Zhenhai is 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

and former county of the

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. ...

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 ...

Zhejiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

Province in eastern China. It has a population of 200,000.

History

The town of Zhenhai grew up at the foot of Zhaobao Hill on a tongue of land at the mouth of the Yong River about north-east of central

. Under the

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-speak ...

, the

city walls 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 ...

covered a circuit of and rose to . The British captured Zhenhai on 10 October 1841 during the First Opium War, dismantling its former citadel. The Zhenhai Coastal Battery was the site of the 1885

Battle of Zhenhai The Battle of Zhenhai () was a minor confrontation that took place on 1March 1885 between Admiral Amédée Courbet's Far East Squadron (''escadre de l’extrême-Orient'') and Chinese warships and shore batteries near the coastal city of Zhenhai ...

during the

Sino-French War The Sino-French War (, french: Guerre franco-chinoise, vi, Chiến tranh Pháp-Thanh), also known as the Tonkin War and Tonquin War, was a limited conflict fought from August 1884 to April 1885. There was no declaration of war. The Chinese arm ...

. In the later 19th century, Zhenhai was protected from the sea by a dike about long, made of large blocks of hewn

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

. Zhenhai has suffered severe long-term air pollution mainly emanating from the Ningbo Petro-Chemical Economic and Technical Development Zone built on its eastern coast. The zone is home to nearly 200 chemical plants including Zhenhai Refining and Chemical Corporation (ZRCC), a subsidiary of

Sinopec China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (中国石油化工股份有限公司) or Sinopec (), is a Chinese oil and gas enterprise based in Beijing. It is listed in Hong Kong and also trades in Shanghai. Sinopec Limited's parent, Sinopec ...

and the largest oil refinery in China, LG-Yongxing, the largest

ABS plastic Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) (chemical formula (C8H8)''x''·(C4H6)''y''·(C3H3N)''z'' is a common thermoplastic polymer. Its glass transition temperature is approximately . ABS is amorphous and therefore has no true melting point. AB ...

producer in China and Zhenhai Port Liquid Chemical Dock, the largest liquid chemical dock in China. In September, 2007, 400 tones of

acrylonitrile Acrylonitrile is an organic compound with the formula and the structure . It is a colorless, volatile liquid although commercial samples can be yellow due to impurities. It has a pungent odor of garlic or onions. In terms of its molecula ...

leaked from the LG-Yongxing plant and polluted air and underground water around adjacent areas. In late April, 2012, three million bees died in an orchard in Xiepu Town next to the Petro-Chemical Zone because of pollutants discharged by a chemical plant. Research has shown that the ratio of deaths from cancer in Zhenhai rose significantly between 2007 and 2009. From May16 to 17, 2002, residents in Zhenhai launched protests against

environmental degradation Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as quality of air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems; habitat destruction; the extinction of wildlife; and pollution. It is defin ...

caused by the chemical industry, blocking the district's traffic on its main streets. In October, 2012, angry people staged demonstrations against a giant petro-chemical project scheduled by ZRCC and clashed with police. The 50 billion yuan ($8 billion) integrated investment project, according to some reports, will affect more than 9800 households. Many argue that the environment in Zhenhai has been tremendously overloaded and the new project will bring even more harm to the ecosystem.

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts: * Zhaobaoshan Subdistrict (招宝山街道), Jiaochuan Subdistrict (蛟川街道), Luotuo Subdistrict (骆驼街道), Zhuangshi Subdistrict (庄市街道) Towns: * Jiulonghu (九龙湖镇), Xiepu (澥浦镇)

Notable individuals

Hu Zongnan Hu Zongnan (; 16 May 1896 – 14 February 1962), courtesy name Shoushan (壽山), was a Chinese general in the National Revolutionary Army and then the Republic of China Army. Together with Chen Cheng and Tang Enbo, Hu, a native of Zh ...

Run Run Shaw Sir Run Run Shaw (19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong entertainment mogul and philanthropist. He was one of the most influential figures in the Asian entertainment industry. He founde ...

Yang Fujia Yang Fujia (; 11 June 1936 – 17 July 2022) was a Chinese nuclear physicist. He was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a renowned nuclear physicist and a Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, England. He was President of ...

Ye Chengzhong Ye Chengzhong (; 1840–1899) was a Chinese businessman and philanthropist active during the final years of the Qing Dynasty and a pioneer in the hardware industry who also made considerable contributions to education. Biography Born i ...

Notes

References

* . * . {{authority control Geography of Ningbo Districts of Zhejiang