Siming District is an

urban district An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...

of the city of

Xiamen Xiamen,), also known as Amoy ( ; from the Zhangzhou Hokkien pronunciation, zh, c=, s=, t=, p=, poj=Ē͘-mûi, historically romanized as Amoy, is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Stra ...

Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefe ...

province, China. It includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen and the government offices of the modern

sub-provincial city Strictly speaking, China's legal system neither recognizes the concept of "sub-provincial administrative divisions" () or "sub-provincial cities" () nor provides specific legislation for such designations, and these categories are absent from off ...

Geography

Siming occupies the southern half of

Xiamen Island Xiamen Island, alternately known as Amoy Island from its Hokkien pronunciation, is an island in southeastern Fujian, China, on the Taiwan Strait. It is administered by the People's Republic of China as the Huli and Siming urban districts of ...

. It also includes Gulangyu Island to its southwest. The sheltered Yundang Bay responsible for old Xiamen's prized harbor was converted into a lake in the 20th century by the addition of landfill from construction.

History

The modern Siming District includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen, which had its harbor in the sheltered Yundang Bay. The town took the name "Siming" for a brief period in the early

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

when it was occupied by the

Southern Ming The Southern Ming (), also known in historiography as the Later Ming (), officially the Great Ming (), was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and a series of rump states of the Ming dynasty that came into existence following the ...

loyalist

Koxinga Zheng Chenggong (; 27 August 1624 – 23 June 1662), born Zheng Sen () and better known internationally by his honorific title Koxinga (, from Taiwanese: ''kok sèⁿ iâ''), was a Southern Ming general who resisted the Qing conquest of Chin ...

, who used it from 1650 as a base to launch attacks on the

Manchu The Manchus (; ) are a Tungusic peoples, Tungusic East Asian people, East Asian ethnic group native to Manchuria in Northeast Asia. They are an officially recognized Ethnic minorities in China, ethnic minority in China and the people from wh ...

drive southwards. He abandoned the island in favor of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

when he defeated the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

there. The Qing held the city from the early 1660s, restoring its former name. Gulangyu Island, now part of the district, developed as a foreign enclave after Xiamen became a

treaty port Treaty ports (; ) 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 Qing dynasty of China (before the ...

the end The End may refer to: Film * The End (1953 film), ''The End'' (1953 film), a film by Christopher Maclaine * The End (1978 film), ''The End'' (1978 film), a comedy by Burt Reynolds * ''The End'' (1995 film), a List of Canadian films of 1995, Cana ...

of the

First Opium War The First Opium War ( zh, t=第一次鴉片戰爭, p=Dìyīcì yāpiàn zhànzhēng), also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Chinese Qing dynasty between 1839 and 1 ...

in 1842. After the fall of the Qing in 1912, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

organized the area around Xiamen as Siming

County A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. It was renamed the Central

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

in October 1945 after its reconquest from the

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

. Following its capture by the

Communists Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, d ...

at the end of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led Nationalist government, government of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China and the forces of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Armed conflict continued intermitt ...

, it was renamed Siming District in 1950. In April 1953, its "district bureau" () administration was upgraded to a "people's government" (). As part of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a Social movement, sociopolitical movement in the China, People's Republic of China (PRC). It was launched by Mao Zedong in 1966 and lasted until his de ...

, it was renamed Xiangyang District from August 1966 to October 1979. Along with

Huli District Huli () is one of the administrative districts of the city of Xiamen, Fujian, China. Geography Huli District occupies the northern half of Xiamen Island, with 3 sides facing the narrow ocean straits that separate Xiamen Island from China's mainl ...

to its north, Siming District formed one of the first four

special economic zones A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

for foreign investment and trade established by

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping also Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Teng Hsiao-p'ing; born Xiansheng (). (22 August 190419 February 1997) was a Chinese statesman, revolutionary, and political theorist who served as the paramount leader of the People's R ...

Opening Up Policy Reform and opening-up ( zh, s=改革开放, p=Gǎigé kāifàng), also known as the Chinese economic reform or Chinese economic miracle, refers to a variety of economic reforms termed socialism with Chinese characteristics and socialist market ...

in the early 1980s. Gulangyu Island and

Kaiyuan District Kaiyuan Subdistrict () is a subdistrict of Siming District, Xiamen, Fujian Fujian is a provinces of China, province in East China, southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, an ...

were merged into Siming in May 2003.

Administration

Before the merge, Siming originally had five local government street offices (): * Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'') * Siming (思明, ''Su-bing'') * Wen'an (文安, ''Bun-an'') * Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'') *

Zhonghua Zhōnghuá, Chung¹-hua² or Chunghwa () is a term that indicates a relation to, or descent from "''China''" or "''Chinese civilisation''", in a cultural, ethnic, or literary sense, derived from the historical concept of Huaxia. It is used in the ...

(中华, ''Tiong-hua'') The above five were divided into 58 residential committees () and two villages, Zengcuo'an (曾厝垵, ''Tsan-tshu-uann'') and Huangcuo (黄厝, ''Ng-tshu''). Xiagang Street was originally a district in 1950. Today, Siming has ten street offices (): * Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'') *

(中华, ''Tiong-hua'') * Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'') * Lianqian (莲前, ''Lian-tsian'') * Jialian (嘉莲, ''Ka-lian'') * Yundang (筼筜, ''Uan-tang'') * Wucun (梧村, ''Ngoh-tshng'') * Kaiyuan (开元, ''Khai-guan'') * Lujiang (鹭江, ''Loo-kang'') *

Gulangyu Gulangyu, Gulang or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage, UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8 ...

(''Kulangsu'') These street offices are divided into 95 residential committees ().

Economy

Xiamen Bluebird Cartoon Company (), which makes the '' XingXing Fox'' cartoon, is headquartered in the Amoy Software Park 2 () in Siming District.Home page
Amoy Bluebird Cartoon Company. Retrieved on April 21, 2014.

References

External links

*

{{authority control Geography of Xiamen County-level divisions of Fujian Island counties of China