Chongming District (pronunciationⓘ) is the northernmost district of the provincial-level municipality of Shanghai. Chongming consists of three low-lying inhabited alluvial islands at the mouth of the Yangtze north of the Shanghai peninsula: Chongming, Changxing, and Hengsha. Following its massive expansion in the 20th century, Chongming is now the 2nd-largest island administered by the People's Republic of China and the 2nd-largest in Greater China, after Hainan. Chongming does not, however, administer all of the island: owing to its continual expansion from sediment deposited by the Yangtze, it has merged with formerly separate islands and now includes Jiangsuprovince's pene-exclavetownships of Haiyong and Qilong. Chongming proper covers an area of 1,411 km2 (545 sq mi) and had a population of 637,921 at the time of the Census 2020.[1]
The county was established in 1396, the second year of the Ming dynasty's Hongwu Emperor. With the completion of the Yangtze and Chongqi Bridges, it is now connected to both the rest of Shanghai and southeastern Jiangsuprovince along the Hushan Expressway. Further development is now proceeding according to an urban and agricultural master-plan led by Philip Enquist of SOM, although ambitious plans for an ecocity named Dongtan have been shelved since the 2006 ouster of mayorChen Liangyu and other neighborhoods have swelled with immigration from people relocated from central China following the completion of the Three Gorges Dam.
During the late Yuan and early Ming, the sparsely-inhabited shoals of the area began to fill with migrants from Pudong and other areas of Songjiang Prefecture. These immigrants introduced cotton cultivation, which spread widely prior to China's opening to international trade in the later Qing. There was small-scale textile production in the area, but most was exported for use in Songjiang, Hangzhou, and other more developed areas of Jiangnan.[4] In the 2nd year of Hongwu (1396) under the Ming, the prefecture was elevated to a county[2] but, shortly afterwards, a major subsidence provoked a mass emigration back to the mainland.[4] This county was later placed in Suzhou and then Taicang Prefectures.[2] The unification of over 30 shoals in 1681 was effectively the creation of the present-day Chongming, although it remained much smaller at the time.[3]
In mid-2016 Chongming was approved by the State Council of China to upgrade into a district of Shanghai; the District government was formally established in January 2017.
Landmarks and tour
Dongping National Forest Park is located in the district, as are the Dongtan Nature Reserve, the Chongxi Wetland Park,[3] and the Chongming National Geological Park.[2] With its unspoiled environment, Chongming Island is one-of-a-kind destination great for eco-tours and restorative vacations. Chongming runs two 4A-class attractions and four 3A-class attractions. The tourism of the island focuses on three zones[7] – East Chongming, Central Chongming and West Chongming. East Chongming features Dongtan Wetland Park and agritainment options in Yingdong Village and Nanjiang Village. Central Chongming features Dongping National Forest Park, agritainment options at Qianwei Village, Gaojia Zhuangyuan and Ruihua Orchard, Genbao Football Base, Chongming Xuegong (Chongming Museum), Jinaoshan Park, Shou’an Temple and Sanmin Cultural Village. West Chongming offers Mingzhu Lake Park, Xiling Resort, Xisha Wetland and agritainment at Lugang Village.
Hengsha Island is connected via ferry. 18 ferries continue to operate in the district. On Chongming, Chengqiao's Nanmen Port offers service to Shidongkou and Baoyang Rd in Baoshan and to Liuhegang in southern Jiangsu; Xinhai's Niupeng Harbor to Qinglonggang in Haimen;[12] and other ports offer connections with Wusong and the two other islands of the county.[2]
The major arteries running along the length of Chongming Island are the Beiyan Highway on the north side and Chenhai Highway on the south. Another 38 highways cross the island. The main artery along the length of Changxing Island is the Panyuan Highway, while Fengle Road runs north and south across central Hengsha Island. There are 41 bus lines in Chongming, connecting over 98% of its 227 communities.[2]
Chongming line of the Shanghai Metro will link Jinji Road station on Line 9 in Pudong to Chongming via Changxing Island. The first phase of the line from Jinji Road to Changxing Island is currently under construction.
^崇明县概况地图 [Overview and map of Chongming County]. XZQH (in Chinese). Retrieved 23 February 2015.
^shi, Guo wu yuan ren kou pu cha ban gong; council, Guo jia tong ji ju ren kou he jiu ye tong ji si bian = Tabulation on the 2010 population census of the people's republic of China by township / compiled by Population census office under the state; population, Department of; statistics, employment statistics national bureau of (2012). Zhongguo 2010 nian ren kou pu cha fen xiang, zhen, jie dao zi liao (Di 1 ban. ed.). Beijing Shi: Zhongguo tong ji chu ban she. ISBN978-7-5037-6660-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)