Zhejiang

Relief

The northern section of the province, often called Zhebei, lies within the fertile Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) delta, with its labyrinth of rivers and canals; the coastal lowlands are protected by dikes. The southern edge of Lake Tai forms part of its northern border with Jiangsu. The greater part of Zhejiang province lies to the south of Hangzhou Bay and is largely mountainous. It has a rocky and deeply indented coast dotted with more than 18,000 islands and islets, forming numerous natural harbours. This region is in fact a northeastern continuation of the mountain ranges of Fujian, which run roughly parallel to the coast. In eastern Zhejiang, mountains and hills occupy the bulk of the land surface. Roughly one-fourth of the province’s area consists of plains and basins, and only a portion of that is level land, which is distributed along Hangzhou Bay and the Fuchun and Ou river valleys in southern Zhejiang. Most of the province’s arable lands—consisting of flat alluvial plains of great fertility—are found in those three areas.

Drainage

The chief river of the province is the Fuchun (Qiantang) River, the drainage basin of which constitutes two-fifths of the total area of the province. The river has in fact two headstreams: one coming down from the southwestern highlands and flowing through the broad Lan River valley and the other, the Xin’an, rising in Anhui province and passing through Jiande in Zhejiang and other cities. On the latter tributary is located the large Xin’an River Dam, an important supplier of hydroelectricity for the region. The Qiantang tidal bore takes the form of a high wall of water that rushes upstream with a thunderous roar. Best seen just after the full moon and at its highest in the autumn (late September–early October), the bore is a famed tourist attraction. Along the estuary are miles of sea dikes that have been built through the ages to protect the rich rice lands of the delta.

The other rivers of some importance are the Yong, Ling, and Ou; the Ou and its four principal tributaries together form the second largest river system of the province. Although these mountain streams flow swiftly through rocky channels and gorges, they are navigable to skillful boatmen using sampans (small, roofed boats propelled by sculling), right up to the mountains.

Hangzhou Bay is almost as broad at its entrance as the Yangtze estuary, but it is obstructed by a cluster of some 400 islands known as the Zhoushan (Chusan) Archipelago. The largest island in the group, Zhoushan, is a major coastal fishing centre. Mount Putuo (Putuo Shan) Island, just east of Zhoushan, is renowned for its scenery and as one of the four sacred mountains of Buddhism, which once attracted pilgrims from throughout East Asia.

Climate

Zhejiang has a humid subtropical climate, controlled chiefly by monsoonal airflows and modified by local influences. Considerable differences exist between the coast and the hinterland, between the lowlands and the highlands, and between the north and the south, particularly in winter. Thus, Hangzhou, in northern Zhejiang, has an average January temperature of 39 °F (4 °C), while Wenzhou, on the southern coast, has about 46 °F (8 °C). Summer is hot throughout the province; the average July temperature at Hangzhou is 82 °F (28 °C), while that at Wenzhou is 84 °F (29 °C). Annual rainfall throughout the province is more than 50 inches (1,300 mm). The hilly interior has more precipitation than the coast, which is frequently visited by devastating typhoons (tropical cyclones), particularly during late summer and early autumn.

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Plant and animal life

The vegetation of the northern, or Lake Tai, plain differs from that of the rest of the province. The region, once part of the lake bed, is covered with rich alluvial soil and is an open land of rice fields and rural settlements, dotted with some shade and ornamental trees. The original, or natural, vegetation disappeared centuries ago when the land was cleared for cultivation.

The vegetation of the hilly and mountainous parts of the province, south of the plain, consists primarily of mixed evergreen broad-leaved and coniferous forests that grow on gray-brown podzolic (infertile forest) soils at the higher elevations and on red and yellow lateritic (leached, iron-bearing) podzolic soils on the lower slopes. There is an abundance of such trees as laurels, pines, cypresses, and beeches. Bamboos are ubiquitous, and tung trees, which supply valuable oil, are widely distributed in the upper Fuchun River valley.

The province’s fauna is typical of the subtropical forest zone and is characterized by great diversity, including monkeys, anteaters, southern herons, water turtles, many frogs, and numerous southern birds. There are many invertebrates, among which subtropical insects predominate, although tropical insects characteristic of southern Asia are also found.

Population composition

The ethnic composition of the population is overwhelmingly Han (Chinese). Those belonging to ethnic minorities consist chiefly of She tribal people living in the mountainous area of southern Zhejiang, principally within the Wenzhou and Lishui municipalities along the Fujian border. In addition, centred on Jingning in southern Zhejiang, is an autonomous county established for the She, the only such entity in the country. The She people, a greater number of whom live in Fujian province, have their own language, although most of them also understand Mandarin Chinese. They grow paddy rice in terraces on hillslopes; farmwork is done by both men and women. In addition to some Tujia, Hmong (Miao), and Buyi minority peoples, there are also small numbers of Manchu and Hui (Chinese Muslims) scattered in the cities and towns. The former are mostly descendants of Manchu soldiers garrisoned in Zhejiang before the overthrow of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty in 1911/12. With the exception of the Muslims and some Christians, the religious affiliation of the population in the province may be characterized as a complex of Daoism and Buddhism, with Confucianism added to the mix.

Settlement patterns

There is a marked contrast between the densely populated plains and the sparsely populated uplands. Thus, two-fifths of the population in the province is concentrated in the Lake Tai plain and in the coastal region of Hangzhou Bay. Some three-fifths of the population lives in cities and towns. The capital and largest city is Hangzhou, located in northern Zhejiang; it is followed in size by the port cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou, both in eastern Zhejiang. Other important cities are Shaoxing and Jinhua, in central Zhejiang, and Jiaxing and Huzhou, in northern Zhejiang. All these urban centres have a long history; the oldest, Shaoxing, dates to the 6th century bce. Hangzhou was the capital of the Nan (Southern) Song dynasty during the 12th and 13th centuries. It was, however, only after the first Opium War (1839–42) and the opening of Ningbo to foreign trade that the modernization of the cities—particularly Hangzhou, Ningbo, and Wenzhou—began. Scores of other towns are distributed throughout the province. They include the county seats and county-level municipalities, which are located mostly on the agricultural plains and valley bottoms. Most of them are also local commercial centres, and some are developing into larger and more modern towns.