Quzhou lies in western Zhejiang province and sits on the upper course of
the Qiantang River. It borders the provinces of Fujian, Jiangxi and Anhui to the
south, southwest and northwest respectively. It has three counties (Longyou
County, Kaihua County and Changshan County), two districts (Kecheng District and
Qujiang District) and one city (Jiangshan City) under its direct jurisdiction.
Quzhou covers an area of 8,844 square kilometers with a population of 2.58
million.
1. An modern city with long history
As a state-level historic and cultural city, Quzhou City boasts a long
history of more than 1,800 years. It had its origin in the 3rd year of the
Chuping period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (192 A.D.) and it was upgraded from a
county in Jinhua to a prefecture-level city again in 1985. Quzhou is one of the
best-preserved ancient prefectural cities in the southern Yangtze River region.
The ancient city walls are listed as one of the national protected cultural
relic sites and the reconstructed Tianwang Tower and Wenchang Pavilion are
symbols of Quzhou’s long history.
2. Holy land of the southern clan of Confucius
Quzhou is home to direct line descendants of Confucius and the family
shrine of the southern clan of Confucius is one of the only two family shrines
of Confucius in China. Besides, Qingyang Village in Jiangshan is the origin of
the Mao family in the southern Yangtze River region and the ancestral homeland
of Mao Zedong. As was recorded, Quzhou was so flourishing in Confucianism and
talents that there were as many as 8 Zhuangyuan and 1096 Jinshi since Tang
Dynasty (Zhuangyuan is the top one candidate and Jinshi is a successful
candidate in the highest imperial examinations). Quzhou is also regarded as the
cradle of Chinese go culture as the Lanke Mountain is called “The Celestial Land
of Go”.
3. A transportation hub
Quzhou has been renowned as “a thoroughfare leading to four provinces”,
thus occupying an important strategic location. Quzhou enjoys a convenient
transportation by air, water, rail and road. Zhejiang-Jiangxi railway,
Hangzhou-Changsha high-speed railway, and Jiujiang-Jingdezhen-Quzhou railway run
through the whole city and Quzhou-Ningde railway is now under construction. Four
expressways have formed a road network with Hangzhou-Jinhua-Quzhou expressway,
Hangzhou-Xin’anjiang-Jingdezhen expressway run horizontally and
Huanshan-Quzhou-Nanping expressway, Longyou-Lishui expressway run vertically
through the city. After the Hangzhou-Changsha high-speed railway is in service,
it only takes one hour from Quzhou to Hangzhou, and two hours from Quzhou to
Shanghai.
4. A livable city
As the ecological barrier of Zhejiang Province, Quzhou has been awarded as
National Ecological Demonstration Area, National Forest City and is listed as
one of the country’s nine ecologically best-preserved districts and one of the
twelve most biologically diversified regions in China. The forest coverage is
71.5% and most of the surface water has reached the standard of Level A and
Level B drinkable water. Quzhou is listed in “Top 10 Livable Cities” for two
consecutive years and ranks fourth at the “National Happiness Ranking”.
5. A tourist destination
Bordering famous tourist attractions such as Mount Huang, Sanqing Mountain,
Mount Wuyi, and Qiandao Lake, Quzhou is the first National Leisure Zone in China
and has scenic spots like Jianglang Mountain---the only world natural heritage
site in Zhejiang Province, East Park of China in Kaihua County, Kaihua Root
Carving Garden---a national 5A scenic spot and Longyou Grottoes---a worldwide
mystery.
From now on, Quzhou will put into practice the guidelines of the 18th
National Congress of CPC, the third and fourth Plenary Session of the 18th
Central Committee of the CPC, the fifth Session of the 13rd Conference of the
Provincial Party Committee. The government will implement the strategic
blueprint of “Four Comprehensives”, adhere to the development concept that
“Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” and pursue the overall
objective of “building a happy Quzhou which functions as an ecological barrier”.
Quzhou will persist in the course of “ecological progress promoting
transformation and upgrade”, namely protecting ecology, accelerating
transformation and upgrade, promoting reform and innovation, improving people's
livelihood, building a happy city with great people’s satisfaction and which
functions as an important ecological barrier for Zhejiang Province.