Jiaozuo |
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Jiaozuo, located in north-western Henan, covers a total area of 4,071 square kilometers and has a population of 3.52 million with 2 cities, 4 counties and 5 districts  under its jurisdiction. The place around the city is widely known throughout the country as an agricultural production base. Chinese yam, Glutinous rehmannia, hyssop and chrysanthemum yielded are known as "the Great Four of Huai Medicines" and enjoy high prestige in the field of Chinese medicine both at home and abroad, particularly in Southeast Asia, Europe and America.
Jiaozuo is endowed with unique natural landscapes, and it is the northernmost habitat for the Chinese wild macaques in China. More than 1,000 scenic spots are scattered around the area. Among them are the World's Geological Park of Yuntai Mountain, Shengnong Mountain and Qingtian River. The Great Waterfall of Yutai Mountain with a first-level drop of 310 meters ranks first of its kind in China.
As early as 8,000 years ago, some ancient settlements began to be inhabited in this region. In the Eastern Zhou Dynasty (770-256 B. C.), the place once encircled the capital city. While in the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.- 220 A.D.), she was named Prefecture of Henei. Then it had been respectively recognized as the Prefecture of Huaizhou, Huaimenglu and Huaiqing since the Tang Dynasty. The city was also home to a great number of prominent historical figures, such as Sima Yi, a noted statesman and strategist during the Three Kingdoms Period, Han Yu, a great man of letters and thinker of the Tang Dynasty, famous for "creating his own school of literature out of the declining generations before him and helping relieve those in perish with his morality", Li Shangyin, an outstanding poet of the late Tang Dynasty, and Zhu Zaiyu, a celebrated figure of Ming Dynasty who had set in his life time 6 world records in fields of music, mathematics, astronomy and calendar. Tai Chi Boxing of Chen Style, originated from Jiaozuo, has enjoyed great popularity both at home and abroad.
Jiaozuo-Zhengzhou expressway and Jiaozuo-Jincheng expressway have been open to traffic during the process of modernization, and the national projects to divert water from the south to the north and to transmit the natural gas from the west to the east are scheduled to pass through the city. Jiazuo is rich in water resources with the Yellow River, Qin River and Dan River running through the region. There also exists in Jiaozuo a natural underground basin with total reserves of underground water amounting to 3.54 billion cubic meters. Endowed with the above advantages and a favorable geological location close to the coalfields of southeastern Shanxi Province, Jiazuo proves to be an ideal place for industrial development. And it does have developed into a comprehensive industrialized city with energy, chemical industry, metallurgy, building materials, machinery, textile and foodstuff as its mainstays. In 2005, the city's GDP amounted to RMB£¤57.877 billion with an increase of 16.7% as against the previous year.
Jiaozuo has established friendly relationship with Zayler City of Kyrguzstan. |
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