Lekima, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Hanna, was the second-costliest typhoon in Chinese history. The ninth named storm of the 2019 Pacific typhoon season, Lekima originated from a tropical depression that formed east of the Phili ...

, the third strongest in PRC history, came ashore at Chengnan Town, Wenling.

Administration

The

of Wenling currently administers 5

subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...

and 11

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 ...

. * Taiping Subdistrict (Tha-bing Ka-dau)太平街道 * Chengdong Subdistrict (Zhing-tung Ka-dau)城東街道 * Chengxi Subdistrict (Zhing-shi Ka-dau)城西街道 * Chengbei Subdistrict (Zhing-puk Ka-dau)城北街道 * Hengfeng Subdistrict (Wang-fung Ka-dau)橫峰街道 *

Daxi Town Dàxī may refer to: Mainland China *Daxi (大西) dynasty, a short-lived dynasty (1643–1646) established by Zhang Xianzhong *Daxi Creek (大溪), tributary of the Xitao River in Anji County, Zhejiang *Daxi culture (5000 BC–3000 BC), Neolithic ...

(Da-khi Cing)大溪鎮 * Zeguo Town (Dzak-kuk Cing)澤國鎮 * Xinhe Town (Shing-ghou Cing)新河鎮 * Ruoheng Town (Niak-wong Cing)箬橫鎮 * Songmen Town (Shiung-meng Cing)松門鎮 * Wenqiao Town (Ueng-giau Cing)溫嶠鎮 * Wugen Town (U-keng Cing)塢根鎮 * Chengnan Town (Zhing-nae Cing)城南鎮 * Shiqiaotou Town (Zhik-giau-deu Cing)石橋頭鎮 * Binhai Town (Ping-he Cing)濱海鎮 * Shitang Town (Zhik-dong Cing)石塘鎮

Climate

Language

Like the majority of areas in Zhejiang, most people from Wenling speak a dialect of

Wu Chinese The Wu languages (; Wu romanization and IPA: ''wu6 gniu6'' [] ( Shanghainese), ''ng2 gniu6'' [] (Suzhounese), Mandarin pinyin and IPA: ''Wúyǔ'' []) is a major group of Sinitic languages spoken primarily in Shanghai, Zhejiang, Zhejiang Provin ...

, known as Wenling Hua. It is not mutually intelligible with

Mandarin Chinese Mandarin (; ) is a group of Chinese (Sinitic) dialects that are natively spoken across most of northern and southwestern China. The group includes the Beijing dialect, the basis of the phonology of Standard Chinese, the official language ...

, and partially intelligible with (also Wu) Shanghainese. There is also a small portion of

Min Nan Southern Min (), Minnan ( Mandarin pronunciation: ) or Banlam (), is a group of linguistically similar and historically related Sinitic languages that form a branch of Min Chinese spoken in Fujian (especially the Minnan region), most of Taiwan ...

speakers in the southeastern regions, especially in Shitang Town. The linguistic diversity of some regions has resulted in a segment of the population becoming fluent in speaking up to three languages, when Mandarin is included.

History

During the

Xia Xia (Hsia in Wade–Giles) may refer to: Chinese history * Xia dynasty (c. 2070 – c. 1600 BC), the first orthodox dynasty in Chinese history * Xia (Sixteen Kingdoms) (407–431), a Xiongnu-led dynasty * Xia (617–621), a state founded by Dou Ji ...

, Shang, and Zhou

dynasties A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family,''Oxford English Dictionary'', "dynasty, ''n''." Oxford University Press (Oxford), 1897. usually in the context of a monarchical system, but sometimes also appearing in republics. A d ...

, Wenling was not part of the Chinese state but rather part of the separate culture of

Dong'ou Dong'ou () also known as Ouyue (), was an ancient kingdom in modern Wenzhou and Taizhou, Zhejiang Province, China. The realm of Dong'ou was given to Zou Yao by Emperor Gaozu of Han in 192 BC. During the Han campaigns against Minyue in 138 BC, ...

. Following the third-century BC conquests of the

Qin Empire The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), the ...

, it was incorporated into the Minzhong Prefecture before being moved to

Kuaiji Shaoxing (; ) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as (''Yuè'') from the area's former inhabitants. ...

under the

Han Han may refer to: Ethnic groups * Han Chinese, or Han People (): the name for the largest ethnic group in China, which also constitutes the world's largest ethnic group. ** Han Taiwanese (): the name for the ethnic group of the Taiwanese p ...

. From the Tang to the

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 ...

, Wenling was divided between Taizhou's

Huangyan District ( Tai-chow dialect: Wông-ngæn K'ü; ) is a district of Taizhou, a city in Zhejiang Province, China. Huangyan has an area of and a population of approximately 570,000. It has an average annual precipitation of and an annual average temperatur ...

and

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 ...

District. In 1469, Taiping County was formed in the area from Fangyan, Taiping, and Fanchang, three villages formerly incorporated into

. Yueqing County's Shanmen and Yuhuan villages were ceded in 1476. In 1513, the county seat built of city wall, roughly squared, giving it the name of "Square Castle". In 1914, the county was renamed Wenling to distinguish it from counties with same name in Shanxi,

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

, and

Anhui Anhui , (; formerly romanized as Anhwei) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the East China region. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze River ...

. Wenling ("warm mountain") was once another name of Wenqiao Town. Wenling was conquered by Communist forces on May 28, 1949, and the county government was created. In March 1994, Wenling was made a county-level "city".

Transportation

Wenling Railway Station is located in Daxi Town, North-West of Wenling. It is part of the Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou Railway, and has connected to high speed rail lines that runs in 300 km/h. In 2017, its annual ridership is about 8.5 million. Wenling is 26 km (16 miles) away from the Taizhou Luqiao Airport, located in the city centre of Taizhou. Wenling also connects to the Ningbo-Taizhou-Wenzhou expressway.

Food

# Qiangao (嵌糕; pinyin: Qiàngāo) is made with rice cake ( Niangao) and many different dishes like fried noddle, carrots, potatoes, pork, tofu, and whatever people want. Qiangao is shaped like a big dumpling, and all the dishes are stuffed inside of it. #

Shanfenhu (山粉糊; pinyin: Shānfenhú) is made with Shanfen which is the powder made from potato related plants. Shanfenhu is sticky and gelatinous. Different things are commonly added to it. For example, for a salty taste, pork, mushroom, beans, tofu, peanut, etc. can be added; for a sweet dish, red dates, raisins, lotus seeds, brown sugar, etc. can be added. # PaoXia

Paoxia (泡虾; pinyin: Pàoxiā) is a famous street snack in Wenling. It is translated as "Fried Shrimp," but it is not actual shrimp. It is fried dough made with wheat flour and stuffed with pork and cabbage. #

Chuiyuan (炊圆; pinyin: Chūiyuán) is made with glutinous rice. Dried small shrimp, pork, tofu, and carrots are stuffed into the glutinous rice bun. #Maibingtong (麦饼筒; pinyin: Màibǐngtǒng) are thin crepes made from wheat flour mixed with '' Pseudognaphalium affine'' and some other green vegetable juices. Additional ingredients such as pork, stir-fried eggs, shrimp, onions, stir-fried noodles, etc. are added onto the crepes, which are then rolled up. # MaiBingTong

Economy

The economy of Wenling is relatively developed. In 2018, its nominal GDP exceeds 100 billion, becoming the first city (or county, district) in Taizhou to have 100 billion GDP. Its GDP per capita is about 83,300 RMB (12,607 US dollar).

Listed companies

Disasters

On 13 June 2020, a fuel truck crashed and exploded, killing 19 and injuring over 170 people in Liangshan Village, close to the city of Wenling.

References

{{Authority control County-level cities in Zhejiang Taizhou, Zhejiang