Huzhou Overview
Basic Information
- Chinese Name: 湖州
- Location: In the north of Zhejiang province
- Area: 5,818 square kilometers
- Population: 2.97 million, Han Chinese is the vast majority nationality group
- Area: 5,818 square kilometers
- Language: Mandarin, Wu Chinese
Administrative Division
With an area of 5,818 square kilometers, there are three counties and two districts in Huzhou.
- 3 counties: Deqing County (德清县), Changxing County (长兴县), Anji County (安吉县)
- 2 districts: Wuxing District (吴兴区), Nanxun District (南浔区)
Geography
Huzhou is in the center of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Area, with the city center 10 km south of Lake Tai, the third largest freshwater lake in China. There are transportation links to the provincial capital Hangzhou 78 km away in the south, Jiangsu and Anhui province in the west, and the metropolitan municipality of Shanghai 150 km to the east.
Flowing quietly through the city is the Changxing-Huzhou-Shanghai Channel. It is also referred as the "Eastern Rhine River" for the continuous barge transportation that goes on similarly to the internationally known Rhine River in Germany.
Climate
Huzhou belongs to subtropical climate zone with a marked monsoon climate and four distinctive seasons. It has enough heat and rainfall. Meanwhile, Huzhou enjoys mild climate and moist air. Owing to its large difference of terrain, it also enjoys significantly vertical climate. The annual mean temperature varies from 12.2℃ to 17.3℃. The coldest period is in January with the average temperature of minus 0.4℃ to 5.5℃. And the hottest month is July with the average temperature of 24.4℃ to 30.8 ℃.
The Best Time to Go
Compared to other two seasons, spring and autumn are the best seasons for tourists to visit there for the temperature and the weather would more agreeable than others. Also, spring is the time of welcoming new lives so that you could embrace much fresher sceneries. Besides, autumn is a good period of traveling there as well since you could feel cool weather there.
Things to Do
Huzhou is a place that nurtured a lot of famous talented people in history like Mengjiao, Sushi, Zhang Zhihe, Luyu, etc., so that going to these people’s former residences would be a special experience to feel the culture there. Then, silk culture in Huzhou is renowned. Thus, Chian (Huhzou) Silk Town which gathers culture, tourism and recreation together would be a good place to visit.
Transportation
Although there is no airport in Huzhou, it is just 80 miles away Hangzhou, 140 miles away Shanghai, and 220 miles away Nanjing. Thus, getting to airport is quite convenient. There are lots of highways across Huzhou like China National Highway 104, Ninghang Expressway, Xuanhang Expressway and China National Highway 318, which makes a convenient transportation system. For railway, there are both train stations including Changxing Train Station and Deqing West Train Station, high-speed rail stations including Huzhou Station, Deqing Station, Changxing Station, Changxing South Station, and Deqing West Station. Besides, there are interprovincial coaches that you could choose as well.
History & Culture 12
Huzhou, which was built in the period of Warring States, has a long history with more than 2,300 years. During the Xiayu period, it was Fangfengshi situated in Wukang, Deqing County today. In 473 BC, it belonged to Yue State. In 334 BC, it was Chu State’s land. Later, it experienced all the important history periods in ancient China like Qing Dynasty, the Three Kingdoms, Sui Dynasty, Tang Dynasty, etc. and played a key role in history.
As a rich land, it functioned significantly in history so that you could see a great deal of cultural sites today and there are various cultures. Silk culture is one of them. Huzhou is well known as one of the birthplaces of silk cultivation. In 1958, a great number of silk products like silk ribbon and carbonized tablets were found in the southern suburbs of Huzhou. The history of Huzhou silk can be uncovered back to the time of the Warring States (474 BC –221 BC). By the time of the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420 AD – 589 AD), Huzhou silk had already been exported to more than ten countries. During the Tang dynasty (618 AD – 907 AD), Huzhou silk was chosen for an imperial tribute, thus marking the first prosperity in silk production. With the establishment of the Ming dynasty (1368 AD – 1644 AD), the residents living near Lake Tai entered the profitable textile industry, resulting in a larger workforce and a refinement of Huzhou silk products. Huzhou silk has won awards at World Fairs, and is desired by clothing and furnishing manufacturers overseas.
Besides, ink brush is a key element of Huzhou culture as well. Huzhou has a long history of manufacturing ink brushes, and it can be traced back to the Qin Dynasty. Huzhou's ink brush production and manufacture gained prominence in the Ming Dynasty (13th century). Since the late 20th century, Huzhou has been known as the "Hometown of the Ink Brush", which also holds an annual "Huzhou Ink Brush Festival".
Economy
Huzhou Municipality is a member city of the "Yangtze River Delta City Cluster" and the core city of the Hangzhou bay. Thus it enjoys good economic development environment. For its primary industry, there are 302 modern agricultural demonstrations which lead to friendly economy growth on agriculture. Its secondary industry mainly consists of manufacturing and construction industry. These two industries grow in promising directions every year. The tertiary industry there is composed of real estate industry, wholesale and retail trade, service and financial industry. And exports contribute to wholesale, retail trade and service industry. Generally speaking, Huzhou’s economic development grows well owing to its multiple industry composition and good location.
Tourism
Its long history contributes to the cultural sites there which make it special and unique compared to other place. Huzhou has become a popular tourist destination for tourists from home and abroad. Take the year 2016 as example, it received 88,458,000 visitors. Domestic visitors accounted for 87, 522, 000, with an increase of 25% compared to 2015. The number of tourists from abroad amounted to 936,000, with an increase of 33.2%.
Festivals
In addition to Chinese traditional festivals, you could take part in all sorts of local festivals or activities as well. In April, you could meet Silkworm Festival in Hanshan Village. In September, you could appreciate all kinds of masterpieces written by ink bush since ink brush culture is an important element in Huzhou. For January or February, you could see different activities as well because the ways of welcoming Spring Festival varies from one place to another. From April to May, you could enjoy Tiaoxi Tea Party in Guzhu Tea Culture Scenic Spot. During August and September, you could see Fishing Festival in Lake Tai Resort.
Dining
Huzhou municipality borders to Lake Tai in the north so that you could see they do have different kinds of seafood there. Generally speaking, you would meet little spicy food there, especially in their special dishes. They would prefer sauce to chili in their cuisine. Huzhou belongs to a fertile land so that foods there are diverse. The first seafood you are recommended to try is crab from Lake Tai which could be cooked by ways of steaming, boiling, preserving, adding wine, etc. Besides, Zhang Yiping Sauced Lamb is the next dish you should try. Its restaurant in Xinshi, Deqing County, is a century-old shop that could be traced back to Ming Dynasty.
