Shaanxi

Shaanxiis aprovinceinNorthwestern China. It borders the province-level divisions ofInner Mongoliato the north,ShanxiandHenanto the east,Hubei,Chongqing, andSichuanto the south, andGansuandNingxiato the west. Shaanxi covers an area of over 205,000 km(79,000 sq mi) with about 37 million people, the 16th-largest in China.Xi'an– which includes the sites of the former capitalsFenghaoandChang'an– is the provincial capital and largest city in Northwest Chinaand also one of theoldest cities in Chinaand the oldest of theFour Ancient Capitals, being the capital for theWestern Zhou,Western Han,Jin,SuiandTangdynasties.Xianyang, which served as the capital of theQin dynasty(221–202 BC), is just north across the Wei River. The otherprefecture-levelcitiesinto which the province is divided areAnkang,Baoji,Hanzhong,Shangluo,Tongchuan,Weinan,Yan'anandYulin.
The province is geographically divided into three parts, namelyNorthern(or "Shaanbei"),Central("Shaanzhong") andSouthern Shaanxi(or "Shaannan"). Northern Shaanxi makes up the southeastern portion of theOrdos Basinand mainly comprises the two prefectural cities ofYulinandYan'anon the northernLoess Plateau, demarcated from theOrdos Desertand the grasslands ofInner Mongolia'sOrdos Cityby theMing Great Wall.  Central Shaanxi is also known as theGuanzhongregion, and comprises thedrainage basinof lowerWei Rivereast ofMount Liupanand north of theQinling Mountains, where the majority of Shaanxi's population reside. Southern Shaanxi comprises the three prefectural cities in the edge of thehistoricalBashu region south of the Qinling Mountains and includes the three mountainous cities ofHanzhong,AnkangandShangluo.
The area comprising Shaanxi, Shanxi, and Henan formed the cradle of Chinese civilization. During theRepublican era, the city ofYan'anwas near the endpoint of theLong Marchby theChinese Red Army, who fled fromJiangxiafter theChinese Soviet Republicwas destroyed by theKuomintangarmies, and became the birthplace of theChinese Communist Revolutionfrom late 1935 to early 1947 and the Communists formed theShaan-Gan-Ning Border Regionin constituent parts of Shaanxi.
The vast majority of the population of Shaanxi isHan Chinese, withHui,ManchuandMongolbeing the more significantethnic minorities.Mandarin Chineseis the main spoken language in Shaanxi, includingCentral Plains MandarinandSouthwestern Mandarindialects; anothervariety of Chinese,Jin Chinese, is also spoken in the regions neighboring Shanxi.
Shaanxi is China's15th largest economy, ranking within the middle tier among China's administrative divisions. Thefossil fuelandhigh technologysectors compose the two largest industries in Shaanxi Province. The high technology sector includesaircraft and aerospace industriesand Shaanxi produces more than 50% of theR&Dandmanufacturingequipment for the country's domesticcommercial aviationindustry.
The meaning of the province, "Shan's west", traces to circa 1000 BC when the Dukes ofShaoandZhoumarked their borders alongShanplateau (陝塬, now Zhanbian plateau).InChinese typing, the toponym陝often got mixed up with "valley"陜(note: distinguish㚒and夾).Simplified charactersmerged the two as陕.
The alphabet rendering of Shaanxi陝西and its neighboring provinceShanxi山西are troublesome in Beijing Mandarin because their pronunciation differs only in tone (rendered as Shǎnxī and Shānxī inpinyintranscription, 1958). To avoid confusion, mainland China recognized theGwoyeu Romatzyhtranscription (1928) for陝, "Shaan".
Nonetheless, the vowels and consonants ofshǎn陝andshān山are distinguished in the more conservativeJin Chineselanguages native to the two provinces, as shown on the chart to the right (refer toIPA for Jin Chinesefor further information). This conservative phonology is reflected in the historical spelling of Shaanxi, "Shensi", known to the Europeans in the 18th century."Shensi" was recognized in the 1906Chinese postal romanization. "Shensi" continued to be popular until 1987 when thePRCbanned pre-PRC romanizations.
Shaanxi is considered one of the cradles of Chinese civilization. Thirteen feudal dynasties established their capitals in the province during a span of more than 1,100 years, from the Zhou dynasty to the Tang dynasty.
The province's principal city and current capital,Xi'an, is one of thefour great ancient capitals of Chinaand is the eastern terminus of theSilk Road, which leads to Europe, the Arabian Peninsula, and Africa.
The region was briefly governed as theThree Qinsafter the fall of theQin dynasty. This is the origin of one of Shaanxi's two abbreviations,秦(Qin), the other being陝(Shaan). Then it was conquered byLiu Bangduring theChu-Han Contention. Under the Han dynasty, theNorthern Silk Roadwas expanded to advance exploration and military purposes to the west. This Northern Silk Road is the northernmost of theSilk Roadsand is about 2,600 kilometres (1,600 mi) in length. It connected the ancient Chinese capital of Xi'an to the west over theWushao Ling PasstoWuweiand emerging inKashgarbefore linking to ancientParthia.
TheXiongnu-led kingdomNorthern Xia(407–431) set its capital inTongwancheng.
The NorthernSong dynastyand theTangut-ledWestern Xiacontested their border in Shaanxi. Western Xia found the Luōwùchéng (罗兀城) frontier fort in 1071 but was taken by Song in 1081.
Under theMing dynasty, Shaanxi was established with the founding of the Shaanxi Provincial Administration Commission in 1376, whose administration also included the modern provinces ofGansu,Ningxia, and part ofQinghai.During this dynasty, most visitors from Central and West Asia entered the country via Shaanxi.
One of the most devastatingearthquakesin history occurred nearHua Shanin southeastern Shaanxi on January 23, 1556, killing an estimated 830,000 people (see1556 Shaanxi earthquake).
The end of the short-livedJiangxi Sovietsignaled the beginning of theLong MarchbyMao Zedongand theChinese Communiststo theShaanxi Sovietat Yan'an.
The administrative evolution of Shaanxi: The Northern Song established the Shaanxi Lu (circuit), governed from modern Xi'an in 997. TheYuan dynastyestablishedShaanxi Province (Yuan dynasty), governed by aBranch Secretariatin 1286.After the founding of the Qing dynasty, Gansu was split from Shaanxi, but both provinces were governed under theViceroy of Shaan-Gan.
TheLantian Mansite, with hominin fossils from approximately one million years ago, was found in Lantian County in northwestern Shaanxi province, near the city of Xi'an. Scientists classify Lantian Man as a subspecies ofHomo erectus. The fossils are displayed at theShaanxi History Museum, Xi'an, China.
The geography of the area is described as being part of theOrdos Desertin the north along the border with Inner Mongolia, theLoess Plateauin the central part of the province, theQin Mountains(Qinling) running east to west in the south central part, and subtropical climate south of the Qinling. In between the Loess Plateau and the Qinling lies theWei RiverValley, orGuanzhong, a cradle of early Chinese civilization.
Going clockwise, Shaanxi bordersShanxi(E, NE),Henan(E),Hubei(SE),Chongqing(S),Sichuan(SW),Gansu(W),Ningxia(NW), and Inner Mongolia (N). In terms of number of bordering provincial-level divisions, Shaanxi ties Inner Mongolia.
Due to its large span in latitude, Shaanxi has a variety of climates. Under theKöppen climate classification, thenorthern parts, including the Loess Plateau, have either acold arid(KöppenBWk) orcold semi-arid(KöppenBSk), with cold and very dry winters, dry springs and autumns, and hot, humid summers. The area known as Guanzhong is mostly semi-arid, though there are a few areas with ahumid subtropical climate(KöppenCwa), with cool to cold winters, and hot, humid summers that often see early-season heatwaves. Thesouthern portionis much more humid and lies in the humid subtropical zone, with more temperate winters and long, hot, humid summers. Annual mean temperature is roughly between 8 and 16 °C (46 and 61 °F), with January temperatures ranging from −11 to 3.5 °C (12.2 to 38.3 °F) and July temperatures ranging from 21 to 28 °C (70 to 82 °F).
Besides the provincial capital of Xi'an, other cities include:Baoji,Hanzhong,Lintong,Tongchuan,Xianyang,Yan'anandAnkang.
Shaanxi consists of tenprefecture-level divisions: allprefecture-level cities(including asub-provincial city):
The ten prefecture-level cities of Shaanxi are subdivided into 107county-level divisions(30districts, fourcounty-level cities, and 73counties).
The politics of Shaanxi is structured in a triple party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.
TheGovernor of Shaanxiis the highest-ranking official in the People's Government of Shaanxi. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor is considered to have less power than the ShaanxiChinese Communist PartyProvincial Committee Secretary (中共陕西省委书记), colloquially termed the "ShaanxiCCP Party Chief"; since the Governor is always ranked as the First-Deputy Secretary in the Shaanxi Chinese Communist Party Provincial Committee.
Shaanxi was established as a provincial government sinceQing dynasty. On 10 January 1950, the People's Government of Shaanxi was established inXi'an. Ma Minfang was then appointed as the first Governor of Shaanxi.
As of the mid-19th century, Shaanxi exported animal skins, wine, liquor, andmusk. Money loans were also common, with Shaanxi business people involved in the Guangzhou loan business. Shaanxi commonly imported European animal skins, watches, Chinese language books, and cloth.
Shaanxi was a major recipient of China's investment in industrial capacity during theThird Frontcampaign.
The fossil fuel and high technology sectors compose the two largest industries in Shaanxi province. During 2009, the province ranked third in China for production of coal, natural gas and crude oil.As the home of several of the leading universities and research institutes in Western China, Shaanxi province also plays a major role in China's burgeoning aircraft and aerospace industries, producing more than 50% of the R&D and manufacturing equipment for the country's domestic commercial air industry.Nominal GDP for 2011 was 1,239 billion RMB (US$196.7 billion) and GDP per capita was 21,729 RMB (US$3,179), ranking 17th in the PRC.
In the first half of 2019, Shaanxi's total production value reached 1,162.557 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 5.4%. The added value of the primary industry was 55.319 billion yuan, an increase of 4.5%; the second industry was 557.935 billion yuan, an increase of 4.2%; the tertiary industry was 549.303 billion yuan, an increase of 6.8%.
Established in 1992, Baoji Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was approved as a national hi-tech zone by the State Council. It has a long-term planned area of 40 km(15 sq mi). The transportation system around the zone includes Xi'an-Xianyang International Airport and National Highway 310, and industries operating within the zone include auto parts, electronics, IT, pharmaceuticals and bioengineering industries and new materials.
Shaanxi Xi'an Export Processing Zone (XEPZ) was approved on 21 June 2002 by the State Council for its establishment and was put on 5 April 2004. As the first state-level export processing zone in northwest China, XEPZ has become one of the seven pioneer EPZs with the function of bonded logistics in China. XEPZ is under the leadership of the Administrative Committee of Xi'an Economic and Technological Development Zone (XETDZ), which is designated by Xi'an municipal government to exercise economic and administrative power within the zone. XEPZ is a special economic zone. By now, there are more than 40 enterprises home and abroad settled in XEPZ. The pillar industries feature aviation, machinery, electronics and new energy.
TheWestern Triangleis a new economic zone composing the three major city-level economies of Western China:Xi'an,ChongqingandChengdu. It is believed that the addition of Xi'an to the Triangle will spur economic growth in the region and allow the city an opportunity to capitalize on the commercial potential of its high-technology industries.
Established in 1993, Xi'an Economic and Technology Development Zone was approved as a national zone in 2000. The zone is 20 minutes from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport, and national highways pass through. It has formed four pillar industries: automotive, electronics, food, and new materials industries. So far, the zone has attracted more than 1,700 enterprises.
Xi'an HTDZ opened its gates in 1991. It was established as a "pivotal location" for investment by high-tech industry companies in central and northwest China. Established in 1991, Xi'an Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone is a national high-tech zone. It is surrounded by national highways and it is 30 minutes from Xi'an-Xianyang International Airport. Furthermore, it is ranked in the top three high-tech zones in China.
Xi'an Software Park, established in December 1998, is the professional park for Xi'an to develop scale software and service outsourcing industries. The park has been appraised as a software industry base under the National Torch Program, national software industry base, national software export base, city demonstrational area of national service outsourcing base. It is one of the four parks with "double bases" of software in China. Xi'an Software Park assembles 90% of enterprises engaging in software and service outsourcing in Xi'an. There were nearly 780 companies, of which foreign-funded enterprises account for 170, and over 71,000 jobholders in the park by the end of 2008.
Yangling Agriculture Hi-Tech Industrial Zone was approved as a national-level hi-tech development zone by State Council in 1997. It is 82 km (51 mi) from Xi'an to the east and 70 km (43 mi) from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport.
Nearly all the people in Shaanxi are ethnicHan Chinese, with pockets ofHuipopulation in the northwestern region (adjacent to Ningxia). Shaanxi province is one of the centers of ancient Chinese civilization. The central part of Shaanxi, known asGuanzhong, where the provincial capital Xi'an is located, is more populous compared to the others (ShaannanandShaanbei),
The predominant religions in Shaanxi areChinese folk religions,Taoist traditionsandChinese Buddhism. According to surveys conducted in 2007 and 2009, 7.58% of the population believes and is involved inancestor veneration, while 1.57% of the population identifies as Christian.The reports didn't give figures for other types of religion; 90.85% of the population may be either irreligious or involved inworship of nature deities, Buddhism,Confucianism, Taoism,folk religious sects, and small minorities ofMuslims.
Professional sports teams based in Shaanxi include: