Ningbo

Ningbo (Traditional Chinese: 寧波, Simplified Chinese: 宁波, Hanyu Pinyin: Níngbō, Wade-Giles: Ning-po; literally "Tranquil Waves") is a seaport sub-provincial city in the Zhejiang province of China. It lies in the south of Hangzhou Bay and faces the East China Sea to the east. Population (2000): 5,962,602. Percentage of minorities among the population (2000): 0.57%.

Structure

11 cities, counties and districts at county level are under its direct jurisdiction:

• Cities: Yuyao, Cixi, and Fenghua
• Counties: Xiangshan, Ningbo, and Haishu, Jiangdong, Jiangbei, Zhenhai, Beilun,Baoguo Temple, the oldest intact wooden structure in Southern China, is located in Jiangbei district, 15km north of Ningbo city.
• Qita Temple

History

Ningbo was visited by Portugese traders as early as 1522, and was one of the five Chinese treaty ports opened by the Treaty of Nanjing (signed in 1842) at the end of the First Opium War between Britain and China. Foreign influences steadily filtered in thereafter. During the war, British forces took possession of the walled city of Ningbo briefly after storming the fortified town of Zhenhai at the mouth of the Yong River on 10 October 1841. In 1864 the forces of the Taiping Rebellion held the town for six months.

Ningbo was once famed for traditional Chinese furniture production.

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