Jinhua

The history of Jinhua dates back to the 2nd century BC, when it was a county subordinate to Shaoxing. It was given the name Jinhua under the Sui dynasty in AD 598 and later became the seat of a prefecture. The present city and its walls date to the Yuan dynasty in 1352.

The most famous native of Jinhua is Huang Chuping, a Daoist holy man of the 4th century and reputed immortal whose descendants still live in the area. Wuyang Shan ("Reclining Sheep Mountain") is said to be a sheep which was turned to stone by Huang, a trick which he learned through his years of diligently studying Daoism.

Economically Jinhua has always prospered from its position as the regional collecting and processing center for agricultural and forestry products (chiefly rice and bamboo). It is currently the second most important grain producing area in Zhejiang. In 1985 Jinhua was promoted to City status, and now is responsible for administering four cities, four counties and a district. Animals raised there include dairy cattle, meat hogs (for the production of Jinhua ham, a famous local product for 900 years) and honeybees. Jinhua's industrial sector has developed more recently, producing machinery, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, building supplies and electrical and electronic equipment.

The Tang dynasty painter Guan Xiu[3] (Kuan-hsiu) was born in Jinhua. He is known for his paintings of Buddhist holy men.

There are numerous scenic and historical sites in the Jinhua region, including many places associated with the Immortal Huang, and a palace of the Dukes of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

In October 2021, the establishment of Ling on the township will be abolished, the former Ling on the township on the hall village, after Fan village, Qunle a village, Qunle two villages, after the village, Baisan village, high pond village and other 7 administrative villages to Tashi Township, the former Ling on the township under the dock village, Ling on the village, Huang Yan Kong village, Jiang Fan village, Huang Ma Shan village, Limen Temple village, Shibutou village, East will village, Su village, Shaojiayuan village and other 10 administrative villages (has been abolished) regional scope to be assigned to Tangxi Township. After the adjustment, Tashi Township has jurisdiction over 22 administrative villages, the township government in Tashi Village; Tangxi Township has jurisdiction over 39 administrative villages, 1 community, the township government in Tangxi Village, No. 49, Chengzhong Road.[4]

Jinhua in the Yangtze River Delta

Jinhua is located at latitudes 28° 32'−29° 41' N and longitudes 119° 14'−120° 46' E in the center of Zhejiang. It borders Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing to the northeast.

Map including Jinhua (labeled as CHIN-HUA (KINHWA) (walled) 金華) (AMS, 1952)

The prefecture-level city of Jinhua administers 9 county-level divisions, including 2 districts, 4 county-level cities and 3 counties.

Map
Wucheng Jindong Wuyi County Pujiang County Pan'an County Lanxi (city) Yiwu (city) Dongyang (city) Yongkang (city)
Subdivision	Simplified Chinese	Pinyin
Wucheng District	婺城区	Wùchéng Qū
Jindong District	金东区	Jīndōng Qū
Lanxi	兰溪市	Lánxī Shì
Yongkang	永康市	Yǒngkāng Shì
Yiwu	义乌市	Yìwū Shì
Dongyang	东阳市	Dōngyáng Shì
Wuyi County	武义县	Wǔyì Xiàn
Pujiang County	浦江县	Pǔjiāng Xiàn
Pan'an County	磐安县	Pán'ān Xiàn

These are further divided into 191 township-level divisions, including 107 towns, 73 townships and 11 subdistricts.

Jinhua architecture, also known as Wu-school architecture, is a style of traditional Chinese architecture that is characterized by large apartments, large courtyards, large open halls, horse-head walls. This style is different from the courtyard houses in Beijing and the earth buildings in Fujian.

Representative of the Ming and Qing Dynasty residences, Jinhua architecture typically features a clear central axis and a symmetrical layout. These buildings were often constructed by the royal family or the descendants of Confucianism, and served as both living spaces and cultural artifacts that reflect the values and beliefs of Confucianism.

The common characteristic of Confucian inheritance is the emphasis on respecting teachers, education, law, and rules. This philosophy is reflected in the spatial design and construction of Jinhua architecture. These houses are built with a harmonious balance between Yin and Yang and embody symmetry and balance.

Jinhua has a rather flexible economic system with distinctive economic characteristics in different areas. 90% of enterprises are in and about 88% of its GDP are from private sector.

Industry

A bus made by the local Jinhua Youngman Vehicle factory.

Jinhua enjoys an advanced civilian-owned economy, with its industry mainly supported by processing and manufacturing. Leading industries of the city include clothing and textile, mechanics and electronics, pharmacy and chemistry, manufacturing crafts, metalwork processing architecture and building materials, automobile-and-motorcycle accessories, food processing, and plastic ware.

Industries are distributed with different characteristics in different counties or county-level cities. For instance, Yiwu is characterized by its light-industry commodities, Yongkang by its automobile-and-motorcycle accessories and mechanical and electric tools, Dongyang by its clothing, architecture and magnetic materials, the Jinhua Proper by its pharmacy, construction materials and industrial measures, Lanxi by its non-ferrous metal, cement, towels and daily chemicals, and Pujiang by its textile, lockmaking, and lantern ornaments of crystals.

Jinhua hosts the Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU), a public university in China.[8] Key provincial public high schools in Jinhua include Zhejiang Dongyang High School, Yiwu High School, Jinhua No. 1 High School, Jinhua Foreign Language School, High School Affiliated to Zhejiang Normal University, Lanxi No. 1 High School, Zhejiang Pujiang High School, Aiqing High School, Yongkang No. 1 Senior Middle School, and Jinhua Tangxi Senior High School.

Many education cooperations happen in Jinhua. Jinhua has been leading China-Africa education cooperation since the 1980s with the help of colleges and universities. Zhejiang Normal University began to recruit short-term international students in China in the 1980s. To date, the university has trained more than 8,000 African students in the Chinese language, international education in Chinese, business administration, comparative education, software engineering, mechanical design, and manufacturing and automation.[9]

Jinhua Architecture Park, a collection of 17 pavilions designed by Chinese and international architects, is set on the banks of the Yiwu River.

• Chen Wei
• Guo Guangchang
• Hu Hailan
• Pan Jianwei
• Lou Jiwei

• Jinhua ham

• Government website of Jinhua (in Chinese)
• Government website of Jinhua(in English)
• Jinhua First Social Welfare Institute (orphanage)
• The Jinhua Swine, breeds of livestock