Ningbo

Geography and Climate

Ningbo is a port city in northeastern Zhejiang province, southeastern China. It is one of the three economic centers in Zhejiang province and is one of the national open coastal cities either. Located on the southern wing of the Yangtze Delta, the city borders the Hangzhou Bay to its north, Shaoxing to its west and Taizhou to its south. The famous Ningbo port is deepwater and capable of handling 300,000 ton vessels. Due to its location advantages and transportation convenience, Ningbo is regarded as the gateway of oversea trading on the east coast.

Located in the northern sub-tropical zone, the city attains a moderate monsoon climate with distinct seasons and abundance of rainfall. The annual average temperature is 16.4 centi-degrees with the mean precipitation of 1480 millimeters. Ningbo has a population of 5.6 million with 2.2 million of which live in the urban district. The city area of Ningbo covers 9365 square kilometers.

History and Culture

Ningbo is a city with long history, dated 7000 years back to 4800B.C. the ancient people had inhabited in this region and therefore gestated the renowned Hemudu culture. The city was firstly named Ningbo in 1381, Ming dynasty, when the emperor Zhu Yuan-zhang took the advice of a bachelor and named the city as Ningbo which means ‘gentle breezes and calm waves’ referring to the peace of the empire. After the first Opium War between Britain and China in Qing dynasty, Ningbo was one of the five trading ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing and the city has always been an important ports city since then. Ningbo was granted as the famous historical city in 1986 and was approved to be the city specifically designated in the state plan in the year following.

Located in the eastern Zhejiang province, Ningbo possesses profound cultural heritages. There were not only numerous famed thinkers and philosophers in its long history, but also a large variety of traditional operas remained playing by local people nowadays. The most famous school of thought in ancient Ningbo was the Yaojiang School and the founder of the school is the well-known thinker named Wang Shouren who raised the thought of ‘scans your heart by taking kind actions’. Ningbo has a unique eating habit which partly due to its location bordering the East Sea. Seafood is a must ingredient in Ningbo cuisines.

Economy

Ningbo is the economic center of Zhejiang province as well as one of the central cities of the region on the southern wing of Yangtze Delta. It is a crucial industrial base in southeastern China and its main industries include biomedical, petrochemical, ship manufacturing and new material. Having enjoyed decades of fast-speed development, Ningbo is considered as one of the most dynamic cities in China. Used to be apart from Shanghai by the Hangzhou bay, the barrier was eliminated in 2008 after the construction of the cross-sea bridge. At present, it takes less than two hours to travel to Shanghai. According to the figures provide by the national bureau of statistic, in 2010, GDP in Ningbo reached RMB512.5 billion, increased 12.1% compared to that in 2009. The local financial income accounted for RMB53.9 billion, jumping by 22.7%.

Education

Ningbo University is the most famous educational institute in the city, located in the north of the city, Ningbo University is a comprehensive university which offers a full range of undergraduate, graduate coursework and research programs, including PhD.