Ganzhou, alternately romanized as Kanchow, is a prefecture-level city in the south of Jiangxi province, China, bordering Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, and Hunan to the west. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong District. Its population was 8,361,447 at the 2010 census whom 1,977,253 in the built-up area made of Zhanggong and Nankang, and Ganxian largely being urbanized.
History
In 201, Emperor Gaozu of Han established a county in the territory of modern Ganzhou. In those early years, Han Chinese settlement and authority in the area was minimal and largely restricted to the Gan River basin. The river, a tributary of the Yangtze via Poyang Lake, provided a route of communication from the north as well as irrigation for rice farming. During the Sui dynasty, the county administration was promoted to prefecture status and the area called Qianzhou. During the Song, immigration from the north bolstered the local population and drove local aboriginal tribes further into the hills. After the fall of the capital to the Jin in 1126 in the Jingkang Incident, immigration increased dramatically. The province's name was officially changed to Ganzhou during the Southern Song. During the late 1800s Ganzhou was opened as one of the southern treaty ports and became a minor base for foreign companies. Between 1929 and 1934, Ganzhou formed a part of the Jiangxi–Fujian Soviet, one of the bases of the Communist Party of China. Due to its proximity to the Red capital Ruijin, Ganzhou was subject to a number of Kuomintang encirclement campaigns. Between 1939 and 1945, Chiang Ching-kuo was appointed by the Government of the Republic of China as commissioner of Ganzhou Prefecture, then the name of the surrounding regions of Ganzhou. There he banned smoking, gambling and prostitution, studied governmental management, allowed for economic expansion and a change in social outlook. His efforts were hailed as a miracle in the political war in China, then coined as the "Gannan New Deal". During his time in Gannan, from 1940 he implemented a "public information desk" where ordinary people could visit him if they had problems, and according to records, Chiang Ching-kuo received a total of 1,023 people during such sessions in 1942. In regards to the ban on prostitution and closing of brothels, Chiang implemented a policy where former prostitutes became employed in factories. Due to the large number of refugees in Ganzhou as a result from the ongoing war, thousands of orphans lived on the street; in June 1942, Chiang Ching-kuo formally established the Chinese Children's Village in the outskirts of Ganzhou, with facilities such as a nursery, kindergarten, primary school, hospital and gymnasium.
Ganzhou is a large city covering the southern third of Jiangxi, with an area of. More than 70% of its administrative area is forested, and over 83% is also mountainous. Several of the major tributaries of the Gan River, Ganzhou's namesake, join at a confluence in the center of the city. Bordering prefecture-level cities are: Fujian:
Sanmingeast
Longyaneast
Guangdong:
Meizhousouth
Heyuansouth
Shaoguansouth
Hunan:
Chenzhouwest
Jiangxi:
Ji'annorth
Fuzhounorth
Climate
Ganzhou has a humid subtropical climate affected by the East Asian monsoon, with long, humid, very hot summers and cool and drier winters with occasional cold snaps. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, with an annual average of. The average annual precipitation is around. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 20% in March to 62% in July, the city receives 1,778 hours of bright sunshine annually. Winter begins somewhat sunny and dry but becomes progressively wetter and cloudier; spring begins especially gloomy, and from March to June each of the months averages more than of rainfall. After the heavy rains subside in June, summer is especially sunny. Autumn is warm and relatively dry.
Demographics
According to the official website, there are 8,361,440 people living within prefecture limits. More than 99% are Han Chinese, and 71,200 people belong to 41 minority ethnical groups. Ganzhou also contains the largest Hakka community in Jiangxi.
Tourism
Ganzhou is known as the "Orange Capital of the World" as well as the "Tungsten Capital of the World". The world's largest mechanical clock is located in Ganzhou called the Harmony Clock Tower, which was manufactured by UK-based clockmakers Smith of Derby Group. Though encircled by mountain scenery, other notable attractions in Jiangxi are Jingdezhen, Nanchang and Lushan among others. Some of the places of interest in Ganzhou include:
Hakka architecture: Some of the most representative Hakka houses include Guanxi Xinwei of Longnan; Yanji Wei, of Yangcun ; Longguang Wei of Taojiang ; and Dongsheng Wei of Anyuan, etc.
Dongjin Bridge: Pontoon bridges have been constructed over the Zhang and Gong rivers since the Song Dynasty. The Dongjin Bridge is one that can still be seen. It is 400 metres long, made up of wooden planks placed on around 100 wooden boats linked together with iron chains.
, Zhanggong District: An alley dating to at least the Song dynasty, with a length of.
Ganzhou, Xingguo, Nankang, Xinfeng, Longnan and Dingnan
Ganxian, Yudu, Huichang, Ruijin
Air
The new Ganzhou Huangjin Airport, located in Nankang, was opened on March 26, 2008. Its name inherited from the old Huangjin Airport in Huangjin Town, Zhanggong District, which was closed since it was too close to the expanding Ganzhou urban area. It has domestic routes to Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Nanchang, Xiamen, Nanjing, Shanghai, Nanning, Chongqing and Beijing.
