Taizhou, previously known as Taichow, is a city on the eastern coast of China’s Zhejiang province, facing the East China Sea. It is located 300 km south of Shanghai and 230 km southeast of Hangzhou, the provincial capital. It is bordered by Ningbo to the north, Wenzhou to the south, and Shaoxing, Jinhua, and Lishui to west. In addition to the municipality itself, the prefecture-level city of Taizhou includes 3 districts, 3 county-level cities, and 3 counties. At the 2016 census, its population was 6,001,700. It is the only experimental city in Chinese private investment innovation and comprehensive reform.
Five thousand years ago, the ancestors of the modern inhabitants began to settle in this area. During the Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties, when the Chinese state was largely confined to the Yellow River basin, the area of present-day Taizhou was part of Dong'ou. Following the 3rd-century BC conquests of the Qin Empire, a settlement in the area was known as Huipu Town. It was initially included in the Minzhong Prefecture, but then moved to Kuaiji during the Han. On August 22, 1994, Taizhou Municipality was set up in place of Taizhou Prefecture and approved by the State Council. In 1999, Taizhou was approved by the State Council to be a leading city in Zhejiang’s urbanization structure and the center of sub zone of the first-class economy. Approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, Taizhou formally became one of the 16 cities of Yangtze River Delta area on Aug.15, 2003.
Taizhou is one of the birthplace of China's private economy in the early days of economic reforms in China. It is the cradle of the Chinese private economy, the name of Taizhou Model is after it. It is the 4th most populous, and the 4rd largest industrial prefecture-level city in Zhejiang Province as of 2011. What’s more, Chinese automotive manufacturing company Geely was founded in Taizhou which completes its acquisition of Volvo Cars in 2010, is one of China’s top ten auto manufacturers. Chinese auto parts manufacturer based Yuanhuan was one of China auto parts manufacturer based,here can produce all auto parts for vehicles. Besides, the largest HVAC fan company Yilida is also located in Taizhou. It is listed on Shenzhen Stock Exchange and has acquired Fulihua fan company in Suzhou in 2012.
Taizhou is also one of the most important Mandarin orange, Loquat, Wendai Pomelo, Myrica rubra producers in China. Other agricultural product including Rice, Canola, editable Wild rice stems or Zizania latifolia, Eddoe, Water chestnut, Bamboo.
Historically, Taizhou was relatively inaccessible by road. This has changed due to large infrastructure restructuring in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Presently, Taizhou is served by the Yongtaiwen Expressway, which is a segment in the north-south Shenyang-Haikou Expressway, linking the city with Ningbo, Shanghai in the north and Wenzhou in the south; the Shangsan Expressway links Taizhou with the provincial capital Hangzhou. Taizhou Airport was once named Huangyan Luqiao Airport (IATA:HYN) in the city's Luqiao District serves daily flights to Beijing and Chengdu and regular flights to other major Chinese cities.
In September 2009, the high-speed rail line, Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou Railway, opened. There are several stations in the prefecture boundaries of Taizhou. The station serving the urban core is in Huangyan District and is called Taizhou Railway Station.
In August 2016 it was announced a second Taizhou train station will be constructed. The line will connect Jiaojiang district to Hangzhou in just 60 minutes with the journey to Shanghai being cut to just two hours
Benefiting from the long history, Taizhou enjoys a famous reputation in China for the abundant historic sites and natural scenery. Linhai Ancient Great Wall, has over 1600 years history, is the only Great Wall in southern China and the National 4A-class Tourism Scenic Area. Xianju is called as the immortal’s residential places and has five scenic areas, including Jingxingyan, Shenxianju, Shisandu, Danzhu, Gongyu. Besides, there is a Taoism cultivation place in Xianju, that is Ningzhen Fairyland, which is listed as the 10th fairyland of Chinese Taoism in Tang Dynasty. There even has the Buddhism’s pilgrimage site. The Tiantai Mountain is famous as the birthplace of first Buddhism’s branch- Tiantai Branch, also is the home of Chinese Taoism’s Southern Branch. The Guoqing Temple, Shiliang, Chicheng Mountain, Hanshan Lake and Huading Peak are located here as the most important sites, in which the Guoqing Temple is the state protected historic site, Shiliang Waterfall is one of the 10 famous scenic spots in Zhejiang province.
Taizhou has a humid subtropical climate with four distinctive seasons. Occasionally by typhoons in the summers, the climate characterized by hot, humid summers and drier and cold winters with occasional snow. The annual average temperature is 17.05℃(62.69 °F).
Population: 6,001,700
Temperature: average 17.05℃(62.69 °F).
