Weihai 威海 Weihaiwei · 威海衛 Port Edward
—  Prefecture-level city  —
威海市
View of Happiness Gate from the sea
Weihai City in Shandong
Weihai Location in China
Coordinates: 37°31′N 122°07′E / 37.517°N 122.117°E / 37.517; 122.117Coordinates: 37°31′N 122°07′E / 37.517°N 122.117°E / 37.517; 122.117
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Shandong
County-level divisions	4
Township-level divisions	66
City seat	Huancui District (37°30′07″N 122°07′24″E / 37.50194°N 122.12333°E / 37.50194; 122.12333)
Government
• CPC Secretary	Cui Yuechen (崔曰臣)
• Mayor	Wang Peiyan (王培廷)
Area
• Prefecture-level city	5,436 km2 (2,099 sq mi)
• Urban	731 km2 (282 sq mi)
• Metro	731 km2 (282 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	2,804,800
• Density	520/km2 (1,300/sq mi)
• Urban	591,982
• Urban density	810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
• Metro	591,982
• Metro density	810/km2 (2,100/sq mi)
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s)	631
GDP	RMB 178 billion (2008)
GDP per capita	RMB 63,519 (2008)
License Plate Prefix	鲁K
Website	http://www.weihai.gov.cn/
City Flower: Sweet Osmanthus, Osmanthus fragrans City Tree: Silk Tree, Albizia julibrissin

Weihai (Chinese: 威海; pinyin: Wēihǎi) is a city in eastern Shandong Province, People's Republic of China. It is the easternmost prefecture-level city of the province and a major seaport. Between 1898 and 1930, the town was a British colony known as Weihaiwei or the Weihai Garrison (traditional Chinese: 威海衛; simplified Chinese: 威海卫; pinyin: Wēihǎi Wèi), and sometimes as Port Edward. Weihai was not developed in the way that Hong Kong, the other British colony in the region, was developed, because Shandong Province of which Weihaiwei was part of, was inside Germany's sphere of influence and had only been obtained as a counterbalance to the Russian presence at Port Arthur 130 kilometres across the sea in Manchuria. It was largely used as a naval station and a sanatorium. Weihai borders Yantai to the west and the Yellow Sea to the east.

Its population is 2,804,800 at the 2010 census. 591,982 live in the built up area (Huancui urban district). One can notice that Rongcheng, a county level city, has a built up area with 1,006,795 inhabitants.

Administrative divisions[link]

The prefecture-level city of Weihai administers four county-level divisions, including one district and three county-level cities.

• Huancui District (环翠区)
• Wendeng City (文登市)
• Rongcheng City (荣成市)
• Rushan City (乳山市)

These are further divided into 66 township-level divisions, including 52 towns and 14 subdistricts.

History[link]

This section requires expansion with: history after 1949.

This unreferenced section requires citations to ensure verifiability.

The port was once the base for the Beiyang Fleet of China during the Qing Dynasty. During 1895, the Japanese captured it from the landward side. It was evacuated during 1898.

After Russia leased Port Arthur (on the opposite coast) from China for 25 years during March 1898, the United Kingdom obtained a lease for Wei Hai Wei which was to exist for as long as the Russians leased Port Arthur. During 1905, when the Japanese defeated the Russians in the Russo-Japan War the Japanese took over Port Arthur, the British lease extended as long as the Japanese occupied Port Arthur. Thus the city was part of a territory (c.285 sq mi/740 km²) called "Weihaiwei", which was leased by the United Kingdom from 1898 until October 1, 1930. It was a summer station for the British naval China Station and it was also used as a sanatorium. It became one of two major ports for ships of the Royal Navy in the Far East (the other being Hong Kong in the south).

At the beginning of the lease the territory was administered by a Senior Naval Officer of the Royal Navy (Sir Edward Hobart Seymour). During 1899, administration was transferred to a military and civil commissioner (Arthur Robert Ford Dorward 1899-1901 and John Dodson Daintree 1901-1902) appointed by the War Office in London. The territorial garrison consisted of 200 British troops and a specially constituted Chinese Regiment with British officers. During 1901, it was decided that this base should not be fortified, and administration was transferred to the U.K.'s Colonial Office. A Civil Commissioner was appointed during 1902 (the post was held by Sir James Haldane Stewart Lockhart until 1921) to manage the territory, and the Chinese Regiment was disbanded during 1903. In 1909, the Hong Kong governor Sir Frederick Lugard, raised the idea that the British would revert Weihai to Chinese rule, and receive perpetual rule of the 1898 leased territories of Hong Kong in return. This proposal was never adopted.^[1]

Although Weihaiwei was officially a colony like Hong Kong, and although it was normal for British colonies to be administered under the provisions of the British Settlements Act 1887, while the treaty ports were administered under the provisions of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890, Weihaiwei was actually administered under the Foreign Jurisdiction Act 1890 just like the treaty ports. The reason being that as a leased territory subject to rendition at any time, it was not considered appropriate to treat it as a colony.

In 1903, a High Court for Weihaiwei was established. For convenience reasons the judges of the court were chosen from individuals serving as a judge or crown advocate of the British Supreme Court for China. The three judges of the court from 1903 to 1930 were:

• Frederick Samuel Augustus Bourne (1903–1916), Assistant Judge of the Supreme Court for China
• Hiram Parkes Wilkinson (1916–1925), Crown Advocate of the Supreme Court for China
• Peter Grain (1925–1930), Assistant Judge, and from 1927, Judge of the Supreme Court for China

No special postage stamps were ever issued for Weihaiwei. Just as in the case of the treaty ports, Hong Kong stamps were used and after the year 1917, these were overprinted with the word China. And there were never any special coins or banknotes issued for circulation in Weihaiwei. The currency in circulation would merely have reflected the complex state of affairs which existed generally in Hong Kong and the Treaty Ports during that era.

After several commissioners held the post of British commissioner of Weihaiwei (Arthur Powlett Blunt 1921-1923 and Walter Russell Brown 1923-1927), the outstanding sinologist Reginald Johnston (previously tutor to the last Chinese emperor) was the last. It was briefly a special administrative region after it was returned to the Republic of China, the successor of the Qing Dynasty. During 1949, Weihaiwei City was established, and was renamed Weihai City after it was occupied by the People's Republic of China.

The nickname British sailors gave to this port was "Way High"; it was also sometimes referred to as Port Edward in English. The minor planet 207931 Weihai is named after this city.

Geography and climate[link]

Weihai is located on the north-eastern seashore of Shandong, and its administrative area includes Chengshantou (成山头), the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula. The city is surrounded by sea on three sides and its harbour is protected by Liugong Island.

Weihai lies in the transition zone between a Humid subtropical and humid continental climate (Köppen Cwa/Dwa), but as it is at the eastern end of the Shandong Peninsula, its climate is strongly influenced by the surrounding Yellow Sea: springtime warming and autumn cooling are delayed by one month, and the average diurnal temperature throughout the year is small — at only 6.73 °C (12.1 °F). Winters are cold and dry, but still warmer than places further inland. Summers are very warm and humid, but the August high only averages 25.9 °C (78.6 °F). Precipitation is sparse in winter and is heavily concentrated in the summer months, totaling 665 millimetres (26.2 in).

Economy[link]

At present, Weihai is a commercial port and major fishing center with some light industries. Due to its close proximity to South Korea, Weihai also has a large Korean business community and receives many Korean tourists. Weihai is also a key production area for peanuts and fruit.

Industrial Zone[link]

• Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone

Weihai Economic and Technological Development Zone is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council on October 21, 1992. The administrative area has an area of 194km2, including the programmed area of 36km2 and an initial area of 11.88km2. Its nearest port is Weihai Port, and the airport closest to the zone is Wuhai Airport.^[2]

• Weihai Export Processing Zone

Weihai Export & Processing Zone (EPZ) was set up by the approval of the State Council on April 27, 2000. Weihai EPZ is located in Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone with programmed area of 2.6 km2. Weihai EPZ belongs to comprehensive export & processing zone. The EPZ is located 30 km to Weihai Airport, 3 km to Weihai Railway Station and 4 km to Weihai Harbor.^[3]

• Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park

Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park is a state-level development zone approved by the State Council on March 1991. Located in Weihai's northwest zone of culture, education and science, the Park has the total area of 111.9 square kilometers, the coastal line of 30.5 kilometers and 150,000 residents. It is 3 kilometers away from the city center, 4 kilometers away from Weihai Port, 10 kilometers away from Weihai Railway Station, 30 kilometers away from Weihai Airport and 80 kilometers away from Yantai Airport.^[4]

Education[link]

Campuses of Shandong University and Harbin Institute of Technology are located in Weihai.

Transportation[link]

Weihai Airport serves the city with regular service to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Harbin domestically and the Korean cities of Seoul and Pusan. The K8262 and K8264 trains depart every day at 7:17 AM and 9:52 PM respectively for Jinan, the provincial capital, the K412 goes directly to Beijing at 7:49 PM, and the No. 1064 train leaves at 8:27 AM for Hankou, one of the two railway stations of Wuhan, Hubei. Internally, the city is served by about 50 bus routes.

Tourism[link]

• Hailu Island Hailu island in the northern waters, the distance from land for the last4 miles.
• Swan Lake The Rongcheng Guardian Swan Lake is located in the town of domestic, in North China is the largest Swan lake.
• Hailu Island Hailu island in the northern waters, the distance from land for the last4 miles.
• Tin Hau Temple Thean Hou Temple is located in Shidao town centre, south side seat, for three temple structure, layout strict modeling chic, simple spectacular. Thean Hou Temple in China we can see many fishing.

Sister cities[link]

• Cheltenham, United Kingdom (since May 21, 1987)
• Ube, Yamaguchi, Japan (May 18, 1992)
• Santa Barbara, California, United States (December 8, 1994)
• Yeosu, South Korea, (February 17, 1994)
• Sochi, Russia (October 18, 1996)
• Biella, Italy (October 22, 1996)
• Timaru, New Zealand (July 30, 1998)
• Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo (May 24, 2004)
• Novopolotsk, Republic of Belarus (April 25, 2006)

See also[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Weihai

• Liugong Island

References[link]

External links[link]

• Government website of Weihai (available in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean)
• Map of Weihai

Coordinates: 36°24′N 118°24′E / 36.4°N 118.4°E / 36.4; 118.4

Shandong Province
Chinese : 山东省 Shāndōng Shěng
Abbreviations: 鲁  (pinyin: Lǔ)
Origin of name	山 shān - mountain 东 dōng - east "east of the Taihang Mountains"
Administration type	Province
Capital	Jinan
Largest city	Qingdao
CPC Ctte Secretary	Jiang Yikang 姜异康
Governor	Jiang Daming 姜大明
Area	157,168 km2 (60,683 sq mi) (20th)
- Latitude	34° 23' to 38° 24' N[1]
- Longitude	113° 48' to 122° 42' E
Population (2010)  - Density	95,793,065 (2nd) 609.5 /km2 (1,579 /sq mi) (5th)
GDP (2011)  - per capita	CNY 4.50 trillion US$ 711 billion[2] (3rd) CNY 47,260 US$ 7,317 (9th)
HDI (2008)	0.828 (high) (8th)
Ethnic composition	Han - 99.3% Hui - 0.6%
Languages and dialects	{{{Dialects}}}
Prefectural level	17 divisions
County level	140 divisions
Township level*	1941 divisions
ISO 3166-2	CN-37
Official website http://www.sd.gov.cn (Simplified Chinese)
Source for population and GDP data: 《中国统计年鉴—2005》 China Statistical Yearbook 2005 ISBN 7503747382 Source for nationalities data: 《2000年人口普查中国民族人口资料》 Tabulation on nationalities of 2000 population census of China ISBN 7105054255 *As at December 31, 2004
Template ■ Discussion ■ WikiProject China

This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters.

 Shandong (help·info) (simplified Chinese: 山东; traditional Chinese: 山東; pinyin: Shāndōng; Wade–Giles: Shan¹-tung¹) is a coastal province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the East China region. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese Buddhism, and Confucianism. Shandong's Mount Tai is the most revered mountain of Taoism and one of the world's sites with the longest history of continuous religious worship. The Buddhist temples in the mountains to the south of the provincial capital of Jinan were once among the foremost Buddhist sites in China. The city of Qufu is the birthplace of Confucius, and was later established as the center of Confucianism. Shandong's location at the intersection of ancient as well as modern north-south and east-west trading routes have helped to establish it as an economic center. After a period of political instability and economic hardship that began in the late 19th century, Shandong has emerged as one of the most populous (95,793,065 inhabitants at the 2010 Census) and most affluent provinces in the People's Republic of China (GDP of 3.94 trillion CNY in 2010).

Name[link]

Individually, the two Chinese characters in the name "Shandong" mean "mountain" (山) and "east" (东). Shandong could hence be translated literally as "east of the mountains" and refers to the province's location to the east of the Taihang Mountains.^[3] A common nickname for Shandong is Qílǔ (simplified Chinese: 齐鲁; traditional Chinese: 齊魯), after the States of Qi and Lu that existed in the area during the Spring and Autumn Period. Whereas the State of Qi was a major power of its era, the State of Lu played only a minor role in the politics of its time. Lu, however, became renowned for being the home of Confucius and hence its cultural influence came to eclipse that of the State of Qi. The cultural dominance of the State of Lu heritage is reflected in the official abbreviation for Shandong which is "鲁" (Chinese: 魯; pinyin: Lǔ).

Location[link]

The province is located on the eastern edge of the North China Plain and in the lower reaches of the Yellow River (Huang He) and extends out to sea in the form of the Shandong Peninsula. Shandong borders the Bohai Sea to the north, Hebei to the northwest, Henan to the west, Jiangsu to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the southeast; it also shares a very short border with Anhui, between Henan and Jiangsu.

History[link]

A Song-era monument to a legendary native of Shandong, the Yellow Emperor, at his supposed birthplace

With its location on the eastern edge of the North China Plain, Shandong has felt the influence of Chinese civilization since remote antiquity. The earliest dynasties (the Shang dynasty and Zhou dynasty) exerted varying degrees of control over western Shandong, while eastern Shandong was inhabited by the Laiyi peoples who were considered as the "barbarians". Over subsequent centuries, the Laiyi were eventually sinicized.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, regional states became increasingly powerful. At this time, Shandong was home to two powerful states: the state of Qi at Linzi and the state of Lu at Qufu. Lu is noted for being the home of Confucius. The state was, however, comparatively small, and eventually succumbed to the powerful state of Chu from the south. The state of Qi was, on the other hand, a major power throughout this entire period. Cities it ruled included Linzi, Jimo (north of modern Qingdao) and Ju.

The Qin Dynasty destroyed Qi and founded the first centralized Chinese state in 221 BC. The Han Dynasty that followed created two zhou ("provinces") in what is now modern Shandong: Qingzhou Province (青州) in the north and Yanzhou Province (兗州) in the south. During the division of the Three Kingdoms Shandong belonged to the Kingdom of Wei, which ruled over northern China.

After the Three Kingdoms period, a brief period of unity under the Western Jin Dynasty gave way to invasions by nomadic peoples from the north. Northern China, including Shandong, was overrun. Over the next century or so Shandong changed hands several times, falling to the Later Zhao, then Former Yan, then Former Qin, then Later Yan, then Southern Yan, then the Liu Song Dynasty, and finally the Northern Wei Dynasty, the first of the Northern Dynasties during the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period. Shandong stayed with the Northern Dynasties for the rest of this period.

In 412, the Chinese Buddhist monk Faxian landed at Laoshan, on the southern edge of the Shandong peninsula, and proceeded to Qingzhou to edit and translate the scriptures he had brought back from India.

The Sui Dynasty reestablished unity in 589, and the Tang Dynasty (618-907) presided over the next golden age of China. For the earlier part of this period Shandong was ruled as part of Henan Circuit, one of the circuits (a political division). Later on China splintered into warlord factions, resulting in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Shandong was part of the Five Dynasties, all based in the north.

The Song Dynasty reunified China in the late tenth century. In 1996, the discovery of over two hundred buried Buddhist statues at Qingzhou was hailed as a major archaeological find. The statues included early examples of painted figures, and are thought to have been buried due to Emperor Huizong's Song Dynasty repression of Buddhism (he favored Taoism).

The Song Dynasty was forced to cede northern China to the Jurchen Jin Dynasty in 1142. Shandong was administered by the Jin Dynasty as Shandong East Circuit and Shandong West Circuit — the first use of its current name.

The modern province of Shandong was created by the Ming Dynasty. It also included much of modern-day Liaoning (in south Manchuria) at the time. However, the Manchus increasingly asserted independence, and managed to conquer all of China in 1644. Under the Qing Dynasty, which they founded, Shandong acquired (more or less) its current borders.

Dezhou, Shandong.

During the nineteenth century, China became increasingly exposed to Western influence, and Shandong, a coastal province, was especially affected. Qingdao was leased to Germany in 1897 and Weihai to Britain in 1898. The rest of Shandong was generally considered to be part of the German sphere of influence. In addition, the Qing Dynasty opened Manchuria to Han Chinese immigration during the 19th century; Shandong was the main source of the ensuing tide of migrants.

Shandong was one of the first places in which the Boxer Rebellion started and became one of the centers of the uprising. In 1899, the Qing-Dynasty general Yuan Shikai was appointed as governor of the province to suppress the uprising. He held the post for 3 years.

As a consequence of the First World War, Germany lost Qingdao and its sphere of influence in Shandong. The Treaty of Versailles transferred the German concessions in Shandong to Japan instead of restoring Chinese sovereignty over the area. Popular dissatisfaction with this outcome of the Treaty of Versailles (Shandong Problem) led to the May Fourth Movement. Finally, Shandong reverted to Chinese control in 1922 after mediation by the United States during the Washington Naval Conference. Weihai followed in 1930.

The return of control over Shandong fell into the Warlord era of the Republic of China. Shandong was handed over to the Zhili clique of warlords, but after the Second Zhili-Fengtian War of 1924, the Manchuria-based Fengtian clique took over. In April 1925, the Fengtian clique installed the warlord Zhang Zongchang, nicknamed the "Dogmeat General", as military governor of Shandong Province. Time dubbed him China's "basest warlord".^[4] He ruled over the province until 1928, when he was ousted in the wake of the Northern Expedition. He was succeeded by Han Fuju, who was loyal to the warlord Feng Yuxiang but later switched his allegiance to the Nanjing government headed by Chiang Kai-Shek. Han Fuju also ousted the warlord Liu Zhennian, nicknamed the "King of Shandong East", who ruled eastern Shandong Province, hence unifying the province under his rule.

In 1937 Japan began its invasion of China proper in the Second Sino-Japanese War, which would eventually become part of the Pacific theatre of the Second World War. Han Fuju was made Deputy Commander in Chief of the 5th War Area and put in charge defending the lower Yellow River valley. However, he abandoned his base in Jinan when the Japanese crossed the Yellow River. He was executed for not following orders shortly thereafter.

Shandong was occupied in its entirety by Japan, with resistance continuing in the countryside, and was one of the provinces where a scorched earth policy ("Three Alls Policy": "kill all", "burn all", "loot all") was implemented by general Yasuji Okamura. This lasted until the surrender of Japan in 1945.

By 1945, communist forces already held some parts of Shandong. Over the next four years of the Chinese Civil War, they expanded their holdings, eventually driving the Kuomintang (government of the Republic of China) entirely out of Shandong by June 1949. The People's Republic of China was founded in October of the same year.

Under the new government, parts of western Shandong was initially given to the short-lived Pingyuan Province, but this did not last. Shandong also acquired the Xuzhou and Lianyungang areas from Jiangsu province, but this did not last either. For the most part Shandong has kept the same borders that it has today.

In recent years Shandong, especially eastern Shandong, has enjoyed significant economic development, becoming one of the richest provinces of the People's Republic of China.

Geology[link]

Shandong is part of the Eastern Block of the North China craton. Beginning in the Mesozoic, Shandong has undergone a crustal thinning that is unusual for a craton and that has reduced the thickness of the crust from 200 kilometers to as little as 80 kilometres. Shandong has hence experienced extensive volcanism in the Tertiary.

Some geological formations in Shandong are rich in fossils. For example, Zhucheng, which is located in southeastern Shandong, has been the site of many discoveries of dinosaur fossils. A major find of 7,600 dinosaur bones that including tyrannosaurus and ankylosaurus remains was announced in 2008, and is believed to be the largest collection ever found.^[5]

Geography[link]

The sacred Mount Tai.

Shandong is mostly flat in terrain. The northwestern, western, and southwestern parts of the province are all part of the vast North China Plain. The center of the province is more mountainous, with the Taishan Mountains, Lushan Mountains, and Mengshan Mountains being the most prominent. The east of the province is the hilly Shandong Peninsula extending into the sea; it separates Bohai Sea in the northwest from the Yellow Sea to the east and south. The highest peak of Shandong is the highest peak in the Taishan area: Jade Emperor Peak, with a height of 1545 m.

The Yellow River passes through Shandong's western areas, entering the sea along Shandong's northern coast; in its traversal of Shandong it flows on a levee, higher than the surrounding land, and dividing western Shandong into the Hai He watershed in the north and the Huai He watershed in the south. The Grand Canal of China enters Shandong from the northwest and leaves on the southwest. Weishan Lake is the largest lake of the province. Shandong's coastline is 3000 km long. Shandong Peninsula has a rocky coastline with cliffs, bays, and islands; the large Laizhou Bay, the southernmost of the three bays of Bohai Sea, is found to the north, between Dongying and Penglai; Jiaozhou Bay, which is much smaller, is found to the south, next to Qingdao. The Miaodao Islands extend northwards from the northern coast of the peninsula.