Early History
The area near the Yangtze River Delta was the location of the from around 5000-3000 BC. In late Neolithic times, the delinta was the site of the Liangzhu culture . In the Spring and Autumn period, it was occupied by the , which was annexed by the in 473 BC, in turn conquered by the in 334 BC. In 223 BC the area became part of the unified empire under the Qin Dynasty.
Since the Tang Dynasty, the Yangtze Delta has been an area of intense agrarian agriculture and high population density. It is criss-crossed with canals for transportation and irrigation. Since the Northern and Southern Dynasties period, the Yangtze Delta has been a main cultural and economic center of China. Key cities of the region in pre-modern times include Suzhou , Nanjing, Hangzhou and Shaoxing.
Population
The delta is one of the most densely populated regions on earth, and includes one of the world's largest cities on its banks—Shanghai, with a density of 2,700 inhabitants/km?. Because of the large population of the delta, and factories, farms, and other cities upriver, the World Wide Fund for Nature says the Yangtze Delta is the biggest cause of marine pollution in the Pacific Ocean.
Most of the people in this region speak Wu Chinese as their mother tongue, in addition to . Wu is mutually unintelligible with other varieties of Chinese, including Mandarin.
The area of the Yangtze Delta incorporates twenty relatively developed municipalities in three provinces. The term can be generally used to refer to the entire region extending as far north as Lianyungang, Jiangsu and as far south as Taizhou, Zhejiang. The region includes some of the fastest-growing economies in China in recent years, and as of 2004 has occupied over 21% of China's total gross GDP.
Metropolitan Area
Since the 9th century, the Yangtze Delta has been the most populous area in China, East Asia, and one of the most densely populated areas of the world. During the mid to late period of Tang Dynasty , the region emerged as an economic centre, and the Yangtze River Delta became the most important agricultural, handicraft industrial and economic center for the late Tang China.
In Song Dynasty, especially during the South Song Dynasty period , with its capital situated in Lin'an , Hangzhou became the biggest city in the East Asia with a population more than 1.5 million, and the economic status of the Yangtze Delta became more enhanced. Ningbo became one of the two biggest seaports in East Asia along with Quanzhou
During the mid-late Ming Dynasty period , the first capitalism bud of the East Asia was born and developed in this area, although it was disrupted by the Manchurian invasion and controlled strictly and carefully by the Confucian central government in Beijing, it continued its development slowly throughout the rest of the Qing Dynasty . During the Ming and Qing dynasties, the delta became the a large financial centre for the country. And also played the most important role in Agriculture and handicraft industry.
During the Qianlong Era , Shanghai began developing rapidly and became the largest port in the Far East. From late 19th century to early 20th century, Shanghai was the biggest commercial center in the Far East. And the Yangtze River Delta became the first industrialized area in China. After the Chinese economic reform program, which began in 1978, Shanghai again became the most important economic center in mainland China, and is emerging to become one of Asia's centres for commerce. In modern times, the Yangtze Delta metropolitan area centred at Shanghai, and also flanked by the major urban centres of Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo, and Nanjing, home to nearly 90 million people , is the center of Chinese economic development, and surpasses all other major metropolitan regions in the People's Republic of China in terms of economic growth, productivity and per capita income. In the future the area may well evolve into the largest megacity in the world in terms of population.
Cities
*Urban cores: Shanghai, Nanjing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Ningbo
*Jiangsu Province: Suzhou , Wuxi , Nantong , Changzhou, Zhenjiang , Yangzhou,
*Zhejiang Province: Hangzhou's county-level urban centres of Jiande, and Lin'an; Ningbo , Shaoxing, Jiaxing, Huzhou, Zhoushan, , Jinhua
*In addition, the Shanghai districts of , , Jiading and Pudong, although nominally "districts", are all municipal-level in administration , and all have ''de facto'' separate urban planning systems.
Transportation
The area is home to a very extensive transportation network that include railways and expressways. The area has one of the highest private vehicle ownership rates in the country, and traffic rules governing Jiangsu, Shanghai, and Zhejiang are relatively strict compared to the rest of the country.
The region is served by some of the country's largest seaports:
* Port of Shanghai, sea & river, the world's largest cargo port in 2005
* Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan, sea & river, the world's 4th largest cargo port in 2005
* Port of Lianyungang, sea port
* Port of Suzhou, river & lake
* Port of Wenzhou, sea & river
The region has five major airports, whose area of coverage is generally around an-hour's drive's length from any point of the Delta. They include:
* Shanghai Hongqiao Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport, hub of Shanghai Airlines and China Eastern Airlines; the two airports combined serve the heaviest air traffic flow in China
* Nanjing Lukou International Airport, situated in Nanjing, Jiangsu
* Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, situated in Hangzhou, Zhejiang
* Ningbo Lishe International Airport, situated in Ningbo, Zhejiang
Main bridges:
* Donghai Bridge, Shanghai-Zhejiang, 32.5km, the world's longest sea-cross bridge
* Hangzhou Bay Bridge, Ningbo-Shanghai, 36km
* Runyang Bridge
* Jiangyin Suspension Bridge
* Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge
* Lupu Bridge, Puxi-Pudong
Climate
The Yangtze Delta has a monsoon subtropical climate, and the weather is generally warm and humid. Winter temperatures can drop as low as -10°C , however, and even in springtime, large temperature fluctuations can occur.
Fishing and agriculture
The Yangtze River Delta contains the most fertile soils in all of China. Rice is the dominant crop of the delta, but further inland fishing rivals it. In Qing Pu, 50 ponds, containing five different species of fish, produce 29,000 tons of fish each year. One of the biggest fears of fish farmers in this region is that toxic water will seep into their man-made lagoons and threaten their livelihood.
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