Nan'an, Fujian
History
Inhabited since the Neolithic Era, the first incarnation of Nan'an was established as a commandery in the early 500s by the division of Jin'an County under Emperor Wu of Liang. It was under the jurisdiction of the Qingyuan Circuit during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, and was incorporated into Quanzhou Prefecture (泉州府) during the Qing dynasty, when it was considered one of the Three Wu Kingdoms alongside Jinjiang and Hui'an.
Following the establishment of the Republic of China, Nan'an was a part of Jinjiang Prefecture until its incorporation into Quanzhou City in 1986; it was the site of military engagements during the Chinese Communist Revolution. Nan'an was established as a county-level city in its own right in 1993.
Geography and climate
Nan'an experiences subtropical monsoonal humid climate. It has an average temperature of 20.9 °C (69.6 °F).
The city covers an area of 2,036 square kilometres (786 sq mi).
Nan'an is situated below Anxi County, adjacent to Jinjiang City to the east and Tong'an District of Xiamen to the West. Nan'an is 97 kilometres (60 mi) from Xiamen. It is 30 kilometres (19 mi) from downtown of Quanzhou and 220 kilometres (140 mi) from the provincial capital, Fuzhou.
Islands and islets in Nan'an include:
- Kui Yu (奎屿) 24°35′N 118°25′E / 24.583°N 118.417°E
- Dabai Yu (大佰屿 or 大百屿, traditional characters: 大百嶼) 24°34′N 118°27′E / 24.567°N 118.450°E
- Xiaobai Yu (小佰屿 or 小百屿) 24°34′N 118°26′E / 24.567°N 118.433°E
| Climate data for Nan'an (1991–2017 normals, extremes 1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 28.6 (83.5) |
30.8 (87.4) |
32.8 (91.0) |
34.3 (93.7) |
35.9 (96.6) |
36.9 (98.4) |
39.6 (103.3) |
39.0 (102.2) |
37.5 (99.5) |
35.0 (95.0) |
32.5 (90.5) |
29.2 (84.6) |
39.6 (103.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 18.0 (64.4) |
18.7 (65.7) |
20.9 (69.6) |
25.3 (77.5) |
28.6 (83.5) |
31.4 (88.5) |
34.1 (93.4) |
33.7 (92.7) |
32.0 (89.6) |
28.5 (83.3) |
24.7 (76.5) |
20.2 (68.4) |
26.3 (79.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 13.2 (55.8) |
13.9 (57.0) |
16.2 (61.2) |
20.6 (69.1) |
24.2 (75.6) |
27.3 (81.1) |
29.4 (84.9) |
28.9 (84.0) |
27.4 (81.3) |
23.8 (74.8) |
20.0 (68.0) |
15.3 (59.5) |
21.7 (71.0) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 10.1 (50.2) |
10.8 (51.4) |
13.0 (55.4) |
17.3 (63.1) |
21.0 (69.8) |
24.3 (75.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
25.7 (78.3) |
24.1 (75.4) |
20.4 (68.7) |
16.6 (61.9) |
12.0 (53.6) |
18.4 (65.2) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 1.3 (34.3) |
3.3 (37.9) |
2.6 (36.7) |
10.1 (50.2) |
14.8 (58.6) |
16.2 (61.2) |
22.9 (73.2) |
22.4 (72.3) |
16.3 (61.3) |
13.1 (55.6) |
6.3 (43.3) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
−1.0 (30.2) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 45.7 (1.80) |
79.3 (3.12) |
108.8 (4.28) |
121.8 (4.80) |
205.4 (8.09) |
286.1 (11.26) |
182.4 (7.18) |
246.4 (9.70) |
156.6 (6.17) |
64.0 (2.52) |
45.6 (1.80) |
47.0 (1.85) |
1,589.1 (62.57) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.0 | 11.0 | 14.0 | 13.9 | 15.9 | 17.2 | 11.0 | 14.2 | 9.7 | 4.8 | 5.4 | 6.7 | 131.8 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 71 | 74 | 75 | 75 | 77 | 79 | 74 | 75 | 72 | 66 | 68 | 68 | 73 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 124.7 | 103.2 | 107.9 | 125.1 | 136.0 | 158.1 | 243.2 | 207.8 | 180.6 | 181.8 | 145.6 | 142.9 | 1,856.9 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 37 | 32 | 29 | 33 | 33 | 39 | 58 | 52 | 49 | 51 | 45 | 44 | 42 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration | |||||||||||||
Administrative divisions
The city is divided into 3 subdistricts, 21 towns, and 2 townships. The city also contains an economic development zone.
Subdistricts
Towns
- Guanqiao (官桥镇), Shengxin (省新镇), Luncang (仑苍镇), Dongtian (东田镇), Yingdu (英都镇), Xiangyun, Jintao (金淘镇), Shishan (诗山镇), Penghua (蓬华镇), Matou (码头镇), Jiudu (九都镇), Lefeng (乐峰镇), Luodong (罗东镇), Meishan (梅山镇), Honglai (洪濑镇), Hongmei (洪梅镇), Kangmei (康美镇), Fengzhou (丰州镇), Xiamei (霞美镇), Shuitou, and Shijing.
Townships
Economy
Nan'an is fast developing into an economic and industrial hub for Quanzhou prefecture. Its close proximity to regional economic centres such as Xiamen, Guangzhou, Fuzhou, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen makes it an important investment location for foreign investments and Taiwan businessmen.
Nan'an has very strong rail infrastructure and road links making it a gateway for tourism as well as commerce.
Culture
Nan'an is closely connected to the history of overseas Chinese, having been a hub of the Maritime Silk Road and a longtime economic and cultural centre for the Minnan people, with over 4 million overseas Chinese tracing their ancestry to the area Nanguan music has its origins in the area in and surrounding Nan'an. It is known as the location of Anping Bridge, a stone beam bridge dating back to the Song dynasty, as well as the burial place of Ming general Zheng Chenggong (better known internationally as Koxinga.)
The local language of Nan'an is a variety of Hokkien, part of the Quanzhou family of Hokkien dialects. The surname Hong (洪; Ang in Hokkien and Teochew romanizations) has one of its origins in Nan'an.
Education
The Shishan campus of Quanzhou Normal University is located in Nan'an. Schools located in Nan'an include Nan'an Experimental Middle School.
Notable people
Native to Nan'an
- Hong Chengchou, Ming and Qing dynasty official
- Huang Dongping, professional badminton player and Olympic gold medalist
- Guang Ze Zun Wang, deity in Chinese folk religion
- Lee Kong Chian, Singaporean politician and businessman
- Li Fabin, three-time weightlifting World Champion and Olympic gold medalist
- Lim Bo Seng, resistance fighter and national hero of Singapore
- Zheng Chenggong, Southern Ming general and resistance leader
- Zheng Zhilong, political and military leader in the late Ming dynasty
Ancestral home
- Huang Ru, Chinese engineer and academic
- Ong Beng Seng, Malaysian billionaire
- Wang Wenjiao, Indonesian-born badminton player known as the "Godfather of Chinese Badminton"
- Ye Fei, Philippine-born People's Liberation Army general and politician