Longgang is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , image_skyline = 玉甑峰全貌 - panoramio.jpg , image_caption = View of the Yandang Mountains , image_map = Zhejiang i ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. As of 2018, its population was 378,000, spread across divided into 14

neighborhoods A neighbourhood (Commonwealth English) or neighborhood (American English) is a geographically localized community within a larger town, city, suburb or rural area, sometimes consisting of a single street and the buildings lining it. Neighbourh ...

, 22 residential areas, and 171

villages A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

. Longgang is administered as a part of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

Wenzhou Wenzhou; Chinese postal romanization, historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui, Zhejiang, Lishui to the west, Taizhou, Zheji ...

, whose downtown is about away.

Geography

Longgang lies on the south side of the estuary of the , opposite the town of in

Pingyang County Pingyang County (, Wenzhounese:''ben yi'') is a county in the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou, located along the southern coast of Zhejiang ) , translit_lang1_type2 = , translit_lang1_info2 = ( Hangzhounese) ( Ningbonese) (Wenzhounese) , ...

Name

The winding Ao River is also called the Qinglong River ''Qīnglóng jiāng'') by locals on the south bank of the river, after the

Azure Dragon The Azure Dragon ( zh, c=青龍, p=Qīnglóng) is one of the Dragon King, Dragon Gods who represent the mount or Chthonic deities, chthonic forces of the Wufang Shangdi, Five Regions' Highest Deities (). It is also one of the Four Symbols o ...

Chinese mythology Chinese mythology () is mythology that has been passed down in oral form or recorded in literature throughout the area now known as Greater China. Chinese mythology encompasses a diverse array of myths derived from regional and cultural tradit ...

. This gave its name to the village of Longjiang ''Lóngjiāng cūn'', "

Dragon A dragon is a Magic (supernatural), magical legendary creature that appears in the folklore of multiple cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but European dragon, dragons in Western cultures since the Hi ...

River"). In 1982, Longjiang was joined with nearby Yanjiang ''Yánjiāng cūn'', "Village upon the River") under the name Yanjiang Port Area ''Yánjiāng gǎngqū''), but because this could be misunderstood as "a port area upon the river" instead of as a proper name it was soon renamed the Longjiang Port Area ''Lóngjiāng gǎngqū''). When the port was elevated to

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

status the next year, Chen Junqiuits chief officialrenamed it Longgang ''Lóngjiāng zhèn'') as a blend of "Longjiang" and "Port Area".

History

The villages of Longjiang and Yanjiang were selected as the location of a new seaport after the establishment of

Cangnan County Cangnan County ( ) is a county in the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou in southern Zhejiang, China. The county government is in Lingxi. Cangnan has 20 towns, 14 townships, and two nationality townships. Cangnan and Taishun are a part of the Min ...

in 1981, during China's Opening Up Period. When this was publicly announced in February 1982, the people of the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

at Lingxi began protesting against the decision out of fear that Cangnan's county government would be relocated to the new port. They even

beat Beat, beats, or beating may refer to: Common uses * Assault, inflicting physical harm or unwanted physical contact * Battery (crime), a criminal offense involving unlawful physical contact * Battery (tort), a civil wrong in common law of inte ...

some of the Communist Party officials from

responsible for the decision. The new port area was promoted to town status in 1983, incorporating another three nearby villages, but Lingxi was left as the county seat. In 1984, the No. 1 Document of China's State Council provided that "farmers who can live self-sufficiently can be given the ''

hukou ''Hukou'' ( zh, c=户口, l=household individual) is a system of household registration used in the People's Republic of China. The system itself is more properly called ''huji'' ( zh, c=户籍, l=household origin), and has origins in Histo ...

'' of city and town dwellers". Longgang quickly opened its ''hukou'' to any farmers who bought land to construct new houses or who owned businesses in the town. Within a month, more than 3000 farmers registered for the town's ''hukou''. Its population continued to boom as more people came in from the countryside, reaching 40,000 by 1989, and it became a center of the Chinese printing industry. The town began appealing for

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a monarch, national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, ci ...

in 1987 and started urbanizing reforms in 1996. By 2016, the China Business Network described it as "probably the largest town in China". After final approval by the

Ministry of Civil Affairs The Ministry of Civil Affairs ( zh, 中华人民共和国民政部) the cabinet-level executive department of the State Council of China which is responsible for social and administrative affairs. It is the 10th-ranked department in the State C ...

, Zhejiang's provincial government finally elevated it to county-level city status in August 2019.

References

Citations

Bibliography

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External links

龙港网
{{Authority control County-level cities in Zhejiang Geography of Wenzhou