"There is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below", Hangzhou has a long-standing reputation. As a railway travel enthusiast, I took the high-speed rail to Hangzhou, and my first stop was of course the world-famous West Lake.
The ten scenic spots of West Lake each have their own merits, such as Broken Bridge and Residual Snow, Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake, and Sunset over Leifeng Pagoda, which are all unforgettable. Stroll along the Su Causeway, enjoy the scenery of lakes and mountains, and feel the humanistic atmosphere left by the Song Dynasty poet Su Dongpo.
The ancient temple of Lingyin Temple and the grotto statues of Feilai Peak show the profound Buddhist culture of Hangzhou. West Lake Longjing tea is a specialty of Hangzhou. Taste a cup of authentic Longjing in Meijiawu and feel the artistic conception of "the breeze and the bright moon are priceless, and the nearby water and distant mountains are all affectionate". Hangzhou, a city that makes people yearn for.
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Sign InThe Longjing tea in Meijiawu is really fragrant. Every time I go to Hangzhou, I will buy some to bring home.
Each of the ten scenic spots in West Lake has its own characteristics. I like Leifeng Sunset the most. The scenery in the evening is so beautiful.
Nanchang City, abbreviated as "Hong" or "Chang", is a prefecture-level city and provincial capital under the jurisdiction of Jiangxi Province. It is an important central city in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, a national historical and cultural city, and a national comprehensive transportation hub city approved by the State Council.
Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China, located at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal. The city covers a total area of 6,591 square kilometers and has a permanent population of 4.5868 million as of 2024. Yangzhou has a history of over 2,500 years and is one of the first 24 national historical and cultural cities in China. The city is known as an important historical and cultural city, a high-tech industrial base in the Yangtze River Delta, and an internationally renowned cultural tourism destination.
Shijiazhuang, referred to as "Shi" [32], is a prefecture-level city, provincial capital, and Type I large city under the jurisdiction of Hebei Province, China. [25] [31] It is an important central city in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region approved by the State Council, and a national comprehensive transportation hub city. [1] [234] It is located in the central and southern part of Hebei Province in North China, with a total area of 15,848 square kilometers. [2] [33] As of September 2023, Shijiazhuang City has jurisdiction over 8 urban districts, 11 counties, and administers 3 county-level cities. [3] [34] [220] As of the end of 2024, Shijiazhuang City has a permanent population of 11.2466 million. [240] The dialect is Ji-Lu Mandarin. [37] Shijiazhuang City straddles the Taihang Mountains and the North China Plain. The landforms are complex and diverse. From west to east, they are medium and low mountains, hills, basins, and plains. [38-39] The rivers in the area are the Daqing River system and the Ziya River system in the Haihe River Basin. [40] It has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with four distinct seasons and long summers and winters. [41] In the middle and late Neolithic period, humans have been living and working in Shijiazhuang. In the third year of Emperor Gaozu of the Western Han Dynasty, Hengshan County was established. In the Song Dynasty, it belonged to Hebei West Road. In the Qing Dynasty, it belonged to Zhili and governed Zhending Prefecture and other places. In 1925, the Republic of China established Shimen City. [42] In 1947, Shimen City was liberated and renamed Shijiazhuang City in the same year. [43] In 1949, it was under the leadership of the Hebei Provincial People's Government. In 1968, the capital of Hebei Province was moved to Shijiazhuang City. [43] In 1993, the Shijiazhuang Regional Administrative Office merged with the Municipal People's Government to form the new Shijiazhuang People's Government. [44]
Zhangjiajie City, formerly known as "Dayong", is a prefecture-level city under the jurisdiction of Hunan Province. It is one of the most important tourist cities in China, a national key ecological functional area, and an important ecological barrier in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The city has two districts and two counties under its jurisdiction, namely Yongding District, Wulingyuan District, Cili County, and Sangzhi County, with a total area of 9,533 square kilometers. [51] At the end of 2024, the permanent population of Zhangjiajie City was 1.4869 million. [90] Zhangjiajie City is located in the northwest of Hunan Province, in the middle and upper reaches of the Lishui River, and belongs to the hinterland of the Wuling Mountain Area. [1] It is the birthplace and central area of the Hunan-Hubei-Chongqing-Guizhou Revolutionary Base. It was built for tourism. It is the window of Hunan's opening up, the living room for welcoming guests, the leader of all-region tourism, and the beautiful business card of Beautiful China. It is known as "an enlarged bonsai and a shrunken fairyland". [51] In September 1982, Zhangjiajie National Forest Park became China's first national forest park. In August 1988, Zhangjiajie Wulingyuan Scenic Area was listed as a national key scenic spot. In 1992, the Wulingyuan Scenic Area, which consists of three major scenic areas including Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, was listed in the World Natural Heritage List by UNESCO; in February 2004, it was listed in the world's first batch of World Geoparks; in 2007, it was listed in China's first batch of national 5A-level tourist attractions. [2] In 2017, Zhangjiajie City was awarded the honorary title of "National Forest City". [3] In 2024, Zhangjiajie City achieved a regional GDP of 65.44 billion yuan, an increase of 3.9% over the previous year.
Kunming, also known as "Spring City", is the capital of Yunnan Province, People's Republic of China. It is a regional central city facing South Asia and Southeast Asia, a national historical and cultural city, an international comprehensive transportation hub city[1], and also the political, economic, cultural, scientific and technological center and transportation hub of Yunnan. Kunming is known as the "Spring City" because it has a mild summer and mild winter, and a pleasant climate, with typical temperate climate characteristics. Kunming is a national historical and cultural city with the world natural heritage Yunnan Stone Forest, the national scenic spot Dianchi Lake, the Jiaozishan National Nature Reserve, the Xishan National Forest Park, and many national key cultural relics protection units. It covers an area of 21,013 square kilometers and has a total population of 8.4601 million in 2020. The Municipal People's Government is located in Chenggong District.
Taiyuan City, abbreviated as "Bing", was called Jinyang in ancient times, and is also known as Bingzhou and Longcheng. [130] It is a prefecture-level city, provincial capital, and Type I large city under the jurisdiction of Shanxi Province, China. [131] [284] It is located in the central part of Shanxi Province and the northern end of the Jinzhong Basin. The city is located between 111°30'~113°09' east longitude and 37°27~38°25' north latitude. The total area is 6,988 square kilometers, accounting for about 4.5% of the total area of Shanxi Province. [133] As of the end of 2022, the city's permanent population is 5.435 million. [132] As of the end of 2023, Taiyuan City has 6 districts, 3 counties, and 1 city under its jurisdiction. [135] The Municipal People's Government is located at No. 69, Xinjian Road, Taiyuan City. [136] The Taiyuan dialect belongs to the Taiyuan dialect of the Central District of Shanxi dialect. [174] Taiyuan City is surrounded by mountains on the east, west and north, and the Fenhe River valley plain is in the central and southern parts. The entire terrain is high in the north and low in the south. [134] Located in the interior of the continent, it has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate, with cold winters and hot summers, short springs and autumns, large temperature differences between day and night, and little and concentrated precipitation. [263] The discovery of the "Gujiao Paleolithic Cultural Site" shows that humans have lived in the Taiyuan area as early as 100,000 years ago. In ancient times, it belonged to Jizhou. [130] The Qin Dynasty established Taiyuan County in Jinyang, marking the beginning of the establishment of Taiyuan County. In 1948, the Chinese People's Liberation Army successively liberated various counties in Jinzhong and marched to the gates of Taiyuan. On October 17, the Taiyuan Municipal Government was established in Yuci. On March 1 of the following year, the Taiyuan Municipal Government and the Jinzhong Administrative Office merged to form the Taiyuan Municipal Government. On September 1, 1949, the Shanxi Provincial People's Government was established and Taiyuan City was changed to a provincial-level city. [140] [141] Taiyuan is an important central city in central China approved by the State Council, a national historical and cultural city, a national comprehensive transportation hub, and an advanced manufacturing base in North China [253]. It also has a national-level Jinzhong Cultural Ecological Protection Area [286].
Xi'an, formerly known as Haojing, Chang'an, Jingzhao, Xijing, and Yongzhou, is the capital city of Shaanxi Province, People's Republic of China. It is located in the central part of China, in the south-central part of Shaanxi Province and in the middle of the Weihe Plain. It is a megacity, a national central city, and the core city of the Guanzhong urban agglomeration. Xi'an is a sub-provincial city and the political, economic, cultural, transportation, medical, and educational center of Shaanxi Province and even the northwest region[4][5][6][7]. The total permanent population is 12.9959 million. The Municipal People's Government is located in Weiyang Square, Fengcheng 8th Road, Weiyang District. Xi'an is a famous cultural and tourist city in China and even in the world. It has a very profound historical and cultural heritage and is well-known at home and abroad. It is the first city in Chinese history to be called Jing. It has a history of more than 3,100 years of city construction[8][9] and more than 1,070 years of capital history. In history, many prosperous dynasties, including Zhou, Qin, Western Han, Sui, and Tang, had their capitals here [10], which made Xi'an witness the peak period of openness, extroversion, martial spirit, and prosperity in Chinese history, and left a huge amount of relics. Xi'an currently has two of the six world cultural heritage sites and is also the starting point of the Silk Road [Note 1]. The main urban area of Xi'an still retains the complete Ming Dynasty city walls and gates, moats and bridges, corner towers, urn cities, arrow towers and other facilities. In and around the city, there are a large number of ancient cultural relics such as the Mausoleum of Qin Shihuang, the Han Yang Mausoleum, the ruins of the Han Chang'an City, and the ruins of the Tang Daming Palace, which are of extremely high archaeological research value. In terms of geography and transportation, Xi'an is located in the middle of the Weihe Plain in Guanzhong. The Weihe River, the largest tributary of the Yellow River, flows from the north of the city from southwest to northeast. There are also rivers such as the Chanhe River, the Bahe River, and the Jinghe River in the north and west. It is known as "Eight Rivers Surrounding Chang'an", all of which are ecological protection areas. It is adjacent to the northern slope of the Qinling Mountains in the south and is also close to the intersection of the climates of northern and southern China. Due to its geographical location in the center of the country, Xi'an is a gateway city and an important transportation hub for the Yangtze River Delta, the Pearl River Delta, and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region to the northwest and southwest. It is also a must-go place for the northwest region to go to the eastern and southern regions of the country. Xi'an Railway Station is located on the Longhai Railway and is a hub station with huge transportation volume. Xi'an currently has the 4F-level Xi'an Xianyang International Airport and domestic high-speed rail transportation hubs such as Xi'an North Station. In terms of urban transportation, Xi'an currently has 11 operating subway lines with a total mileage of 403 kilometers. It also operates the Xihu Line of the urban rail and the tram Gaoxin Yunba. Xi'an is one of China's national central cities, an important city in the Silk Road Economic Belt, the New Eurasian Continental Bridge and the Yellow River Basin, and the economic, technological, educational, energy, financial, cultural and commercial center of the Guanzhong Urban Agglomeration. Its Yanliang District is an important aviation industry base in China. In 2009, the State Council approved the "Development Plan for the Guanzhong-Tianshui Economic Zone", proposing to build Xi'an into an important national science and technology research and development center, a regional trade, logistics, exhibition center, a regional financial center, a world-class tourist destination, and an important national high-tech industry and advanced manufacturing base, and strive to build Xi'an into an international metropolis. In 2013, the State Council approved the establishment of Xixian New Area, becoming China's seventh national new area. Most of the areas under the jurisdiction of the China (Shaanxi) Pilot Free Trade Zone established in 2017 are located in Xi'an. In February 2018, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development issued the "Development Plan for the Guanzhong Plain Urban Agglomeration" to support Xi'an in building a national central city, an international comprehensive transportation hub, and an international metropolis with historical and cultural characteristics. In terms of administrative divisions, it currently has jurisdiction over 11 districts and 2 counties and fully administers Xixian New Area, with a total area of about 10,700 square kilometers (including Xixian New Area), and several officially designated economic management zones such as the High-tech Zone, Qujiang New Area, and Economic Development Zone. The Xi'an Municipal Party Committee, Municipal Government and other party and government agencies are located in the administrative center of Weiyang District.
Xiamen City, abbreviated as "Xia" or "Lu", is a prefecture-level city, a sub-provincial city, a separately planned city, and a Type I large city under the jurisdiction of Fujian Province, China. [164] [198] It is located on the southeastern coast of Fujian Province [186]. It faces the Big and Small Kinmen Islands to the east and Longhai District of Zhangzhou City to the south. It borders Nan'an City of Quanzhou City, Anxi County of Quanzhou City, Changtai District of Zhangzhou City, and Longhai District of Zhangzhou City by land. [207] It has a total area of 1,700.61 square kilometers and the language used is the Minnan dialect. [123] As of the end of 2023, Xiamen City has 6 districts under its jurisdiction; by the end of 2024, the permanent population of Xiamen City is 5.35 million [225]; the Municipal People's Government is located at No. 61 Hubin North Road, Siming District. [204] The territory of Xiamen City consists of the mainland area along Xiamen Bay in the southeast of Fujian Province, as well as the islands of Xiamen Island, Gulangyu Island, and Xiamen Bay. The terrain slopes from northwest to southeast, and is mainly composed of coastal plains, terraces, and hills. It has a subtropical marine monsoon climate, with mild and rainy weather, no severe cold in winter, and no scorching heat in summer. [205] In ancient times, Xiamen Island was a habitat for egrets, so it was also called "Egret Island". During the Western Jin Dynasty, Tong'an County was established. In the 27th year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1394), Xiamen City was built. In 1935, Xiamen City was established. In 1980, Xiamen Special Economic Zone was established. In 1988, it became a separately planned city. In 1994, it was promoted to a sub-provincial city.