Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ) 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 ...

in the northeast of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

province, China. Although called a "city", Wenchang refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. The urban center and the seat of government of Wenchang is officially known as "Wencheng Town" (), which is also colloquially referred to as Wenchang City.

History

Wenchang, or in local Hainanese dialect as Boon Siou, is the source of most overseas Hainanese migrants, with the majority of Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, UK, Australia, USA, Canada & Europe Hainanese population having ancestral roots in Boon Siou / Wen Chang. The

Wenchang dialect The Wenchang dialect () is a dialect of Hainanese spoken in Wenchang, a county-level city in the northeast of Hainan, an island province in southern China. It is considered the prestige form of Hainanese, and is used by the provincial broadcasti ...

is considered the prestige form of the Hainanese language and is used by the island's provincial broadcasting media. It was promoted from a county to a city on November 7, 1995, and had a population of 86,551 in 1999 (estimated 2006: 115,000). Maps in the Republic of China on Taiwan continue to show Wenchang as a county part of its

Kwangtung Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province.

Geography

Located in the northeastern part of Hainan, Boon Siou/Wenchang covers a total area of . The east side has a long coastline along the South China Sea while the west borders

Dongzhai Harbor Dongzhai Harbor () is located in the northeast of Hainan Province, China. This water body is bordered by Haikou's Meilan District at the west and Wenchang at the east. Etymology Before the year 1605, there was a village in the area called Dongzha ...

Haikou Haikou (; ), also spelled as Hoikow is the capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. The northern part of the city is on the ...

Meilan District Meilan () is one district in Haikou City, Hainan, China. Administrative regions Meilan district has jurisdiction over places within Haikou city, such as Haifu Road, Bo'ai Road area, Haidian Road, Renminlu Road, Bailong Road, Hepingnan Road, and ...

Qionghai Qionghai, or in local Hainanese dialect as Kheng Hai, is one of the seven county-level cities of Hainan province, China. Although called a "city", Qionghai refers to a large land area in Hainan - an area which was once a county. Within this area ...

, and

Ding'an County Dìng'ān (; postal: Tingan) is an administrative district in Hainan, People's Republic of China. It is one of 4 counties of Hainan. In 1999 its population was 304,522 people. The town of Dingcheng is the main population center. Climate See ...

. The land is mostly hilly and contains both forest and agricultural areas. The entire area is populated with countless towns, farms, and villages.

Wencheng Town

Hainan subdivisions - Wenchang showing main town

Wencheng Town is located in the south of Wenchang, southeast of the provincial capital,

.Wenchang, http://en.hainan.gov.cn/englishgov/map/wenchang/index.html There is a central park and covered market downtown. Also located downtown is a large, modern campus. A new hospital is under construction on the outskirts. The centre of the town is at near sea level with a canal running between one of the main streets and Wennan Old Street. This area has been subject severe flooding a number of times in the past. Another main road runs from the centre, uphill to the south. This road leads to Yilong Bay. Directly to the north of the town centre lies a fairly affluent hilltop community occupied by numerous housing compounds for retired military and other government workers.

Auto-rickshaw An auto rickshaw is a motorized version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw. Most have three wheels and do not tilt. They are known by many terms in various countries including auto, auto rickshaw, baby taxi, mototaxi, pigeon, jonnybee, bajaj ...

s and motorbikes provide the taxi service in the town. There are no car taxis.

Wennan Old Street

Wennan Old Street is a visitor attraction located in the heart of the town. The street is lined with fully restored

tong lau Tong lau or ke lau are tenement buildings built in late 19th century to the 1960s in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China, and Southeast Asia. Designed for both residential and commercial uses, they are similar in style and function to the shophouse ...

buildings similar to those in Haikou's Bo'ai Road area (now being restored) as well as the old street in

Puqian Puqian () is a port town on the eastern shore of Dongzhai Harbor in Wenchang, Hainan province, China. Old street A road running from the port at the west to the southernmost point of the main road is lined with tong lau Tong lau or ke lau a ...

(unrestored and dilapidated).

Other towns

* Baoluo () * Changsa () * Chongxing () * Dongge () Dongjiao Coconut Forest in Wenchang

* Dongjiao () - literally "east suburb" and known as "coconut town", is located east of Wencheng Town over the

Qinglan Bridge The Qinglan Bridge () is a bridge in Wenchang, Hainan, China. It connects Qinglan Town and Dongjiao Town by crossing over the Qinglan Bay. It is long and wide. This cable-stayed bridge has two A-shaped towers that are 105.81 meters high. It h ...

. This town is coastal, and is forested mainly with coconut trees. Small industries for processing coconut products exist there. * Donglu () * Fengpo () *

Huiwen Huiwen (慧文) is considered to be the first patriarch of the Chinese Buddhist School Tiantai. He derived from the Gao (高) family in the current Bohai region of Shandong, under the Northern Qi Dynasty (which ruled northeast China between 550 ...

() * Jinshan () * Longlou () * Penglai () *

() - a coastal town located in the northern part of Wenchang situated on the eastern shore of Dongzhai Harbor * Tanniu () * Wengtian () - a coastal town located in the northeast of Wenchang, 53 kilometres away from Wencheng Town. There are two ports: Baohu Port and Hulu Port. * Wenjiao ()

Culture

Wenchang Chicken originates from this city.

Points of interest

Wenchang is the ancestral home of the

Soong sisters The Soong sisters () were Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling, and Soong Mei-ling, three Shanghainese (of Hakka descent) Christian Chinese women who were, along with their husbands, amongst China's most significant political figures of the early ...

Soong Ching-ling Rosamond Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 189329 May 1981) was a Chinese political figure. As the third wife of Sun Yat-sen, then Premier of the Kuomintang and President of the Republic of China, she was often referred to as Madame Sun Yat-sen. ...

Soong Ai-ling Soong Ai-ling (), legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong (July 15, 1889 – October 18, 1973) was a Chinese businesswoman, the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung (Kung Hsiang-Hsi), who was the richest man in the early 20th cent ...

Soong Mei-ling Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling, ; March 5, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek or Madame Chiang, was a Chinese political figure who was First Lady of the Republic of China, the wife of Generalissimo a ...

and the birthplace of their father Charlie Soong. *

Mulantou Lighthouse Mulantou Lighthouse (), also known as the Hainan Head Light, located in the province of Hainan, China, is the fifth-tallest lighthouse in the world, and the tallest in China. Built in 1995, this active lighthouse has a focal plane of . It emits t ...

- located at the northernmost point of Wenchang, this is the fifth tallest lighthouse in the world. * Qinglan Harbour *

Temple of Confucius A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of ...

Spaceport

The

Wenchang Satellite Launch Center The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no), located in Wenchang, Hainan, China, is a rocket launch site — one of the two spacecraft launch sites of Xichang Satellite Launch Center (the other site is in Xichang ...

is located in Wenchang. This is China's fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility and because of its low latitude, the

has been selected to launch China's space station. On 22 September 2007, CCTV officially announced the construction of an expanded Wenchang Satellite Launch Center has been approved by the

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 ...

and the Central Military Commission of the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

after decades of postponement due to political concerns.

Education

* Hainan College of Foreign Studies

Notable people

Artists

Aw Tee Hong Aw Tee Hong () is a Singaporean artist who is known for his oil paintings of the old Singapore River, as well as for numerous public sculptures themed towards Singapore heritage, like the marble relief titled ''Singapore Poetry'' found in Ta ...

(歐世鴻) - Singaporean painter and sculptor. * Ho Ho Ying (何和應) - Singaporean abstract artist.

Business

* Charlie Soong (宋嘉樹) - Chinese businessman

Eunuchs

* Wu Rui: a young Chinese man castrated and enslaved as a

eunuch A eunuch ( ) is a male who has been castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2nd millenni ...

in Lê Dynasty Annam (Vietnam).

Climate

References

External links

Official website of Wenchang government
{{Prefectural-level divisions of the People's Republic of China Cities in Hainan County-level divisions of Hainan