Mianyang

Mianyang(simplified Chinese:绵阳;traditional Chinese:綿陽;pinyin:Miányáng;Wade–Giles:Mien-yang;Sichuanese romanization:Mien-iang; formerly known asMienchow, Chinese:綿州; pinyin:Mianzhou; Sichuanese romanization:Miencheo;lit.'Mian Prefecture') is the second largestprefecture-level cityofSichuanprovince inSouthwestern China. It borders Nanchong City to the east, Suining City to the south, Deyang City to the southwest, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture to the west, Gansu Province to the north, and Guangyuan City to the northeast.Located in north-central Sichuan covering an area of 20,281 square kilometres (7,831 sq mi) consisting ofJiangyou, acounty-level city, five counties, and three urban districts.Its total population was 4,868,243 people at the2020 Chinese census, of whom 2,232,865 live in its built-up (or metro) area made of three urban districts.
Mianyang, which was known as Fuxian (Fu County) in ancient times,also known as Fu County and Mianzhou，had advanced in agriculture during theQin(221−206 BCE) andHan(206 BCE−220 CE) dynasties. It has a history of over 2,200 years since theEmperor Gaozu of Hanestablished the first county in this area in 201 BCE. Due to its advantageous location, it had always been a town of great military importance and formed a natural defence for Chengdu.
Mianyang is home to the CAEP and Science City, an immense Military Research Complex which was the site of the development of China's first nuclear bomb.
The city proper itself was only lightly damaged by theearthquakeof 12 May 2008. However,Beichuan County, which is in the prefecture, was among the most severely hit of all disaster regions following the earthquake, including theBeichuan High Schoolcampus where more than 1,000 students lost their lives after two main buildings collapsed.Around 80% of the county's buildings are said to have collapsed, including its main government building.The casualty toll for the quake in Mianyang Prefecture as of 7 June 2008, was 21,963 people killed, 167,742 injured, and 8,744 people missing.
Mianyang is at the northwestern end of theSichuan Basin, on the upper to middle reaches of theFu River. Its administrative area ranges in latitude from 30° 42' to 33° 03' N and in longitude from 103° 45' to 105° 43' E. Bordering prefectures areGuangyuanto the northeast,Nanchongto the east,Suiningto the south,Deyangto the southwest, and theNgawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefectureto the west. It also bordersGansufor a small section in the north.
Mianyang has amonsoon-influencedhumid subtropical climate(KöppenCwa) and is largely mild and humid, with four distinct seasons. Winter is short, mild, and foggy, though precipitation is low. January averages 5.3 °C (41.5 °F), and while frost may occur, snow is rare. Summers are long, hot, and humid, with highs often exceeding 30 °C (86 °F). The daily average in July, the warmest month, is 25.7 °C (78.3 °F).The average annual temperature is between 18 °C and 21 °C.Rainfall is light in winter and can be heavy in summer, and more than 70% of the annual total occurs from May to September. The annual frost-free period across most of the prefecture lasts from 252 to 300 days, and there are only 1,100 hours of sunshine annually, which is not even 30% of the possible total.
The city has highway and railway connections to several major cities and is on the road fromXi'anto the provincial capital ofChengduas well as theBaocheng Railwayrunning fromBaojiinShaanxiprovince to Chengdu.
Mianyang Nanjiao Airport, which is the second largest airport inSichuanprovince, has direct flights toBeijing,Shanghai,Guangzhou,Xi'an,Shenzhen,Kunming,Hangzhou, and so on.
BothG5 Beijing–Kunming ExpresswayandG93 Chengyu Ring Expresswaypassed through the city.
Mianyang is one of China's major centres for the electronics industry. It has many well-known research institutions, such as theChina Academy of Engineering PhysicsandChina Aerodynamics Research and Development Center.
Many large-scale enterprises, such asSichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd., Sichuan DND Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., Jiuzhou Electronics Group, Shuangma Cement Group, and Changcheng Special Steel Company also have their home in Mianyang.Sichuan Changhong Electric Co., Ltd. was China's largest television manufacturer in 2004, and majority-owned by the city of Mianyang and the province ofSichuan.The company provided two-thirds of the city of Mianyang's revenue, and its chairman and managing director Zhao Yong was until late 2004 the city's deputy mayor.
Mianyang is an important national defence, scientific research, and production base, consisting of 18 institutes including the China Academy of Engineering Physics and the China Aerodynamics Research Institute. Moreover, it houses 50 large- and medium-size enterprises and six science colleges.
The provincial government will hand over greater administrative powers of economic management at the provincial-level authority to propel the development of Mianyang. The new economy management authority will pay close attention to the construction of the scientific city. The provincial committee party and government are presently drafting the "Opinions on Propelling China Scientific City Construction" report which is expected to come out soon.
There are many universities and colleges in the city, and it is well-known as a science and technology centre.
The best known of these isSouthwest University of Science and Technology, with a campus of 4000 mu (about 260 hectares (640 acres)). There is a wide-band multimedia campus network, which is connected to the Internet. The student dorm has access to telephone, Internet, and TV. There are over 900,000 copies of books and over 10,000 electronic books in the library. The studying and living facilities are all on the campus.
It is the hometown of the famous poetLi Bai, and boasts many historical relics of theThree Kingdomsperiod.
Li Shunxianwas a poet ofPersian descentflourished during theFormer Shuperiod (907–925). She had two brothers,Li Xun[zh], a poet and pharmacologist, author ofOverseas Pharmacopoeia(海藥本草;Hǎiyào Běncǎo), and Li Xuan, also a pharmacologist and alchemist.Their religious background has been suggested asZoroastrianorNestorian Christianby Li Guotao andLo Hsiang-lin, respectively. In his "The Transmission of Foreign Medicine via the Silk Roads in Medieval China: A Case Study ofHaiyao Bencao", Chen Ming states that he is "inclined to agree with Lo Hsiang-lin, and to conclude that Li Xun was probably a Nestorian who was influenced byTaoism". However, both suppositions lack solid evidence and remain to be proven.
Li Bifengis a democracy advocate and ahouse churchChristian, founder of an organization of conscience-based care for conducting written reports on the living conditions of laid-off workers, women, and children. He was imprisoned several times by Chinese authorities.
Wang Yiis aCalvinistpastorfromSantaiand founder of the house churchEarly Rain Covenant ChurchinChengdu. In 2018, he was arrested on allegations of "inciting subversion of state power".
Wang Jiujiangis a "mountains and water" landscape painter withTibetaninfluence. He is classified as a member of national second-class artists.
Chinese food blogger and internet celebrityLi Ziqiis from Pingwu County on Mianyang and shoots most of her video content in the surrounding countryside.
Several ethnic minorities live in Mianyang, such as theTibetanandQiang people.
According to Asia Harvest, estimates from 2020 suggest that of the entire population (4,057,601) about 5.43% is Christian (220,501), including Christians within the "unofficial churches", i.e., the Catholicunderground churchand the Protestanthouse churches.
Christian presence in Sichuan (Szechwan) dates to theTang dynasty(618–907) in the form ofEast Syriac Christianity.In the case of Mianyang, the earliestevangelizationto this region, according toAnnals of Religion in Mianyang, was carried out in 1777 byLouis Gabriel Taurin Dufresse, aCatholicmissionary andmartyrsaintof theMissions Étrangères de Paris (MEP).
The firstcongregationwas established in the 1820s in a small town named Bailin, now under the administration ofYouxian District. Aneo-Gothicchurch was subsequently built there and was expanded in 1913 by Alexandre Perrodin, which is known today asBailin Catholic Church[zh].In 1883, after ministering in the District of Long-ngan-fou (modern-dayPingwu) for three years, Joseph-Marie-Félix Hatinguais took charge of the District of Lio-pin. He directed the mission work there until died of typhoid fever on 16 October 1886. He was buried at theAnnunciation Seminary in Ho-pa-tchang(modern-dayBailu).Apurgatorial societyexisted inBeichuanbefore 1951.
Our Lady of Lourdes Churchis the only Catholic church building inFucheng, the most populated district of Mianyang.Lucy Yi Zhenmei, a 19th-century local missionary from Mianyang, was martyred inGuizhouandcanonizedon 1 October 2000 byPope John Paul II.
Mianyang region was historically part of the MEP's Western Szechwan Mission, and is now under the jurisdiction of theBishop of Chengdu.According to Asia Harvest, estimates from 2020 suggest that of the entire population (4,057,601) about 1.57% is Catholic (63,896), includingunderground churchCatholics.
Fourteen church buildings are included in a list inAnnals of Religion in Mianyang,namely:
Protestantismwas brought to Mianyang in 1894 byAnglicanmissionariesof theChurch Missionary Society (CMS),who subsequently made the city their mission headquarters.Alice Entwistle was largely responsible for the opening of this region for missionary work.Or according toAnnals of Religion in Mianyang, in 1885, a small mission church known asGospel Churchwas already founded in Mianyang by Alfred Arthur Phillips and Gertrude Emma Wells of the Church Missionary Society.However,Gospel Church, Jiangyouis traditionally regarded as the first CMS church in the Mianyang region.In the late 1880s, two women representing theChurch of England Zenana Missionary Societywere working in this city.
In 1908, William Munn established Hua Ying Primary School in Nanshan subdistrict (present-dayNanshan High School[zh]) and served as the firstprincipaluntil 1916, when Frederick J. Watt assumed the position.In 1918, Alfred Arthur Phillips established the first school for the dumb and the blind in Sichuan at Huang Family's Alley, Fucheng District.Frederick Boreham, futureArchdeacon of Cornwall, served as a missionary in Mianyang (Mien Yong) under the CMS from 1917 to 1924, and again from 1928 to 1934.
After the split of theDiocese of Western Chinainto Diocese of East Szechwan and Diocese of West Szechwan in 1936, Mianyang came under the authority of the latter which was supported by the CMS.
Santai County(formerly known as Tungchwan,pinyin:Tongchuan) was a centre ofQuakerism, which was introduced in 1887,and again in 1894 byFriends' Foreign Mission Association (FFMA).Santai Mission became the largest mission branch of FFMA's Northern District. It was organized as Santai Monthly Meeting by Isaac Mason in 1900, under the administration of Szechwan Yearly Meeting.
Since 1942, theSeventh-day Adventist Churchhad a small presence inFenggu[zh], a town under the administration ofFucheng. Thisdenominationhad a church built in July 1946, and made 99convertsbefore 1950(see "Adventism in Sichuan").True Jesus Churchhad a small presence inJiangyouandYantingsince 1947.
According to Asia Harvest, estimates from 2020 suggest that of the entire population (4,057,601) about 3.86% is Protestant (156,605; termed "Evangelicals"), includinghouse churchProtestants.
Six church buildings are included in a list inAnnals of Religion in Mianyang,namely:
·Mianyang Rice Noodles (绵阳米粉): One of the famous traditional dishes of the Han nationality in the Mianyang area with a history of more than 1,800 years. There are three flavours: red soup, clear soup, and clear red soup.Mianyang rice noodles are one of the famous traditional foods of the Han people in Mianyang, Sichuan, with a history of more than 1,800 years. The production process requires multiple kneading, pressing and other processes to make the rice noodles softer and chewier. After the rice noodles are cooked, various seasonings and ingredients can be added according to personal taste.
·Lengzhanzhan (冷沾沾): Lengzhanzhan originated in Mianyang Jiangyou. It is a snack that uses toothpicks to weave different dishes of meat and vegetables together and then dip different oil dishes.
· Mianyang rusty pancake/Guokui(绵阳脆皮锅盔):Crispy Guokui is one of the specialty snacks in Mianyang, Sichuan. It is golden in color, salty and delicious, and has clear crispy texture. Known for its fragrance, it comes in a variety of flavors.In the middle of the rusty pancake there is a dragon's eye like head of the pot kui, just pull out the eye and you can lift out the whole pot kui and it won't break at all.
·Zitong shortcake (梓潼酥饼): Zitong shortcake is a traditional famous food of Han nationality. It is made of wheat flour, lard, white sugar, sesame and other raw materials by traditional handicraft.