Zibo (Chinese: 淄博; pinyin: Zībó) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.
Located in the middle part of Shandong Province, Zibo is an important transportation hub. Zibo governs 5 districts (Zhangdian, Zichuan, Boshan, Zhoucun and Linzi) and each of these districts has a distinct downtown area of their own. The T-shaped city has a total area of 5,938 square kilometers-three counties (Huantai, Gaoqing and Yiyuan) included ; the total population of the city is 4.53 million at the 2010 census, of which nearly 3 million are in the city proper.
Zibo is well known as the historical state of Qi, which had ever been the most populous city in the east about 3000 years ago. Zibo is the birth place of ancient football Cuju, which according to FIFA, was the earliest form of the sport. Pu Songling, a world famous short story writer of Qing Dynasty, is one of the city's numerous celebrities born and bred here ancient and modern times. As the birthplace of Qi Culture and because of the abundant nature resources, it is an excellent tourist city in China. Manufacturing industry holds an important place of the city's economy and of course it has contributed a lot not only to the city itself but also to the whole country since the founding of New China. Some people associate Zibo with ceramics sometimes due to its powerful forces in ceramics manufacturing.
Zibo enjoys fame as of Famous Industrial City, Capital of the Ceramics Production Base and City of Petrochemical Industry. After one hundred years of development, Zibo has a solid industrial foundation. The dominant industries are: petrochemical industry, pharmaceuticals, metallurgy, building materials, machinery and textile, etc. High and new-technology industries, such as new materials, fine chemicals, electronics and information, and biological medicines, are developing rapidly.
According to 2007/2008 Global City Competitiveness Report released by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Zibo was among the top 20 cities in the world who enjoy the fastest economic growth between 2001 and 2005.[1] According to Oriental Outlook MagazineIssue No.1, 2009, Zibo ranks No.1 on the list of cities with reasonable real estate prices in China, also No.2 on the list of cities with good public security.[2] In 2009, the city was awarded as among "Best 10 Harmonious Cities that enjoy Sustainable Development in China".[3]
The prefecture-level city of Zibo administers 8 county-level divisions, including 5 districts and 3 counties. What may interests people may be the independence of all the city districts. Actually, each of the city's 5 spots on the left map is a district-leveled center. Most urban functional facilities are equipped in these spots, such as schools, hospitals, hotels, parks, shopping malls and theaters. Between these spots, plants, towns and villages are scattered, which define the specialty of the formation of the whole city. Although every districts in fact cover a larger area than what is circled in these spots, the local inhabitants used to call these spots the name of these district's.[4] have various dialects, which have mineral difference with each other of accent, thus you are allowed to determine which district they come from.
The name of Zibo's districts are:Zhangdian District(张店区, also the place where the municipal government locate), Zichuan District(淄川区), Boshan District(博山区), Linzi District(临淄区) and Zhoucun District(周村区). The three counties that are within the jurisdictional boundaries of this city are: Huantai County(桓台县), Gaoqing County(高青县) and Yiyuan County(沂源县).
Zibo is in the center of Shandong Province, neighboring Mt. Tai in the south and backing the Yellow River in the north. It is also bordered by hot coastal tourist cities, Qingdao, Yantai, and Weihai in the east, and the capital city of the province, Jinan in the west. Zibo is located in the transition zone between mountainous area in central Shangdong and the North China Plain.Its southern area is covered with mid-sized mountains, while the center is hilly. The city's northern territory descends into plains. The ratio among mountains,hill and plain is 42%、29.9% and 28.1%.[5] With the Yihe River originating itself in the southern mountain area, and Yellow River flowing across the northern area, the city has comparatively abundant water resources. The workable reserve of ground water is 1.24 tons/day.
Zibo is located in a warm, temperate zone, and bears a semi-humid and semi-dry continental climate.[6] Like other major cities in North China, Zibo has four distinct seasons. January and July are respectively the coldest and hottest month during a year. Zibo enjoy 180 to 220 frost-free days and average annual Hours of Sunshine is 2542.6 to 2832.6 hours. Annual average precipitation of Zibo is 25.2 inches (640.5 mm).[7]
According to statistics, by the end of 2006,there are 4,181,260 people live in Zibo, of which 2,102,819 are male and 2,078,441 are female. The sex ratio is 101.17. Death rate of 2006 is 5.92‰, while the birth rate is a little higher, saying 8.81‰. Then the natural growth rate of population that year is 2.90‰.The area had a population density of 704.15 per square kilometer.
As most Chinese cities, major nation here is no exception. The fourth nationwide census shows over 99 percent of the total population are Han Chinese. Besides, there are also 44 minority nationality settled, Huis, Manchus, Mongolians and Koreans, etc. Mongolians and Manchurians are the only two minority groups that has more than 1,000 people. Jinling Huis Town,which is located at the junction of Zhangdian and Linzi, in one of only four towns named by an ethnic minority in Shandong Province.
In 2008, the per capital disposable income of urban residents is 17,629 yuan, up 11.2% ;the per capital disposable income of rural residents is 7,364 yuan, up 13.9%. The Engel's coefficients that reflects the consumption structure and level of China's urban and rural residents are 32.1% and 35.6% respectively.[8]
Zibo was once the capital of the ancient State of Qi, the most prosperous state during the Spring and Autumn and the Warring States Periods over 2,000 years ago in China. Lord Huan of Qi, ruler of Qi, appointed Guan Zhong, the famous thinker and economist, as his prime minister, and adopted Guan's thoughts and policies to administer his country, reform the economic system and develop relations with other states, After scores of years, Qi became the strongest state for its economic and military strength, and was named as the "state with one thousand chariots" and the "head of the five strongest states". The culture and education undertakings were rather developed in Qi. Both poetry and music were of high level. Linzi District remained its capital for as long as 638 years, and was the biggest city in the orient.
As the birthplace of the Qi Culture, Zibo has quite a number of cultural scenic spots. In the national city of history and culture, Linzi District, the ruins of the ancient Qi city, the pit for burying the funerary horses and chariots and other famous cultural relics and historic sites, have been discovered and unearthed. All of them exemplify the past prosperity of the Qi State. The ancient city of Qi, one of the first batch of cultural relics protection units, is rich in cultural relics and historical sites, and, therefore, has won the title of the "Underground Museum".
In 2004, FIFA President Sepp Blatter visited Zibo to celebrate FIFA's 100 year anniversary. FIFA has since then recognized the city as the birthplace of football[citation needed].
Zibo dialect has classic features of Northern Chinese but also has specific characteristics of its own. In Zibo dialect, points of articulation of low vowel is particularly deep in the mouth, and most areas do not have retroflex consonant except part of Linzi District. Zibo dialect do not have much features comparing with the mandarin when it comes to the sentence patterns, while differences may occur in the pattern people ask questions and their expression to probability of actions. As minor differences do exist, Zibo dialect may be divided into three major sections according to the administration districts: Boshan-Zichuan section-the south section; Linzi section-the eastern section; Huantai-Zhangdian-Zhoucun section-the northern west secion. It is always considered that the longer to the south that people live, the stronger their accent is.
Traditional Zibo cuisine is part of Shandong Cuisine although Zibo cuisine is, in fact, not a real branch of the Lu Cuisine (Shandong cuisine), whilst Boshan Cuisine is. Boshan cuisine restaurants can only be found in Zibo, and nearby places. Featured local snacks, including Zhou Cun Pancake, Shi Ha Ma Dumpling, Vegetable Pancake, Sauced Mutton, and Bean-curd Case (fried bean-curd stuffed with vegetables and meat), enjoy a good reputation among residents and tourists. Zibo is also home to diverse Restaurants of other Chinese cuisine branches just like many other cities in the PRC. Western restaurants are also emerging here and there in all districts of this city to cater for a growing diversity of needs from the people.
The "Five-Voiced Drama" is a unique kind of local drama that originated in central Shandong and was once populous among the folks here. This form of art got its name because the show is often performed by 4-5 people, and the performance is featured by gorgeous singing tunes and vivid lyrics. The staight performance and the lacal syle also help it to be distinguishing from other Chinese Duamas. The plays that are acknowledged to namy people include Wang Xiao Gan Jiao(Salesboy), Wang Erjie Si FU(Lonely lady) and so on. Zibo Five-voiced Drama Troup is the only theatrical troup all around the country that professionally perform this drama. By far, Five-Voiced Drama has been listed as a "National Intangible Cultural Heritage".
Boshan colored glaze is the wonderful work in Shan Dong Province. The history of production of colored glaze in Bo Shan is very long and better known. In the years of Hong Wu of Ming Dynasty, the emperor’s servants set up “Out Factory” to produce colored glaze for imperial family’s use such as “blue and green curtain”. By the end of Ming Dynasty, the folk colored glaze was produced and developed day by day, too. In the year of Jingtai there were four big stoves in Xi Yejie Street to produce enamel material. Before and after the period of Jiajing, the colored glaze products such as pearl light, pearl rejecting, bed-curtain and mosquito net hook and so on were made by the master of Bo Shan and gradually form the colored glaze trade. In 1617(the 46th year of Wan Li), some people led by Sun Yanshou initiated to organize the guild of colored glaze which is the first organization in Yanshan Town. The colored glaze products returned the transportation and sale to Beijing and the southern parts of China besides selling in locality.[9]
- National Hygienic City (2006)--- National Patriotic (Public) Health Campaign Commission of P.R. China
- National Garden City (2005)---Ministry of Construction of P.R. China
- Best Tourism City in China (2001)---National Tourism Administration of P.R. China
- Historical and Cultural City (1994)---State Council of P.R. China
Zibo enjoys abundant historical and cultural sites of interest. The Linzi Museum of Ancient Chariots, the Museum of the History of the State of Qi, the Zibo City Museum and the Zibo Museum of Ceramics are the most recommendable places for tourists who want to learn about Zibo's long history and about the Qi Culture. Yuanshan National Forest Park, situated southwest of Baoshan District in Zibo, is a spot worth visiting. It consists of the Great Wall of the Qi State, the grass skiing field, Dinosaur Valley and a folk garden. The Great Wall of the Qi State was built by the Qin State during the Spring-and-Autumn and Warring States Periods over 2,500 years ago.[10]
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Zhoucun ancient commercial street
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Liaozhai,the former residence of writer Pu Songling
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Zibo museum (left)and China Ceramic Museum (middle)
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The Silk Road, prosperous through the Han and Tang Dynasties, is the famous passageway in China's history for economic and cultural exchange between East and West. As a result of textual research, Shandong area, with Zibo as its center, was the major place of silk supply at that time, and was one of the origins of the "Silk Road", Today, Zibo, as producer of silk and light textile products, remains an important place in the whole country and enjoys tremendous reputation on the market both at home and abroad..
Zibo abounds in natural resources. More than 50 kinds of mineral reserves have been found and coal, iron, bauxite, coal clay, chemical limestone, pottery clay, etc. are the main place of origin in Shandong Province because of their big reserves, high grade, and broad distribution. Zibo’s north part is abundant in petroleum and natural gas. The city was initially established as a mining city, but now it is undergoing technological upgrading and industrial transformation for further development. Only a few years before (maybe around 2002 or before), on account of high proportion of heavy industry and carelessness about industrial pollution, the city paid a price on both its environment and economics. Afterwards, people of this city made their minds to improve the environment. Small coal mines and chemical factories are closed,while all big plants are asked to install sewage disposal to get control of gas and dust. Nowadays Zibo is proud to have the first three municipal sewage treatment plants that with the treated water reaches the Grade-A1 standard of "Integrated wastewater discharge standard"GB8978—1996.[11] Air here is also widely acknowledged to be much better now.
In 2008, the total industrial output value of Zibo reached 532 billion yuan RMB. After one hundred years of development, Zibo has a solid industrial foundation. Since 1992, Zibo has always been one of the top 50 cities in China with the greatest comprehensive strength. In 2008, its GDP was 231.7 billion yuan RMB, ranking just below Qingdao, Yantai, Jinan and Weifang within the province. The ratio among the agriculture, industry and service sectors was 3.5%, 64.8%, 31.7%, which indicate the city still has a lot to do to readjust its industrial structure.
As an important traffic hub of Shandong province, Zibo enjoys convenient transportation. The Jiaoji Railway, Zhangbo Railway, Zidong Railway and Xintai Railway form a cross in Zibo while the Jiqing Expressway and Binlai Expressway form another cross. The center of Zibo is only 70 km away from the Jinan International Airport, 210 km away from the Qingdao International Airport and 260 km away from the Qingdao Seaport. Every district and county has expressway connections. At the National Trade Building located in Liuquan Road of Zhangdian, airport shuttle bus service is offered and even you can get your boarding pass exchanged with a ticket.
37 railway stations in large and small sizes are in service nowadays. Zibo Railway Station, lying on the Jiaozhou–Jinan and Zibo–Dongying Railways, is among the busiest railway stations in Shandong province. As of 1 July 2009, Zibo Railway Station has 103 trains stopping daily.[12] If you catch a multiple unit train at Zibo Railway Station, it will only take you 1 hour to Jinan, 2 hours to Qingdao and 4 hours to Beijing.
- Jiqing Expressway runs west from Jinan through Zibo to Qingdao.
- Binlai Expressway begins from Binzhou. It intersects Jiqing Expressway northwest of downtown Zhangdian and runs south to Laiwu.
- National Highway 309 starts at Rongcheng within Shandong and ends in Lanzhou, Gansu Province, routing though 6 provinces. It has a total length of 2,208 kilometers.
- National Highway 205 starts at Shanhaiguan，Hebei province and has a terminal at Guangzhou, which has a length of 3160 kilometers.It passes by 8 provinces.
Mass transit in the region is provided by bus services. More than 2,500 large and medium-sized diesel buses, CNG buses are serving over than 250 routes.[13] With a "Qikatong" card traveling by bus in the downtown area, passengers could get a discount of 10% to 40%. Now Zibo is undergoing restructuring of its public transit system, aiming at intensive management of higher efficiency and more professional service.
Zibo is a national “advanced city invigorating itself through science and technology”, “cultural model city” and “technology-intensive area”. Within the city's boundaries, 443,000 (data of 2008) students from Grade 1 to Grade 9 are taught in 379 primary schools and 169 middle schools respectively under the compulsory education system, which belongs to a bigger education system of the nation. School districts are divided according to both neighborhoods and administrative districts. The number of high schools is 42.[14]
There are 14 institutions of higher education, among them only Shandong University of Technology and Wanjie Medical College are able to confer the bachelor's degree. There is also postgraduate education in Shandong University of Technology. The education system of Zibo offers more than 30 key majors, including mechanics, electronics and informatics, biological pharmacological science, textile and clothes and logistics, and can provide local enterprises with 30,000 specialized technical personnel every year.
Zibo is twinned with:
- Bratsk, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia
- Erie, Pennsylvania, United States
- Gwangju, Gyeonggi, South Korea
- Veliky Novgorod, Novgorod Oblast, Russia
- Mandaue, Cebu, Philippines
- ^ "15 out of top 20 cities which enjoy the fastest economic growth are in China", , Sohu news, Guangzhou Daily Aug.12,08.
- ^ 2008 Top Happiest Cities in China, Guangzhou Daily, Retrieved on Apr.16,09.
- ^ 2009 Best 10 Harmonious Cities that enjoy Sustainable Development in China, www.sdfdc.com, Retrieved on Sep.29,09.
- ^ People from Zibo
- ^ Zibo Background Information, Zibo Background Information.
- ^ Zibo Travel Guide, the "travelchinaguide"website.
- ^ City Weather Details_Zibo, China Meteorological Administration.
- ^ 2008 Statistics Bulletin of the National Economic and Social Development of Zibo, Zibo Statistic Bureau.
- ^ Brilliant culture of Boshan Boshan Government
- ^ Tourist Attractions of Zibo hktdc.com
- ^ People's Daily Retrieved on Oct.23,2008
- ^ Zibo Train Timetable Tourist Information Center, Jinan Railways Bureau
- ^ Zibo Bus Schedule Zibo Municipal Bureau of Communications
- ^ Overview on Development of Zibo Education in 2008, Zibo Education Bureau.
