Jinhua

Geography

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.

Climate

Jinhua has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with four distinctive seasons, characterised by hot, humid summers and chilly, cloudy and drier winters (with occasional snow). The mean annual temperature is 17.33 °C (63.2 °F), with monthly daily averages ranging from 5.2 °C (41.4 °F) in January to 29.0 °C (84.2 °F) in July. The city receives an average annual rainfall of 1,450 millimetres (57.1 in) and is affected by the plum rains of the Asian monsoon in June, when average relative humidity also peaks.

Administrative divisions

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

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

Architecture

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.

Economy

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

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.

Handicrafts

Traditional handicrafts have been flourishing in Jinhua, such as the wood carving and bamboo weaving in Dongyang, the straw plaiting, lace purling and crystals carving in Pujiang, and the hardware crafts in Yongkang.

Education

Higher education

There are 2 major colleges / universities in Jinhua: the provincial public university Zhejiang Normal University (ZJNU), and the municipal public university Jinhua University of Vocational Technology.

High schools

Major provincial key high schools in Jinhua include Jinhua No. 1 High School, High School Affiliated to Zhejiang Normal University, Aiqing High School, Jinhua Tangxi Senior High School, Jinhua Foreign Language School, Lanxi No. 1 High School, Zhejiang Dongyang High School, Zhejiang Yiwu High School, Yiwu No. 2 High School, Yongkang No. 1 Senior Middle School, Zhejiang Pujiang High School, Wuyi No. 1 High School, and Pan'an High School.

International cooperations

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.

Cuisine

Jinhua ham

Jinhua ham has bright colors, with red and white hues. The lean meat has a sweetness, while the fat imparts a flavor without being overly greasy. It is a rich source of protein, fat, multiple vitamins and minerals. Jinhua ham is produced during winter and matured throughout the summer, which allows for fermentation. Its consumption is associated with various health benefits, such as nourishing the stomach and kidneys, strengthening bone marrow, and promoting wound healing.

Jinhua ham features thin skin, with bright yellow skin and a lute-like shape. Its flesh is red and aromatic, earning it the reputation of the "four perfections" for its combination of color, fragrance, taste, and shape.

Yongkang Roumaibing

Yongkang Roumaibing (meat patties) is a traditional snack of Yongkang. Throughout Yongkang's history, local farmers have prepared meat patties as a staple dish during harvest festivals. Despite its coarse appearance, Yongkang meat patties are regarded and deemed as an example of the idiom "Don't judge a book by its cover."

Yongkang meat patties are generally divided into two types. One is the thin patty (also known as the triangle patty), which is flat and large in area. The whole thin patty is cut into several triangle patties and sold with pork and dried vegetable filling. The other is the thick patty, a thicker, smaller patty filled with potato, tofu, cowpea, lotus root, etc.

Transportation

Railways

Main railway stations:

• Jinhua railway station
• Jinhuanan railway station
• Yiwu railway station

Jinhua enjoys convenient transportation, being the communications center in southeast China between coastal and inland areas. It is one of the major hubs of land transportation in the country. The Zhejiang-Jiangxi, Jinhua-Wenzhou and Jinhua-Qiandaohu railways intersect in the city. The Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou Expressway, the Jinhua-Lishui-Wenzhou Expressway, the No. 330 and 320 National Highways, and other provincial highroads traverse the area. The city aggregation around Jinhua Proper has formed a "Half-an-Hour's-Ride Economic Circle", there being merely a 90-minute and a 3-hour journey driving from the city to Hangzhou and Shanghai respectively.

Public transit

Metro

Jinhua Rail Transit is a metro system in Jinhua. Jinyidong Line connects the 2 districts of Jinhua to Yiwu and Dongyang. It was opened on August 30, 2022.

Airports

Yiwu Airport provides service to major cities in China mainland and Hong Kong.

Landmarks

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

Demographics

According to the Seventh National Census in 2020, the city's Permanent Population (hukou) was 7,050,683. Compared with 5,361,572 people in the Sixth National Census in 2010, there was a total increase of 1,689,111 people over the decade, an increase of 31.5%, and an average annual growth rate of 2.78%. In the city's population, the male population was 3,716,342, accounting for 52.71%, and the female population was 3,334,341, accounting for 47.29%. The sex ratio of the total population (100 females, male to female ratio) was 111.46, an increase of 3.96 compared with the sixth national census in 2010.

Notable people

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