Jian'ou is a county-level city in Nanping in northern Fujian province, China. Under the name Jianning (Kienning), it was formerly the seat of its own prefecture and was the namesake of its province.

Jian'ou is within a major bamboo and rice-growing area on Jianxi Brook, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) south from Jianyang.

The Jian'ou dialect, a dialect of Northern Min, is spoken in Jian'ou.

History

The city was established in 196 under the name Jian'an – the era name of the reigning Emperor Xian of Han. Along with Fuzhou, they were the earliest-established Chinese territories in the area and thus their province bears their conjoined names: Fu & Jian. The city was once the capital of the Fujian region and also served as the capital of the empire of Yin in AD 943. In the Song dynasty, Jian'an became the seat of Jianning Prefecture (Jianning-fu).

Jian'ou was visited by Marco Polo in 1291 on his way from Hangzhou to Quanzhou. In his Travels, dictated seven years later to a scribe writing in Old French, the name Jianning-fu is romanised as Quenlinfu. The city is, he says,

"of considerable size, and contains three very handsome bridges, upwards of a hundred paces in length and eight paces in width. The men of the place are very handsome, and live in a state of luxurious ease. There is much raw silk produced here and it is manufactured into silk pieces of various sorts. Cottons are also woven of coloured threads, which are carried for sale to every part of the province of Mangi. The people employ themselves extensively, and export quantities of ginger and galangal. I have been told, but did not myself see the animal, that there are found at this place a species of domestic fowls which have no feathers, their skins being clothed with black hair, resembling the fur of cats. Such a sight must be extraordinary. They lay eggs like other fowls, and they are good to eat. The multitude of tigers renders traveling through the country dangerous, unless a number of persons go in company."

Under the Yuan Dynasty, the name was changed from Jianning-Fu to Jianning-Lu. This was a result of an administrative restructuring: formerly, Jian'ou was the capital of the local fu, or prefecture. Jian'ou was made the capital of the local lu, a collection of prefectures still smaller than a province, and was renamed Jianning-Lu accordingly.

Administration

4 Subdistricts

• Ouning Street Office (瓯宁街道): Qilijie Village, Shuixi Village
• Zhishan Street Office (芝山街道): Xida Village, Haodong Village, Mawen Village
• Jian'an Street Office (建安街道): Dong'an Village, Dongmen Village, Qianjie Community
• Tongji Street Office (通济街道): Sanmen Village, Nanmen Village, Dongxi Village, Qiaonan Community, Nanmen Community, Taozhu Community

10 Towns

• Xudun (徐墩镇)
• Jiyang (吉阳镇)
• Fangdao (房道镇)
• Dongyou (东游镇)
• Xiaoqiao (小桥镇)
• Yushan (玉山镇)
• Nanya (南雅镇)
• Dikou (迪口镇)
• Xiaosong (小松镇)
• Dongfeng (东峰镇)

4 Townships

• Chuanshi (川石乡)
• Shunyang (顺阳乡)
• Shuiyuan (水源乡)
• Longcun (龙村乡)

Climate

Transportation

• Railway: Hengfeng–Nanping Railway, Hefei-Fuzhou High-Speed Railway
• Highway: G205, G25 Changchun-Shenzhen Expressway, G3 Beijing–Taipei Expressway
• Coach Station: Jian'ou Station

Specialty

• Fangcun Kompia (房村光饼)
• Xiaosong Bianrou (小松扁肉): originated from Hutou Village, Xiaosong Town
• Fumao Cellar Spirit (福矛窖酒)
• Zhuili chestnut (建瓯锥栗)
• Pressed salted duck (建瓯板鸭)

Notable people

• Li Qiumei

Scenic

See also

• List of administrative divisions of Fujian