Cangshan District (,

Fuzhou dialect The Fuzhou language ( zh, t=福州話, s=福州话, p=Fúzhōuhuà; FR: ), also Foochow, Hokchew, Hok-chiu, or Fuzhounese, is the prestige variety of the Eastern Min branch of Min Chinese spoken mainly in the Mindong region of Eastern Fujian ...

: Chŏng-săng) is one of 6 urban districts of the

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

Fuzhou Fuzhou is the capital of Fujian, China. The city lies between the Min River (Fujian), Min River estuary to the south and the city of Ningde to the north. Together, Fuzhou and Ningde make up the Eastern Min, Mindong linguistic and cultural regi ...

, the capital of

Fujian Province Fujian is a province in southeastern China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capital is Fuzhou and its largest prefecture city by population is Qua ...

, China.

History

* Cangshan District was formerly known as "Guatengshan" (literally, "Melon Vine Mountain"), also known as "Tengshan" (literally, "Vine Mountain"), with a watchtower at the top of the mountain. Therefore, it was also called the Yan Tai Mountain (literally, "Smoke Platform Mountain"), named after the Zhongzhou barbette (''Zhongzhou Pao Tai'', literally, "Zhongzhou Cannon Platform"). Because a salt warehouse was built there in Ming dynasty, the place was also called Cangqianshan (literally, "the mountain before the warehouse"), abbreviated to Cangshan, which is where the modern name comes from. * The

Treaty of Nanking The Treaty of Nanking was the peace treaty which ended the First Opium War (1839–1842) between United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain and the Qing dynasty of China on 29 August 1842. It was the first of what the Chinese ...

in 1842 listed Fuzhou (Fuchow) as one of the Five Ports of Treaty, which made Cangshan District become the historic district for consulates. In 1844–1903, there built consulates of the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France, Russia, Japan, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, etc. At the same time, many Christian churches, schools, hospitals, newspaper offices, western firms were built there. Because of this history, there still exist some Gothic-style buildings and Romanesque-style buildings today, which become the iconic style of Cangshan District. Since the year 2005, because of the "transformation of the old district" project, some characteristic buildings were torn down and rebuilt, which triggered some social opposition.

Geography

*Cangshan District is located in the south part of downtown Fuzhou, including entire Nantai Island, and a few sand islands on the Min River. Cangshan District is next to Gulou District, Taijiang District, Jin'an District, Mawei District, Changle District and

Minhou County Minhou County (; in Fuzhounese, Foochow Romanized: ''Mìng-âu'', IPA: //) is a county in eastern Fujian Province, China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Fuzhou, the provincial capital, and lies to the south and t ...

. The area of Cangshan District is about 142 square kilometres. *Cangshan District is surrounded by the Min River main branch (or north branch) and the Wulong River (the Min River south branch). The Min River (main branch) and Wulong River converge on Mawei District and ultimately flows to the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a strait separating the island of Taiwan and the Asian continent. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. Names Former names of the Tai ...

. *There are plenty of mountains and hills in Cangshan District, e.g. Gaogai Mountain, Chang'an Mountain, Yantai Mountain, etc. In the centre of the former urban area (i.e. Cangshan proper), there were full of plum blossoms and therefore the road is today known as the Meiwu Road (literally, "plum blossom hollow road"). People used to visit there annually to enjoy the plum blossoms, which was an important annual event.

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts: * Cangqian Subdistrict ( zh, s=仓前街道, p=Cāngqián Jiēdào) * Dongsheng Subdistrict ( zh, s=东升街道, p=Dōngshēng Jiēdào) * Duihu Subdistrict ( zh, s=对湖街道, p=Duìhú Jiēdào) * Jinshan Subdistrict ( zh, s=金山街道, p=Jīnshān Jiēdào) * Linjiang Subdistrict ( zh, s=临江街道, p=Línjiāng Jiēdào) * Sanchajie Subdistrict ( zh, s=三叉街街道, p=Sānchājiē Jiēdào) * Shangdu Subdistrict ( zh, s=上渡街道, p=Shàngdù Jiēdào) * Xiadu Subdistrict ( zh, s=下渡街道, p=Xiàdù Jiēdào) Towns: * Cangshan ( zh, s=仓山镇, p=Cāngshān Zhèn) * Chengmen ( zh, s=城门镇, p=Chéngmén Zhèn) * Gaishan ( zh, s=盖山镇, p=Gàishān Zhèn) * Jianxin ( zh, s=建新镇, p=Jiànxīn Zhèn) * Luozhou ( zh, s=螺洲镇, p=Luózhōu Zhèn)

Tourist attractions

* Jinshan Temple * Saint Dominic's Cathedral * St. John's Church

References

External links