Ningbo Overview
Baisc information
- Chinese Name: 宁波
- Location: Located in the east of Zhejiang province, south of the Yangtze River Delta.
- Area: 9, 816 square kilometers
- Population: 760.51 million, Han Chinese is the vast majority nationality group
- Language: Mandarin, Ningbo Dialect
Administrative Division
Ningbo has jurisdictions over 6 districts, 2 counties, 2 county-level cities, 75 towns, 10 townships, 69 streets, 704 communities and 2,519 villages.
- 6 districts: Haishu district(海曙区), Jiangbei district(江北区), Beilun district(北仑区), Zhenhai district(镇海区), Yinzhou district(鄞州区), Fenghua district(奉化区)
- 2 county-level cities: Yuyao city(余姚市), Cixi city(慈溪市)
- 2 counties: Xiangshan county(象山县), Ninghai county(宁海市).
Geography
Ningbo is located in east of Zhejiang province, the south wing of the Yangtze River Delta, the middle of China’s coastline. It has Zhoushan islands as a natural barrier in the east, and north to Hangzhou Bay, west to Shengzhou, Xinchang and Shangyu in Shaoxing city, south to the Sanmen Bay. Also, it connects Sanmen and Tianmu, in Taizhou city.
Climate
Ningbo belongs to subtropical monsoon climate, which makes its climate the characteristic of mild and humid. The main feature of the climate there is 4 distinct seasons. But with a few basins, and a number of mountains and hills, the climate there are not so bad. To know more about Ningbo detailed climate characteristic, you can browse the page of Ningbo climate.
The Best Time to Go
Spring and autumn are the best time to go to Ningbo if you don’t like hot weather or cold weather. Weather during these periods is pleasant so that these 2 seasons are suitable choices of time for visiting. It’s also wonderful for scenery sightseeing and outing.
Things to Do
As the world’s fourth largest port city, Ningbo is a wonderful place to visit. First, you can visit places of interests there, both cultural relics and natural scenic spots. Then, its food there is special and delicious which can be your pleasant memories on the way to travel. What’s more, Ningbo is an old city with profound and long history and special folk customs so that you can experience different kinds of culture and life styles.
Attractions
Because of its unique geographical location, Ningbo has become a popular choice of tourist attraction since there are lots of natural scenic spots and cultural relics which help you know more about Ningbo and Chinese culture. There is one five - star scenic spot Fenghua Xikou that you are recommended to visit if you get chances to visit there. And the Chinese national key cultural relics protection unit – Hemudu Site that is one of the earliest Neolithic culture sites in China, which gives an instance of China using mortise technology to construct houses. There are more other scenic spots, know more about Ningbo attractions.
Resources
Mineral resources
Ningbo has proven 85 species of proven mineral resources, and mainly are nonmetalliferous ore, such as fluorite, alunite, pyrophyllite, granite, etc.
Oil resources
Chunxiao oil and gas field is located in the East China Sea which is known as the Persian Gulf of east China, about 350 kilometers southeastern of Ningbo city, with a total area of 22,000 square kilometers and proven FAS reserves of over 70 billion cubic meters.
Marine resources
Ningbo has a long coastline and twisting harbors. The island is dotted. The total area of the whole city is 8,232.9 square kilometers and the length of coastline is 1,594.4 kilometers which accounts for about 24.4% of the Zhejiang province’s coastline. The city has 614 small islands, with an area of 269.9 square kilometers. There are 2 ports and one bay in Ningbo, namely Beilun Port, Xiangshan Port and Hangzhou Bay.
Plant resources
The main forest vegetation there is mason pine, which is distributed in the north and south of Ningbo. Cultivated economic crop there is mostly adaptable.
History & Culture
As early as seven thousand years ago, Ningbo’s ancestors flourished here, creating a splendid Hemudu culture. In the Xia dynasty of 2,000 BC, the name of Ningbo was “Yin”, and in the Spring and Autumn period, it was the state forest Yue. In the first year of Tang dynasty, the state moved to the Sanjiangkou, which laid the foundation for the development of the city for more than a thousand years.
Experiencing years of developing and changing, it formed profound and long history.
In 1984, Ningbo was listed as one of the coastal open cities. In 1986，Ningbo is listed as the second batch of famous historical and cultural cities of China. November 1st, 2015, Ningbo was elected as the “capital of east Asian culture”.
Ningbo has rich humanities accumulation and long cultural history. It belongs to the typical Jiangnan water and port city. As one of China’s grand canals and the original place of oriental “Marine Silk Roast”, Ningbo is named as “Five Good Port of the World” by British journal of international container. Know more about Ningbo Culture.
Economy
Ningbo is the economic center and chemical industry base of the south wing of the Yangtze River Delta. It is an industrial and commercial city in eastern China and Neolithic of the economic centers of Zhejiang province. Since the opening of Ningbo, industrial and commercial has been a big business card of Ningbo. Especially since the reform and opening up, Ningbo’s economy has been developed rapidly, showing great vitality and potential, becoming one of the most active regions in Chinese Economy.
The main structure of Ningbo economy is the second industry and the third industry, especially its second industry since Ningbo has a long history of business. Nowadays, the third industry there develops better and better and turns up a promising future.
Tourism
2016 is the beginning year of implementing “13th Five- Year Plan”, and the government for Ningbo city at all levels and departments with a view to build big tourism development pattern, promoting global tourism development, encouraging innovation and tourism industry transformation. Upgrading, improvement and tourism industry transformation have achieved obvious results.
Because of its splendid natural scenery spots and wonderful cultural relics, Ningbo has become a popular tourist attraction. As a place with profound culture and long history, Ningbo is a land that cultivated lots of talented people. And these talented people influence generations of people. And their former residences have attracted thousands of people from home and abroad.
Festivals
China is a county with profound culture and long history so that there are many traditional festivals every year. Chinese traditional festivals are held in every place. However, in addition to these traditional festivals, every place also has its own special festivals and activities that show its culture and special things. There are various festivals in Ningbo, such as Chinese Butterfly Lover Festival, Ningbo Tourism Festival, China Xiangshan Fishing Festival, etc. Know more about Ningbo festivals.
Dining
Ningbo dish, also known as Yong cuisine, is an important part of Chinese food culture. It is good at cooking seafood and combining the freshness and saltiness. The main cooking ways are steaming, roasting, braising, etc. Ningbo dishes emphasize on tenderness and softness, original flavor and strong color. It is also famous for its saltiness, freshness and smelliness. Although it can not be an independent cuisine, it is a very special dish in Zhejiang cuisine. Know more special dishes in Ningbo.
