Shaoxing
Shaoxing ([ʂâʊɕíŋ] ⓘ; Chinese: 绍兴) is a prefecture-level city on the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay in northeastern Zhejiang province, China. It was formerly known as Kuaiji and Shanyin and abbreviated in Chinese as 越 (Yuè) from the area's former inhabitants. Located on the south bank of the Qiantang River estuary, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west. As of the 2020 census, its population was 5,270,977 inhabitants among which, 2,958,643 (Keqiao, Yuecheng and Shangyu urban districts) lived in the built-up (or metro) area of Hangzhou–Shaoxing, with a total of 13,035,326 inhabitants.
Shaoxing
绍兴市 Shaohsing | |
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Left to right, top to bottom: Bazi Bridge over the Eastern Zhejiang Canal, Shaoxing cityscape, Didang subdistrict, Tishan Bridge, traditional houses in Zhuji. | |
Shaoxing Shaoxing | |
| Coordinates (Shaoxing Theatre): 30°03′04″N 120°35′00″E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Zhejiang |
| County-level divisions | 6 |
| Municipal seat | Yuecheng District |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Yu Zhihong (俞志宏) |
| Area | |
| • Prefecture-level city | 8,279.1 km2 (3,196.6 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 2,965.1 km2 (1,144.8 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 8,107.9 km2 (3,130.5 sq mi) |
| Population (2020 census) | |
| • Prefecture-level city | 5,270,977 |
| • Density | 640/km2 (1,600/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 2,958,643 |
| • Urban density | 1,000/km2 (2,600/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 13,035,326 |
| • Metro density | 1,600/km2 (4,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Area code | 0575 |
| ISO 3166 code | CN-ZJ-06 |
| GDP (Nominal) | 2021 |
| - Total | CN¥679.5 billion (US$93 billion) |
| - Per capita | CN¥127,875 (US$17,500) |
| License Plate Prefix | 浙D |
| Website | www |
| Shaoxing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Shaoxing" in Simplified (top) and Traditional (bottom) Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 绍兴 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 紹興 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Postal | Shaohing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | (An era of the Song dynasty) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Kuaiji | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 会稽 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 會稽 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Postal | Kwaiki | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Shanyin | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 山阴 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 山陰 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Postal | Shanyin | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notable residents of Shaoxing include Wang Xizhi, the parents of Zhou Enlai, Lu Xun, and Cai Yuanpei. It is also noted for Shaoxing wine, meigan cai, and stinky tofu, and was featured on A Bite of China. Its local variety of Chinese opera sung in the local dialect and known as Yue opera is second in popularity only to Peking opera. In 2010, Shaoxing celebrated the 2,500th anniversary of the founding of the city.
Economically, the city is driven by manufacturing of textiles, electronics, and energy-efficient lighting. Zhejiang has the fifth highest per capita GDP in the nation, with the city itself at 32nd nationally by GDP per capita.