Rizhao Overview
Basic Information
- Chinese Name: 日照
- Location: Located in Southeastern Shandong Province, China
- Area: 5,359 square kilometers
- Population: 3,036,800
- Language: Mandarin, Rizhao dialect
Administrative Division
As a prefecture-level city in eastern Shandong province, Rizhao administers two districts and two counties.
- 2 districts: Donggang District （东港区）, Lanshan District （岚山区）
- 2 counties: Ju County （莒县）， Wulian County （五莲县）
Geography
Rizhao is situated on the coastline along the Yellow, and features a big seaport. It borders Weifang to the north, Qingdao to the northeast, Linyi to the west and southwest, and faces South Korea across the Yellow Sea to the east. It has 5,359 square kilometers, and stretches in longitude from 118°. 25' to 119° 39' E and in latitude from 35°，04' to 36° 04' N. Rizhao is a coastal hilly city, and it is high in the middle and low on all sides. The highest point here is Mount Mal in Wulian County, 706 meters above sea level, and the lowest point is Donghai Yu Village in Donggang District, 11.5 meters above sea level. There are plains, hills, waters, wetlands, oceans and other rich and diverse natural landscape in Rizhao. It consists of 17.5% mountains, 57.2% hills and 25.3% plains.
Climate
Because it belongs to the warm temperate monsoon climate zone, Rizhao has a temperate, four-season climate that lies in the transition between the humid subtropical and humid continental regimes. Due to close to the coast and affected by the sea significantly, the seasonal temperature difference of Rizhao is smaller than other inland areas of the same latitude. Hence, the temperature is moderate in summer and winter.
The Best Time to Go
The best time to visit Rizhao is summer and autumn. First, Rizhao is a coastal city where you can enjoy sunlight, soft sand, sea wind and seawater. Also, you can enjoy swimming, surfing and diving. The best time to do these things, of course, is in summer. Second, winter keeps long, and it hits heavy windy days sometimes. It is too cold to go outside. Third, you can enjoy beautiful mountain scenery in autumn.
Things to Do
When you go to Gulangyu, you can't enjoy climbing; when you go to Mountain Huang, you can't enjoy swimming; when you go to Shanghai, you can’t enjoy county and fish life. However, you can enjoy all these things when you go to Rizhao. There you can catch the sunrise, swim and surf. There you can take part in beach combing to pick up conch, crab, shell etc. and enjoy barbecues. There you can climb and then breathe fresh air.
Transportation
Rizhao has great transportation system. All kinds of transportation have made great progress in recent years, such as bus and train. More importantly, the government has taken measures to improve the train system. In addition, taxi system is also good. What's more, Rizhao features a major seaport, located approximately 620 km north of Shanghai, 170 km southwest of Qingdao, and 120 km north of Lianyungang. The seaport serves as a site for loading and unloading iron ore and coal.
History & Culture
Rizhao is a prefecture-level city within Shandong province, with the name meaning "(the first to get) sunshine". It is located at the place where the ancient Dawenkou culture and the Longshan culture flourished.
Rizhao belonged to the Dongyi people during the Xia and Shang dynasties (2070-1046 BC), and to Ju and Yue states in the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States period (476-221 BC). It became a part of Langye Commandery in the Qin dynasty (221-206 BC). It was named Haiqu County during the Western Han (206 BC-25 AD) and Xihai County under the Eastern Han (25-220 AD). During the Tang dynasty, it belonged to Mi Prefecture of Henan Prefecture. In the second year of the Yuan and Period of the Song dynasty, Rizhao Township was established. In 1940 Rizhao came under control of the Communist Party of China. In 1989 it became a prefecture-level city within Shandong province.
Economy
Due to the support of the state to economic development and the support of Shandong provincial government to the development of tourism, Rizhao has made great progress in economy. The gross regional product (GDP) of the whole city was 200,265 billion yuan, an increase of 9% over the last year in terms of comparable prices. Among which, the added value of the primary industry was 15,023 billion yuan, growing by 3.8%; the added value of the secondary industry was 96,348 billion yuan, growing by 9.4%; and the value added of the tertiary industry was 88,894 billion yuan, up 9.4%. The per capita GDP was 68,848 yuan, up 8.3%. The proportion of the three industries is adjusted to 7.5: 48.1: 44.4 from 8.1: 47.7: 44.2 last year and the proportion of tertiary industry is 0.2 percentage points higher than that of the previous year. The added value of the blue economy reached 106,157 billion yuan, up 12.9%, accounting for 53.0% of GDP.
Tourism
Rizhao is blessed with a variety of unique tourist sites and diverse culture so that it attracts a great majority of people. There are great hotels, good public transportation and delicious seafood. Hence, it's very convenient and special for visitors. Besides, there are great sceneries, attractive scenic spots and special local festivals. Tourists could enjoy their travelling.
Dining
Food is one of the best reflections of culture. From local food, you can get some general information about a place, climate, geography, economy, etc. When you visit a city, you must eat local food. It is a necessity to eat seafood cooked by Rizhao people with their cookers and experienced cooking skills when you visit Rizhao. The best season to eat seafood in Rizhao is spring, summer and fall because seafood in these seasons is the freshest. What's more, Lu cuisine is a specialty of Rizhao as well. It's a must eating Lu cuisine for it's different from other Chinese cuisines.
Festival
In China, there are many traditional festivals, such as Spring Festival, Dragon Boat Festival and Mid-Autumn Festival. Besides, there are many special traditional festivals in different places. These festivals are quite helpful for tourists to enjoy their travelling and understand more cultures of their destinations.
