upright=1.35|thumb|"Kiangsi" (Nanchang). Nieuhof: L'ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l'Empereur de la Chine, 1665
Nanchang is the capital of Jiangxi, China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east by Poyang Lake. Because of its strategic location connecting the prosperous East and South China, it has become a major railway hub in Southern China in recent decades.
As the Nanchang Uprising in 1927 is distinctively recognized by the ruling Communist Party as "firing the first gunshot against the Nationalists", the current government has therefore named the city since 1949 "the place where the People's Liberation Army was born", and the most widely known "place where the military banner of the People's Liberation Army was first raised".
Nanchang is also a major city, appearing among the top 100 cities in the world by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index and home to Nanchang University.
History
left|thumb|Tengwang Pavilion
left|thumb|Historical map of Nanchang
Imperial era
The territories encompassing modern-day Jiangxi Province—including Nanchang—was first incorporated into China during the Qin dynasty, when it was conquered from the Baiyue peoples and organized as Jiujiang Commandery (). In 201 BC, during the Han dynasty, the city was given the Chinese name Nanchang and became the administrative seat of Yuzhang Commandery (), and was governed by Guan Ying, one of Emperor Gaozu of Han's generals. The Pavilion has been destroyed and rebuilt several times throughout history. Its present form was reconstructed in the 1980s after being destroyed in 1929 during the Chinese Civil War.
In 959, under the Southern Tang regime, Nanchang was made superior prefecture and the southern capital. After the conquest by the Song regime in 981 it was reverted to the name Hongzhou. In 1164 it was renamed Longxing prefecture, which name it retained until 1368. During the Yuan dynasty it was the capital of Jiangxi Province, an area that included Guangdong as well. At the end of the Yuan (Mongol) period (1279–1368), it became a battleground between Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), and the rival local warlord, Chen Youliang. At the beginning of the 16th century, it was the power base from which Zhu Chenhao, the Prince of Ning, launched a rebellion against the emperor.
During the Yuan Dynasty, it might have been the centre of porcelain trade.
During the reign of the Wanli Emperor of the Ming dynasty, it housed relatives of the emperor who had been exiled because they were potential claimants of the imperial throne, members of the imperial family constituting about one quarter of the city's population; as a result of this, Matteo Ricci came here when trying to gain entry to Beijing.
In the 1850s it suffered considerably as a result of the Taiping Rebellion (1850–64), and its importance as a commercial centre declined as the overland routes to Canton were replaced by coastal steamship services in the latter half of the 19th century. Nanchang has, however, remained the undisputed regional metropolis of Jiangxi.
Republican era
On August 1, 1927, Nanchang was the site of one of a series of insurrections organized by the communists. The Nanchang Uprising, led by pro-communist Kuomintang officers under Soviet direction, succeeded in holding the city for only a few days, and provided a core of troops and a method of organization from which the People's Liberation Army (PLA) later developed.
In 1939, the Battle of Nanchang, a ferocious battle between the Chinese National Revolutionary Army and the Imperial Japan Army in the Second Sino-Japanese War took place. After the Battle of Wuhan, the Chinese National Revolutionary Army took control of the Nanchang-Jiujiang railway. This action successfully stopped the Imperial Japan Army and blocked them in the north of Xiushui. On March 17, 1939, the 38th year of the Republic, the Imperial Japanese Army launched its brutal attack on the city of Nanchang. With the Chinese National Revolutionary Army's fightback, the Battle of Nanchang commenced. Overall, the Battle of Nanchang led to more than 80,000 Chinese National Revolutionary Army soldiers being wounded or killed, and the Imperial Japan Army has more than 20,000 casualties.
People's Republic era
By 1949, Nanchang was still essentially an old-style administrative and commercial city, with little industry apart from food processing; it had a population of about 275,000. Nanchang first acquired a rail connection in 1915, only connecting to the port city of Jiujiang by the Yangtze. Several other rail links have since been opened. After World War II a line was completed to Linchuan and Gongqi in the Ru River Valley to the south-southeast.
Since 1949, Nanchang has been extensively industrialized. It is now a large-scale producer of cotton textiles and cotton yarn. Paper making is also a major industry, as is food processing (especially rice milling). Heavy industry began to gain prominence in the mid-1950s. A large thermal-power plant was installed and uses coal brought by rail from Fengcheng to the south. A machinery industry also grew up, at first mainly concentrating on the production of agricultural equipment and diesel engines. Nanchang then became a minor centre of the automotive industry in China, producing trucks and tractors and also accessories such as tires. An iron-smelting plant helping to supply local industry was installed in the later 1950s. There is also a large chemical industry, producing agricultural chemicals and insecticides as well as pharmaceuticals.
Geography
left|thumb|Nanchang Satellite imagery 2005
Nanchang is located in inland southeastern China, south of the Yangtze River and is situated on the right bank of the Gan River just below its confluence with the Jin River and some southwest of its discharge into Poyang Lake.
thumb|Gan River
Climate
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Nanchang has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa) with four
distinct seasons. Winters are short and cool with occasional frosts; it begins somewhat sunny and dry but becomes progressively wetter and more overcast. Spring begins especially gloomy, and from April to June, each month has more than of rainfall. Summer is long and humid, with amongst the highest temperatures of any Chinese provincial capital, and with the sun shining close to 60 percent of the time in July and August, is the sunniest time of year. Autumn is warm to mild with the lowest rainfall levels of the year. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July, while the annual mean is . Annual precipitation stands at around ; with monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 27 percent in March to 56 percent in August, the city receives 1,809 hours of sunshine annually in average. Extremes since 1951 have ranged from on 29 December 1991 to on 23 July 1961.
As of the 2020 Chinese census, Nanchang had a population of 6,255,007, of which 5,382,162 lived in built-up (urbanized) area consisting of 6 urban districts plus Nanchang County largely being urbanized. 37 ethnic groups were counted amongst its prefecture divisions while 99.2% are Han chinese. The sex ratio in Nanchang is approximately 109 males to 100 females. The aged group (above 60) counts for 14.97% of the entire population.
Administration
thumb|Map of Nanchang (NAN-CH'ANG)
{| class="wikitable" align="center" style="width:70%; font-size:smaller" border="1"
! colspan="12"| Map
|-
| colspan=12 align="center" style="font-size:larger" |
|-
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Division code
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | English
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Chinese
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Pinyin
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Area in km2
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Seat
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Postal code
!! scope="col" colspan=5 | Subdivisions
|-
!! scope="col" width="45" | Subdistricts
!! scope="col" width="45" | Towns
!! scope="col" width="45" | Townships
!! scope="col" width="45" | Residential communities
!! scope="col" width="45" | Villages
|-align="center" style="font-weight:bold"
! 360100 !! Nanchang
| || || 7194 || Honggutan District || 330000 || 32 || 49 || 31 || 625 || 1161
|-align="center"
! 360102 !! Donghu District
| || || 30 || Gongyuan Subdistrict () || 330000 || 9 || || || 159 || 21
|-align="center"
! 360103 !! Xihu District
| || || 43 || Chaoyangzhou Subdistrict () || 330000 || 10 || 1 || || 136 || 13
|-align="center"
! 360104 !! Qingyunpu District
| || || 40 || Sanjiadian Subdistrict () || 330000 || 5 || 1 || || 63 || 12
|-align="center"
! 360111 !! Qingshanhu District
| || || 250 || Jingdong () || 330000 || 3 || 6 || || 116 || 101
|-align="center"
! 360112 !! Xinjian District
| || || 2160 || Changleng () || 330100 || || 10 || 9 || 39 || 300
|-align="center"
! 360113 !! Honggutan District
| || || || Shajing Subdistrict () || 330100 || 2 || 1 || || ||
|-align="center"
! 360121 !! Nanchang County
| || || 1811 || Liantang () || 330200 || || 11 || 7 || 47 || 311
|-align="center"
! 360123 !! Anyi County
| || || 660 || Longjin () || 330500 || || 7 || 3 || 16 || 105
|-align="center"
! 360124 !! Jinxian County
| || || 1946 || Minhe () || 331700 || || 9 || 2 || 37 || 263
|}
- Honggutan New District () is an economic management area and not a formal administrative division.
Economy
thumb|Shengli Road, downtown Nanchang
Nanchang is a regional hub for agricultural production in Jiangxi province with its grain yield being 16.146 million tons in 2000. Products such as rice and oranges are economic staples. The Ford Motor Company has a plant in Nanchang, assembling the Ford Transit van as part of the Jiangling Motor joint venture. Much of its industry revolves around aircraft manufacturing, automobile manufacturing, metallurgy, electro-mechanics, textile, chemical engineering, traditional Chinese medicine, pharmaceuticals and others. Nanchang has a rapid economic development and ranks 15th among the fastest growing 20 cities in the world. It is one of the cities with the most potential for development in China and the world in the future.
In 2017, the city's gross regional product (GDP) was 500.319 billion yuan (US$80.03 billion), an increase of 9.0% over the previous year. The primary industry's added value was 19.213 billion yuan, an increase of 4.0%; the secondary industry's added value was 266.61 billion yuan, an increase of 8.4%; The added value of the three industries was 214.496 billion yuan, an increase of 10.2%. The per capita GDP of 81,598 yuan was converted to 12,285 US dollars according to the average annual exchange rate. Additionally, the total fiscal revenue for the year was 78.282 billion yuan, an increase of 14.3% over the previous year.
left|thumb|Nanchang Greenland Center Square in Honggutan
The GDP of Nanchang in 2008 was 166 billion Yuan (US$24.3 billion). The GDP per capita was 36,105 Yuan (US$5,285). The total value of imports and exports was 3.4 billion US dollars.
The total financial revenue was 23 billion Yuan.
Industrial zones
National level development zones
- Nanchang Export Processing Zone
Nanchang National Export Expressing Zone is located in Nanchang Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, it was approved by the State Council on May 8, 2006, and passed the national acceptance inspection on Sep 7th, 2007. It has a planning area of 1 km<sup>2</sup> and now has built 0.31 km<sup>2</sup>. It enjoys simple and convenient customs clearances, and special preferential policies both for Nanchang National Export Expressing Zone and NCHDZ.
- Nanchang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone
Nanchang National High-tech Industrial Development Zone (NCHDZ for short hereafter) is the only national grade high-tech zoned in Jiangxi, it was established in Mar. 1991. The zone covers an area of , in which have been completed. NCHDZ possesses unique nature condition and sound industry foundation of accepting electronics industry. NCHDZ has brought 25 percent industrial added value and 50 percent industrial benefit and tax to Nanchang city by using only 0.4 percent land area.
- Nanchang Economic and Technological Development Zone
Provincial level development zones There is a military/civilian airport near Liantang, Nanchang County.
Nanchang Changbei International Airport is the largest airport in Jiangxi Province. In 2014, Nanchang Changbei Airport opened up to 10 international destinations. The airport handled 7.25 million passengers in 2014, an increase of 6.3%. Among them, the Nanchang aviation port exceeded 280,000 passengers, an increase of nearly 40%, becoming the airport's traffic volume. The important force of growth, and will continue to maintain rapid development. On December 6, 2017, the annual passenger throughput of Nanchang Airport exceeded 10 million passengers, making it the nation's 31st “million-grade airport”. In 2017, passenger throughput reached 10.93 million, a year-on-year increase of 39.0%, a net increase of passenger throughput of 3.07 million passengers; flights took off and 89,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of 35.2%; and cargo and mail throughput of 52,000 tons, an increase of 3.3%. In order to cooperate with the construction of the Beijing-Kowloon high-speed railway and Nanchang North Station airport complex transportation hub, large-scale expansion and upgrades are being carried out recently.
Road
The road transport infrastructure in Nanchang is extensive. A number of national highways cross through the city. They are the National roads No.105 from Beijing to Zhuhai, No.320 from Shanghai to Kunming, and No.316 from Fuzhou to Lanzhou. The major transport companies that operate in Nanchang are the Chang'an Transport Company Limited, the Nanchang Long-distance Bus Station, and the Xufang Bus Station. National Highway G70 crosses through Nanchang. Nanchang also built its round-city highway G70_01 opening in 2007.
The Nanchang Long-distance Bus Station serves long-distance routes to Nanjing, Shenzhen, Hefei and other cities outside Jiangxi Province. The Xufang Bus Station operates routes to cities, towns and counties within Jiangxi Province.
- Qiushui Square, established on 28 January 2004 with the largest music fountain group with music in Asia.
- Jiangxi Provincial Museum and Bada Shanren Exhibition Hall
- People's Park, the largest park in downtown Nanchang
- Bayi Square and Memorial, at the center of Nanchang, commemorates the founding of the People's Liberation Army during the Nanchang Uprising of 1 August (Ba Yi in Mandarin) in 1927, which led to the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
- Bada Shanren Memorial Hall is a large artistic scenic museum that includes sculpted art, and a general art museum.
Gourmet food
Mixed Rice Noodles: Made primarily with rice noodles, mixed with peanuts, dried radish, chili oil, soy sauce, and other seasonings.
Earthenware pot soup: It is made by slow-cooking in an earthenware pot. Common flavors include pork rib soup, kelp soup, and chicken soup. It is very common to eat it with mixed rice noodles.
White sugar cake: Made from fermented rice, it has a soft texture and a sweet taste.
Stir-fried Artemisia annua with cured pork: This dish uses Artemisia annua from the Poyang Lake region, stir-fried with cured pork, and has a fragrant and smoky flavor.
Steamed Pork Belly with Rice Flour: This dish is made by coating pork belly with rice flour and steaming it, resulting in a soft, sticky, and fragrant texture.
Thick soup: made from sweet potato starch, vegetables and meat, and is mostly eaten in winter.
Education
Nanchang is also a major city, appearing among the top 100 cities in the world by scientific research outputs, as tracked by the Nature Index.
- Cheng Maoyun (1900 – 1957), composer of the National Anthem of the Republic of China
- Duan Yongping (born 1961), Chinese-American entrepreneur
- Zhi Yueying (born 1961), educator
Sport
Nanchang is the site of Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open.
Friendship cities
- Whakatāne, New Zealand
- Skopje, North Macedonia
- Takamatsu, Japan
- Albacete, Spain
- Perth, Australia
Notes
References
- ; 247 pages
External links
- Nanchang Government website
- Map of Nanchang