Chongming District () is the northernmost district of the provincial-level

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

. Chongming consists of three low-lying inhabited alluvial islands at the mouth of the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

north of the Shanghai peninsula: Chongming, Changxing, and Hengsha. Following its massive expansion in the 20th century, Chongming is now the 2nd-largest

island An island or isle is a piece of land, distinct from a continent, completely surrounded by water. There are continental islands, which were formed by being split from a continent by plate tectonics, and oceanic islands, which have never been ...

administered by the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

and the 3rd-largest in

Greater China In ethnogeography, "Greater China" is a loosely-defined term that refers to the region sharing cultural and economic ties with the Chinese people, often used by international enterprises or organisations in unofficial usage. The notion contains ...

, after

Hainan Hainan is an island provinces of China, province and the southernmost province of China. It consists of the eponymous Hainan Island and various smaller islands in the South China Sea under the province's administration. The name literally mean ...

. Chongming does not, however, administer all of the island: owing to its continual expansion from sediment deposited by the Yangtze, it has merged with formerly separate islands and now includes

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

pene-exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

s of Haiyong and Qilong. Chongming proper covers an area of and had a population of at the time of the Census 2020. The

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

was established in 1396, the second year of the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

Hongwu Emperor The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

. With the completion of the Yangtze and Chongqi Bridges, it is now connected to both the rest of Shanghai and southeastern

along the Hushan Expressway. Further development is now proceeding according to an urban and agricultural master-plan led by Philip Enquist of SOM, although ambitious plans for an ecocity named Dongtan have been shelved since the 2006 ouster of

mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

Chen Liangyu Chen Liangyu (; born October 24, 1946, in Shanghai) is a Chinese politician best known for his tenure as the Party Secretary of Shanghai, the city's top office, and a member of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party, from 2002 to 2006 ...

and other neighborhoods have swelled with immigration from people relocated from central China following the completion of the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam (), officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project () is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downs ...

History

Present-day Chongming first developed as two separate

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and Earth science, geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank (geography), bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material, and rises from the bed of a body ...

s— Xisha and Dongsha—during the Wude Era (AD 618–626) of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. By the first year of Shenlong (705), a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

was established on Xisha which was known as "Chongming"."Chongming County" in the ''Encyclopedia of Shanghai'', pp. 50 ff.
Shanghai Scientific & Technical Publishers (Shanghai), 2010. Hosted by the Municipality of Shanghai. The number, size, and shapes of the islands fluctuated repeatedly over time and with the

flood A flood is an overflow of water (list of non-water floods, or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant con ...

s of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

. In the 15th year of Jiading (1222) under the

Southern Song The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, ending ...

, the islands were part of Tongzhou Prefecture. These early settlers were mostly

fishermen A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishermen may be professional or recr ...

and salt collectors, with its principal

saltern A saltern is an area or installation for making salt. Salterns include modern salt-making works (saltworks), as well as hypersaline waters that usually contain high concentrations of Halophile, halophilic microorganisms, primarily haloarchaea but ...

at Tianci. In the 14th year of Zhiyuan (1277) under

Kublai Khan Kublai Khan (23 September 1215 – 18 February 1294), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizu of Yuan and his regnal name Setsen Khan, was the founder and first emperor of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty of China. He proclaimed the ...

of the Yuan, was organized within

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

. Owing to the shifting sands of the islands, however, the district seat needed to be repeatedly moved."Chongming Island" in the ''Encyclopedia of Shanghai'', p. 52.
During the late Yuan and early Ming, the sparsely-inhabited shoals of the area began to fill with migrants from

Pudong Pudong is a list of administrative divisions of Shanghai, district of Shanghai located east of the Huangpu River, Huangpu, the river which flows through central Shanghai. The name ''Pudong'' was originally applied to the Huangpu's east bank (g ...

and other areas of Songjiang Prefecture. These immigrants introduced cotton cultivation, which spread widely prior to China's opening to international trade in the later

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

. There was small-scale textile production in the area, but most was exported for use in Songjiang,

Hangzhou Hangzhou, , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ; formerly romanized as Hangchow is a sub-provincial city in East China and the capital of Zhejiang province. With a population of 13 million, the municipality comprises ten districts, two counti ...

, and other more developed areas of

Jiangnan Jiangnan is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including the southern part of its delta. The region encompasses the city of Shanghai, the southern part of Jiangsu ...

.Walker, Kathy Le Mons
"The View from the Periphery: Tongzhou and the Northern Delta" in ''Chinese Modernity and the Peasant Path: Semicolonialism in the Northern Yangzi Delta'', pp. 52 ff.
Stanford University Press (

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

), 1999. In the 2nd year of

Hongwu The Hongwu Emperor (21 October 1328– 24 June 1398), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Ming, personal name Zhu Yuanzhang, courtesy name Guorui, was the List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, founding emperor of the Ming dyna ...

(1396) under the Ming, the prefecture was elevated to a

but, shortly afterwards, a major subsidence provoked a mass emigration back to the mainland. This county was later placed in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

and then Taicang Prefectures. The unification of over 30

s in 1681 was effectively the creation of the present-day Chongming, although it remained much smaller at the time. Under the

Republic A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a State (polity), state in which Power (social and political), political power rests with the public (people), typically through their Representat ...

, the county was organized first under the

Nantong Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wux ...

and then the Songjiang Special Administration District. Nine years after the establishment of the

, it was placed under the

municipality of Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

in December 1958. Reclamation, particularly large-scale work on the island's northern and eastern

tidal flat Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats or, in Ireland, slob or slobs, are coastal wetlands that form in intertidal areas where sediments have been deposited by tides or rivers. A global analysis published in 2019 suggested that tidal ...

s in the 1960s and '90s, doubled the size of Chongming between 1950 and 2010. Dongtan was a proposed ecocity which was planned to open along with the

2010 World Expo Expo 2010, officially the Expo 2010 Shanghai China, was held on both banks of the Huangpu River in Shanghai, China, from 1 May to 31 October 2010. It was a major World Expo registered by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the ...

in Shanghai but stalled following the 2006 ouster of Shanghai mayor

. In mid-2016 Chongming was approved by the State Council of China to upgrade into a district of Shanghai; the District government was formally established in January 2017.

Landmarks and tour

Dongping National Forest Park is located in the district, as are the Dongtan Nature Reserve, the Chongxi Wetland Park, and the Chongming National Geological Park. With its unspoiled environment, Chongming Island is one-of-a-kind destination great for eco-tours and restorative vacations. Chongming runs two 4A-class attractions and four 3A-class attractions. The tourism of the island focuses on three zones – East Chongming, Central Chongming and West Chongming. East Chongming features Dongtan Wetland Park and agritainment options in Yingdong Village and Nanjiang Village. Central Chongming features Dongping National Forest Park, agritainment options at Qianwei Village, Gaojia Zhuangyuan and Ruihua Orchard, Genbao Football Base, Chongming Xuegong (Chongming Museum), Jinaoshan Park, Shou’an Temple and Sanmin Cultural Village. West Chongming offers Mingzhu Lake Park, Xiling Resort, Xisha Wetland and agritainment at Lugang Village.

Towns

The district government seat and largest settlement of Chongming is the

of Chengqiao on

Chongming Island Chongming (), Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Chungming, is an alluvial island at the mouth of the Yangtze, Yangtze River in East China covering as of 2010. Together with the islands Changxing Island (Shanghai), Changxing an ...

. There are 227 communities and villages in the district, administered as 16

towns A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

and 2 townships. Changxing Island is administered as a single town, also named Changxing. Other town-level divisions of Chongming include (from northwest to southeast): Xinhai, Lühua, Sanxing,

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

, Dongping, Gangxi, Jianshe, Xinhe, Shuxin, Gangyan, Bu, Xianghua, Zhongxing, Chenjia. Hengsha Island is administered as a single

, also named Hengsha and Xincun. The other

township-level division The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since 1412, due to mainland China's large population and geographical area. In the People's Republic of China, the constitution provides for three levels of government. Ho ...

of Chongming are Qianwei Farm, Dongping Forestry Zone, and Shangshi Contemporary Agricultural Park. To its southeast along the northern shore is the township of Haiyong; southeast of Haimen is Qilong. Both of these are

s of

; they are administered from Haimen District and Qidong, respectively.

Climate

Culture

Shadi dialect is spoken in the district.

Transportation

Whereas the district was previously only connected to the mainland by

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service, the Shanghai Yangtze River Tunnel now connects Changxing Island with

in Shanghai, while the Shanghai Yangtze Bridge connects it with Chongming Island. Chongming is presently connected with

by the Chongqi Bridge and these three bridges and tunnels form part of the Hushan Expressway connecting northern Shanghai with

Xi'an Xi'an is the list of capitals in China, capital of the Chinese province of Shaanxi. A sub-provincial city on the Guanzhong plain, the city is the third-most populous city in Western China after Chongqing and Chengdu, as well as the most populou ...

in central China. The Chonghai Bridge connecting western Chongming with Haimen in

is under construction. Hengsha Island is connected via

. 18 ferries continue to operate in the district. On Chongming, Chengqiao's Nanmen Port offers service to Shidongkou and Baoyang Rd in Baoshan and to Liuhegang in southern Jiangsu; Xinhai's Niupeng Harbor to Qinglonggang in Haimen;"Shanghai Chongming Industrial Zone".
Shanghai Municipal Government, 2015. and other ports offer connections with

Wusong Wusong, Postal romanization, formerly romanized as Woosung, is a subdistrict of Baoshan District, Shanghai, Baoshan in northern Shanghai. Prior to the city's expansion, it was a separate port town located down the Huangpu River from Shanghai' ...

and the two other islands of the county. The major arteries running along the length of Chongming Island are the Beiyan Highway on the north side and Chenhai Highway on the south. Another 38

highways A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It includes not just major roads, but also other public roads and rights of way. In the United States, it is also used as an equivalent term to controlled-access highway, or ...

cross the island. The main artery along the length of Changxing Island is the Panyuan Highway, while Fengle Road runs north and south across central Hengsha Island. There are 41 bus lines in Chongming, connecting over 98% of its 227 communities.

Chongming line Line 22 of the Shanghai Metro, formerly named Chongming line () is a rapid transit line on the Shanghai Metro that is part of the 2018–2023 Shanghai Metro plan. The Chongming line was previously treated as the last phase of Line 9, and was L ...

of the

Shanghai Metro The Shanghai Metro (; Shanghainese: ''Zaon6he5 Di6thiq7'') is a rapid transit system in Shanghai, operating urban and suburban transit services to 14 of its 16 List of township-level divisions of Shanghai, municipal districts and to the neighb ...

will link station on Line 9 in Pudong to Chongming via Changxing Island. The first phase of the line from to Changxing Island is currently under construction.

Sports

The Tour of Chongming Island International Cycling Race has been held on Chongming Island since 2007. It is held annually and includes a stage race and an UCI Women's Road World Cup race for elite women.

Notable people

* Li Fengbao (1834-1887) –

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

diplomat *

Gong Qiuxia Gong Qiuxia, also romanized as Kung Chiu-hsia (4 December 1918 – 7 September 2004) was a Chinese actress and singer. By the 1940s, she became one of the seven great singing stars.Baidu.Baidu" ''Gong Qiuxia.'' Retrieved on 28 April 2007. Bio ...

(1918-2004), actress and singer

References

External links

* {{Authority control Islands of Shanghai Districts of Shanghai Island counties of China