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Qidong
Simplified Chinese	启东
Traditional Chinese	啓東
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qǐdōng

Qidong is a county-level city under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Nantong in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. It is located on the north side of the Yangtze River opposite Shanghai and forms a peninsula jutting out into the East China Sea. It has a population of 1.12 million.

Qidong city night view

The center of the city is named Huilong Township. It also has a well-known fishing port called Lüsi town, named after Lü Dongbin, one of the eight immortals, who is said to have visited the place four times. Qidong's Qilong township was formerly a separate island in the Yangtze called Yonglongsha but now forms a pene-enclave on Chongming Island, most of which belongs to Shanghai.

History

The area of present-day Qidong was part of the East China Sea until the Han dynasty, when deposition from the Yangtze River began to form islands, notably including Dongbuzhou (t 東布洲, s 东布洲, p Dōngbùzhōu) at the site of present-day Lüsi.

In Tang Dynasty, prisoners were sent to Qidong and worked on salt production.

During Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, the first offical government, called Lüsi chang, was established.

During the transition period of Yuan Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, Yangtze River' main waterway moved northward and resulted a large area of land loss in Lüsi chang. Lüsi chang was merged into Tongzhou.

Increasing sediment accumulation bordered Qidong with the mainland during the Qing dynasty.

In the first year of Republic of China, Tongzhou was renamed to Nantong. Later, Qidong was governed by Nantong, Haimen and Chongmin.

In March 1, 1928, Qidong County was established. Qidong means "Starting from the easternmost territory of the country". Until then, Qidong had about 330,000 residents.

By November 1989, Qidong made progress in ubranization and Chinese State Council gave permission to transfer Qidong county into a county-level city.

Lüsi Town (labeled as Lü-ssu-chen 呂四鎭) (1954)

Language

People living in Lüsi town (Lusze) speak a different dialect—known as the Lüsi (吕四话; 呂四話; Lǜsì Huà) or Tongdong dialect (通东话; 通東話; Tōngdōng Huà)—from most other residents, who generally speak Qidong Dialect (启东话; 啓東話; Qǐdōng Huà). The two dialects are considerably different and thus they are not mutually intelligible. Because most economic, educational and governmental activities are held in the city capital Huilong, where Qidong Dialect is prevalent, many residents of Lüsi have learned to understand and even speak the majority dialect.

Qidong Dialect is a dialect of Wu Chinese. Some people consider it similar to Shanghainese, also a dialect of Wu Chinese. It is almost the same as the dialect spoken in Chongming, which is under the administration of Shanghai.

Both of the two dialects belong to the Northern Wu. However, because of cultural differences among two places, there still exist non-intelligible usage mostly in vocabulary.

Education

Qidong is famous for its high school. Student from middle schools in Qidong can usually get higher grades in Gao Kao, which is the Chinese national college entrance examination. Qidong has five public middle schools: Qidong Middle School, Huilong High School, Dongnan Middle School, Dajiang Middle School and Lüsi Middle School. Among those schools, Qidong High School has the highest reputation. Qidong High School was established in 1928，and it has been one of the best middle school in Jiangsu province since then. More than ninety percent of graduates from Qidong Middle school can attend first class universities every year.

Qidong Grand Theater

Infrastructure

Qidong Grand Theater: Qidong Grand Theater is located on the east side of Jianghai South Road and both sides of Qiantang River Road. It has a 1200-seat grand theater and a 408-seat small theater. The stage process design and mechanical equipment configuration of the grand theater can meet the requirements of various large-scale operas, dances, ballets, concerts, large-scale comprehensive literary and artistic performances, while taking into account the conference function. The small theater can meet the needs of various functions such as small art performances, small drama performances, conferences and so on.

Ningqi Railway: The railway is 365km long, it connects Nanjing to Qidong. It connects Xinchang Railway and Ningxi Railway, and strengthen the cargo transportation capacity between East China and West China.

Chongqi Bridge: Chongqi Bridge is a river crossing channel connecting China to Shanghai and Jiangsu Province, located at the Yangtze River estuary. It is completed in 2011. Chongqi Bridge links Qidong with Chongming County and also downtown Shanghai, reducing the driving time from three hours to one hour. Qidong can be reached from Shanghai Pudong Airport within 45 minutes without traffic congestion.

Yuan Tuo Corner: It is China's largest freshwater wetland reserve. The Yangtze River entered the sea from here, and the East Sea and the Yellow Sea are also Separate here.

Economy

Local industry focuses on pharmaceutical production, computer accessory production and chemical fertilizer production.

Qidong is an offshore engineering & construction hub hosting companies like COSCO, SINOPACIFIC, Specialty Process Equipment Corporation (SPEC), Shanghai Zhen Hua Heavy Industries (ZPMC) Qidong Marine Engineering Company Limited (formerly DAODA Heavy Industry) and several other heavy industry, shipyard & fabrications facilities.

Major agriculture crops produced in the area include wheat, corn, soy beans, peanuts, yams and cotton. The climate is suitable for pears, peaches, oranges and watermelons.

Fishing is a major source of income for some rural residents.

Weather

There are four distinct seasons: spring, summer, fall, and a mild winter. During the summer, monsoon lasts for weeks, and there is plenty of rain.

Qidong protest

Qidong protest happened in July 2012, it was a violent environmental protest against an industrial waste pipeline. A Japanese company called Oji Paper Company constructied a paper mill in the city of Nantong, Jiangsu. The wastewater from the factory would be emitted to the coast of Qidong. The rumors said that Japanese company bribed the mayor and the wastewater was going to pollute the drinking water of Qidong. In 2012, Chinese has anti-Japanese sentiment because of The Senkaku Islands dispute, and the anti-Japanese demonstrations was breaking out country-widely. About 10,00 Qidong Citizens ran out to street and join the protest, they crashed the cars and throw stones into the government building. And then, approximately1,000 protestors rushed into government buidlings and smashed everything they could see. They also found fine liquors, comdoms and expensive watches in the building.

External links

• City government official site
• English Language Guide to Qidong (Qidongmap.net)
• Qidong City English guide (Jiangsu.net)
• Ningqing Railway