Longgang, Zhejiang

Longgang is a county-level city of Zhejiang, China. As of 2018, its population was 378,000, spread across 183.99 km2 (71.04 sq mi) divided into 14 neighborhoods, 22 residential areas, and 171 villages.[1] Longgang is administered as a part of the prefecture-level city of Wenzhou, whose downtown is about 70 kilometers (43 mi) away.[2]

Longgang
龙港市
County-level city
Longxiang Road
Longxiang Road
Longgang is located in Zhejiang
Longgang
Longgang
Location in Zhejiang
Coordinates: 27°34′55″N 120°32′56″E
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceZhejiang
Prefecture-level cityWenzhou
Incorporated townOctober 19, 1983 (approved)
Incorporated cityAugust 27, 2019 (approved)
Area
 • Total183.99 km2 (71.04 sq mi)
Population
 (2018)
 • Total382,000
 • Density2,100/km2 (5,400/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)

Geography

Longgang lies on the south side of the estuary of the Aojiang River, opposite the town of Aojiang in Pingyang County.[3]

Name

The winding Ao River is also called the Qinglong River (t 青龍江, s 青龙江, Qīnglóng jiāng) by locals on the south bank of the river,[4] after the Azure Dragon of Chinese mythology. This gave its name to the village of Longjiang (t 龍江村, s 龙江村, Lóngjiāng cūn, "Dragon River"). In 1982, Longjiang was joined with nearby Yanjiang (沿江村, Yánjiāng cūn, "Village upon the River") under the name Yanjiang Port Area (t 沿江港區, s 沿江港区, Yánjiāng gǎngqū),[5] 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 (t 龍江港區, s 龙江港区, Lóngjiāng gǎngqū).[6] When the port was elevated to town status the next year, Chen Junqiu—its chief official—renamed it Longgang (t 龍港鎮, s 龙港镇, Lóngjiāng zhèn) as a blend of "Longjiang" and "Port Area".[5]

History

The villages of Longjiang and Yanjiang were selected as the location of a new seaport after the establishment of Cangnan County in 1981,[5] during China's Opening Up Period. When this was publicly announced in February 1982, the people of the county seat 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 some of the Communist Party officials from Wenzhou responsible for the decision.[7] The new port area was promoted to town status in 1983,[5] 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 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.[8] 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 in 1987 and started urbanizing reforms in 1996. By 2016, the China Business Network described it as "probably the largest town in China".[9] After final approval by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Zhejiang's provincial government finally elevated it to county-level city status in August 2019.

References

Citations
  1. "浙江"巨无霸"乡镇龙港拟改市：推行由市直管村居". 2019-05-17. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  2. 叶双莲; 王建平 (2015-01-07). "龙港，小城故事多". 温州网. Retrieved 2019-09-04.
  3. 陈绍雄; 徐启豆 (2012). "苍南龙港". In 中共浙江省委党史研究室; 当代浙江研究所 (eds.). 当代浙江城市发展 下. 北京: 当代中国出版社. ISBN 978-7-5154-0163-8.
  4. 文沐 (1986). "苍南若干地名来历". In 中国人民政治协商会议浙江省苍南县委员会文史资料研究委员会 (ed.). 苍南文史资料 第2辑.
  5. 陈君球（回忆）; 王艳琼（编辑） (2019-04-15). "龙港镇诞生前的那些艰难岁月——记龙江港区建设者们的创业故事". 浙江新闻. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  6. Li, Hu & Yuan 2014, pp. 8–9
  7. 孔南平 (2014-11-03). "镇改市落子："第一座农民造城"龙港镇30年改革". 21世纪经济报道. Retrieved 2019-09-01 – via 搜狐新闻.
  8. ""农民第一城"温州龙港撤镇设市". 观察者网. 2019-08-30. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
  9. "可能是中国最大的镇！温州龙港升级，不再羡慕"城会玩"". 第一财经. 2016-07-31. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.

Bibliography
  • Li, Jinshan; Hu, Fengqiao; Yuan, Bo, eds. (2014). 三十岁的城市 龙港的孕育、诞生与发展 [30-year-old city: Longgang's conception, birth and development]. Hangzhou: Zhejiang University Press. ISBN 978-7-308-13909-0.
  • Editorial Board of History of Longgang, ed. (2003). 龙港镇志（1991-2000） [History of Longgang Town (1991-2000)]. Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. ISBN 7-101-03934-0. Archived from the original on 2019-04-20. Retrieved 2019-09-02.

Further reading
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