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Places in China: Zhejiang Province

This small but wealthy province on China's eastern coast has a large population for its land area. The land area is 101,000 square kilometres, including about 3000 islands. The number of people living there comes to 47,200,000, making a population density of 464 persons per square kilometre.

Facing the East China Sea, the province shares borders with Shanghai municipality as well as Anhui, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. Sometimes the name of Zhejiang is abbreviated to 'Zhe'. The old Qiantang River, now named Zhejiang, passes through Hangzhou, the capital of the province.

The capital city became famous and wealthy after 1127 when it was the capital of the Han Southern Song Dynasty. Its prosperity continues to this day. Even before the Han Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou benefited from the construction of the Grand Canal of China under the Sui Dynasty. Marco Polo was one of the early visitors to Hangzhou and proclaimed that it was 'the finest and noblest city' in the world.

Until well into the Ming Dynasty, the province was producing a significant amount of blue-green ceramics called Southern Song Longquan celadon. Since the quality of these products was low, the kilns eventually closed or moved to Jianxi province.

Being on the sea, fishing is economically beneficial for residents of the province. The province is sometimes referred to as the 'land of fish and rice'. Rice production, wheat farming, jute, cotton, tea and silk are produced in Zhejiang, some for export purposes.

Manufacturing in the province includes electromechanical industries, construction materials, food manufacturing, textiles and chemicals. A lot of emphasis and encouragement for small entrepreneurs is the local attitude toward business. Zhejiang has a monsoon, subtropical climate, meaning that its summers are quite hot and humid. Winters are mild with little chance of frost.

Zhejiang Province is the first Chinese province with no counties listed as poverty counties by the central government. Part of the reason for the economic success of the province is its nearness to the city of Shanghai.