Zhapu, alternately romanized as Chapoo or Chapu, is 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 ...

under the administration of

Pinghu Pinghu is a county-level city in the east of Jiaxing's administrative area, in the northeast of Zhejiang Province, bordering Shanghai to the northeast. It sits next to the East China Sea and the north shore of Hangzhou Bay. Prior to the Ming ...

, in the north of

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 is located along the northern shore of

Hangzhou Bay Hangzhou Bay, or the Bay of Hangzhou (), is a funnel-shaped inlet of the East China Sea, bordered by the province of Zhejiang and the municipality of Shanghai, which lies north of the Bay. The Bay extends from the East China Sea to its head ...

in the southeastern part of Pinghu and borders Haiyan County to its south and southeast. The town covers an area of 54.4 square kilometers and has a population of 54,000.

History

Zhapu is the site of a deepwater harbor on the northern shore of

, noted as a port since the

Tang Tang or TANG most often refers to: * Tang dynasty * Tang (drink mix) Tang or TANG may also refer to: Chinese states and dynasties * Jin (Chinese state) (11th century – 376 BC), a state during the Spring and Autumn period, called Tang (唐) b ...

. Under the Qing, an extensive canal network connected it to

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 turned it into the area's principal port. Under the dynasty's restrictive trade policies, its merchants monopolized China's trade with

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and Japan. At the time of the First Opium War, Chapu was protected by an imperial army garrison and a

city wall A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications with towers, bastions and gates ...

with a circuit of about . The British captured the town on 18May 1842 but abandoned it shortly thereafter. By that time, the harbor had begun

silting up Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...

and was only accessible to the lighter-

draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...

British vessels. It was omitted from the

treaty ports 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 of the war and declined in importance relative to nearby

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 ...

and

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

. By the early 20th century, its harbor had effectively silted up and the town became a backwater.

Zhapu Port

Zhapu port, located south of the mouth of

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 ...

is a new port developed after 2000, and is a part of the port of Jiaxing. It is located in Hangzhou bay, equidistant from

and Huzhou.

Notes

References

* * Jiaxing Port cities and towns in China China–Korea relations China–Japan relations Towns of Zhejiang {{Zhejiang-geo-stub