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The article was last updated in Jan 2024.

Administrative Division

Shaoxing administers three districts, two county-level cities and a county – Yuecheng district, Keqiao district, Shangyu district, Zhuji city, Shengzhou city, and Xinchang county. The city has a permanent resident population of 5.03 million living in an area of 8,279 square kilometers. The urban area totals 2,965 sq km with a permanent resident population of 2.22 million.

Natural Conditions

The subtropical monsoon climate brings Shaoxing four distinct seasons, a humid and mild climate, and abundant sunshine. The city has an average annual temperature of 18.1 C and an average annual precipitation of about 1,557 millimeters.

Shaoxing's geographic features are dominated by plains and hills. It has an extensive network of rivers and lakes, including Cao'e River, Puyang River and East Zhejiang Canal. With over 30 large lakes dotting the landscape, Shaoxing is a typical riverside town in southern China.

The Jinghu Wetland Park is a national-level wetland reserve in the city. Zhuji, its county-level city, has Baitahu national wetland park and Dongbaihu provincial natural reserve, as well as four national forest parks – Lanting, Wuxie, Nanshanhu and Zhaojiazhen forest parks.

Shaoxing civilization goes back nearly 10,000 years and its history of city building goes back 2,500 years. In the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221 BC), it was the capital of the Yue Kingdom and was known as Yue or Dayue. From the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC) to the Southern and Northern dynasties (420-581), it was called Kuaiji. From the Sui Dynasty (581-618) to the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127), it was called Yuezhou. It has been called Shaoxing since the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279). It was one of the first 24 national historic and cultural cities acknowledged by the State Council.

Geography

Located on the southeast coast of China, Shaoxing lies in the north-central part of Zhejiang province and in the southern part of the Yangtze River Delta region. The city, which has 40 kilometers of coastline, is next to Hangzhou in the west, Ningbo in the east and Hangzhou Bay in the north. It is 40 minutes' drive to Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport and 60 minutes' drive to Ningbo Lishe International Airport. By high-speed train, it takes 18 minutes to get to Hangzhou, 90 minutes to Shanghai, and six hours to Beijing.

Celebrities and Talents

The late Chairman Mao once wrote a poem praising Shaoxing as the land of talents. Throughout the era of ancient China, 27 number one scholars and 2,238 successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations came from Shaoxing. It has produced four presidents of Peking University and 73 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. Dayu, the flood-control hero, Wang Xizhi, the most prominent figure in the history of Chinese calligraphy, Lu Xun, one of the most influential of Chinese writers, Cai Yuanpei, a leading figure in China's modern education, are all representatives of this smart land and its outstanding people. Since 2016, Shaoxing has implemented Twenty New Policies for Talents, the Three-year Action Plan and other significant talent policies as part of the Program for Domestic and Foreign Talents.