Zhaoyuan, Shandong

History

The area was first incorporated under the Han dynasty as Qucheng County ().

Gold was discovered at Zhaoyuan in the Tang dynasty. The myth accompanying the city's discovery of gold is that a giant tortoise named Ao once told villagers struggling with famine to dig, and upon digging, they struck gold.

The county was named Zhaoyuan County () in 1131.

People's Republic of China

Five townships in Zhaoyuan were upgraded to towns on September 1, 1988.

On December 21, 1991, Zhaoyuan was upgraded from a county to a county-level city.

Throughout the mid-1990s, three more townships were upgraded to towns.

On January 11, 1999, the town of Zhaocheng () was divided into three subdistricts: , Quanshan Subdistrict, and .

The Fifth National Population Census of the People's Republic of China reported that Zhaoyuan had a population of 593,705.

On December 19, 2000, Dahuchenjia Township () became the city's last township to be upgraded to a town.

2014 murder of Wu Shuoyan

Main article: Murder of Wu Shuoyan

In late May 2014, five members of The Church of Almighty God, an outlawed new-age cult, entered a McDonald's in Zhaoyuan and began soliciting customers' phone numbers. When 37 year-old Wu Shuoyan refused to give her phone number to the group, they claimed she was an "evil spirit", and began beating her with chairs and a metal mop handle, ultimately killing her. In February 2015, two of the attackers were executed, and the other three received jail sentences ranging from seven years to life.

Geography

Zhaoyuan's city center is located approximately 90 km southwest of Yantai's urban center. The city's terrain is higher in the northeast, middle and west, and lower in the northwest and southeast

Climate

The city's annual average temperature is 11 °C, and its annual average precipitation is 607.3 mm.

|Jan record high C = 14.4 |Jan record low C = -16.5 |Feb record high C = 20.5 |Feb record low C = -15.1 |Mar record high C = 28.1 |Mar record low C = -9.8 |Apr record high C = 33.7 |Apr record low C = -4.4 |May record high C = 36.8 |May record low C = 3.4 |Jun record high C = 40.6 |Jun record low C = 9.9 |Jul record high C = 37.8 |Jul record low C = 14.3 |Aug record high C = 35.6 |Aug record low C = 12.9 |Sep record high C = 34.4 |Sep record low C = 7.1 |Oct record high C = 30.1 |Oct record low C = -1.4 |Nov record high C = 24.5 |Nov record low C = -6.6 |Dec record high C = 18.2 |Dec record low C = -12.5

Administrative divisions

Zhaoyuan administers five subdistricts and nine towns.

Subdistricts

Zhaoyuan's five subdistricts are , Quanshan Subdistrict, , , and .

Towns

Zhaoyuan's nine towns are , , , , , , , , and .

Economy

The city has a significant amount of gold deposits, largely concentrated in its northeast. Zhaojin Mining has its headquarters located in the city. Additionally, Linglong Tire is headquartered in the city.

Transport

National Highway 206 runs through Zhaoyuan.

Tourist attractions

A large golden statue of Ao*,* a Chinese mythical giant turtle is located in the village of Oujiakuang (), in the town of . Located in Luoshan National Forest Park (), the statue is Asia's largest statue of Ao*,* and is located at . The statue is 15 meters tall and 20 meters long.

The is located in Zhaoyuan.

Notable people

• Chi Haotian, PLA General, Minister of National Defense of the People's Republic of China
• Sun Baoguo, BTBU Professor, Academician of Chinese Academy of Engineering

References

References

2. (2012-10-09). link
3. (2019-09-09). link. Zhaoyuan People's Government
4. (2013-01-05). link
5. (2019-09-04). link. Zhaoyuan People's Government
6. (2020-05-14). link. Zhaoyuan People's Government
7. (2012-10-09). link
8. Kaiman, Jonathan. (2014-08-18). "McDonald's murder in China: 'evil cult members' face trial for woman's death".
9. (2015-02-02). "China executes two cult members for McDonald's murder". [[BBC News]].
10. link. [[China Meteorological Administration]]
11. (2020). link. [[National Bureau of Statistics of China]]
12. link. [[Zhaojin Mining]]
13. "About Us". [[Linglong Tire]].
14. (2014-09-23). "". link. Zhaoyuan People's Government
15. Els, Frik. (2014-06-07). "China’s top gold firm talking to Barrick, has Friedland ‘hotline’".
16. (July 2016)
17. "Golden Ao".