Zhangzhou

Zhangzhou is the atonal pinyin romanization of the city's Chinese name 漳州, using its pronunciation in Standard Mandarin. The name derives from the city's former status as the seat of the imperial Chinese Zhang Prefecture. The same name was romanized as Changchow on the Chinese Postal Map and Chang-chou in Wade-Giles. Other romanizations include Chang-chow. It also appears as Chang-chu, Changchew, Chiang-chew, Chiang-Chew, Chiang Chew, Chiochiu, Chanchiu, Changchiu from the city's local Zhangzhou dialect pronunciation of Hokkien Chinese: 漳州; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiang-chiu / Chioⁿ-chiu. This name appeared in Spanish and Portuguese Jesuit sources as Chincheo as well from the Quanzhou dialect pronunciation of Hokkien Chinese: 漳州; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Cheng-chiu, which was anglicized as Chinchew. …

According to Odoric of Pordenone, Zhangzhou was a prosperous city twice the size of Bologna. During the early Qing, Zhangzhou was the primary Fujianese port trading with Portuguese Macao and Spanish Manila. For a time, the Portuguese maintained a factory in the city. During the late Qing, Zhangzhou remained a center of silk, brick, and sugar production with about a million people and extensive internal and maritime trade. Its city wall had a circumference of about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) but included a good deal of open ground and farmland. Its streets were paved with granite but badly maintained. The 800-foot (240 m) bridge across the Jiulong River consisted of wooden planks laid between 25 piles of stones at roughly equal intervals. …

Zhangzhou proper lies on the banks of the Jiulong River in southern Fujian about 35 miles (56 km) from central Xiamen, whose urban core has grown to form a single urbanized area with it. The prefecture of Zhangzhou comprises the southeastern corner of the province, surrounding Xiamen. The prefecture of Quanzhou lies to its northeast, Longyan to its northwest, and Shantou in Guangdong to its southwest. Zhangzhou has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with mild to warm winters and long, very hot and humid summers. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 13.2 °C (55.8 °F) in January to 28.8 °C (83.8 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 21.3 °C (70.3 °F). The frost-free period lasts 330 days.