Rizhao (), alternatively romanized as Jihchao, is a

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 ...

in southeastern

Shandong Shandong is a coastal Provinces of China, province in East China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history since the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River. It has served as a pivotal cultural ...

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 ...

, China. It is situated on the coastline along the Yellow Sea, and features a major seaport, the Port of Rizhao. It borders

Qingdao Qingdao, Mandarin: , (Qingdao Mandarin: t͡ɕʰiŋ˧˩ tɒ˥) is a prefecture-level city in the eastern Shandong Province of China. Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao was long an important fortress. In 1897, the city was ceded to G ...

to the northeast,

Weifang Weifang ( zh, s=潍坊, t=濰坊, p=Wéifāng) is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. The city borders Dongying to the northwest, Zibo to the west, Linyi to the southwest, Rizhao to the south, Qingdao ...

to the north,

Linyi Linyi ( zh, s=临沂 , t=臨沂 , p=Línyí) is a prefecture-level city in the south of Shandong province, China. As of 2011, Linyi is the largest prefecture-level city in Shandong, both by area and population, Linyi borders Rizhao to the eas ...

to the west and southwest, and faces

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

across the Yellow Sea to the east. The name of the city literally means "sunshine". Worldwatch Institute. (2007). '' State of the World : Our Urban Future.'' The city is known for its sustainability, and it mandates solar-water heaters in all new buildings. Rizhao city was recognized by the United Nations as one of the most habitable cities in the world in 2009. The city population stands at 2,968,365 people as of the 2020 Chinese census, of whom 1,172,205 live in the urban area of Donggang District. Compared with the 2,801,013 people in 2010 Chinese census, there has been a total increase of 167,352 people in the past decade, an increase of 5.97%, with an average annual growth rate of 0.58%.

History

Rizhao is located at the place where the ancient Dawenkou culture and the Longshan culture flourished. Rizhao belonged to the Dongyi people during the Xia and Shang dynasties (2070-1046 BC), and to Ju and Yue States in the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

(770-476 BC) and the

Warring States period The Warring States period in history of China, Chinese history (221 BC) comprises the final two and a half centuries of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC), which were characterized by frequent warfare, bureaucratic and military reforms, and ...

(476-221 BC). It became a part of Langye Commandery in the

Qin dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ) was the first Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China. It is named for its progenitor state of Qin, a fief of the confederal Zhou dynasty (256 BC). Beginning in 230 BC, the Qin under King Ying Zheng enga ...

(221-206 BC). Rizhao was named Haiqu County () during the Western Han (206 BC-25 AD) and Xihai County under the

Eastern Han The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

(25-220 AD). During 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 ...

, together with Ju County, Rizhao belonged to Mi Prefecture of Henan Prefecture. In the 10th century, Rizhao city and county was established, with the name meaning "(the first to get) sunshine". In 1940 it came under the control of the

Chinese Communist Party The Communist Party of China (CPC), also translated into English as Chinese Communist Party (CCP), is the founding and One-party state, sole ruling party of the People's Republic of China (PRC). Founded in 1921, the CCP emerged victorious in the ...

. After being a county and since 1985 a city under the administration of

, Rizhao became a prefecture-level city within Shandong province in 1989. The Field Museum of Natural History in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

has done field survey archaeological work in Rizhao over the years.

Climate

Rizhao has a temperate, four-season,

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in Atmosphere of Earth, atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annu ...

-influenced climate that lies in the transition between the humid subtropical (

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Cwa'') and humid continental (Köppen ''Dwa'') regimes. Winter is cool to cold and windy, but generally dry, with a January average of . Summer is generally hot and humid, but sweltering days are rare, with an August average of . Due to its proximity to the coast and being on a peninsula, it experiences a one-month delayed spring compared to much of the province. Conversely, fall is milder than inland areas in Shandong. The annual mean temperature is . On average, there are 2,530 hours of bright sunshine annually, and the relative humidity is 70–74 %.

Administration

The

of Rizhao administers four county-level divisions, including two districts and two

counties 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 ...

. * Donggang District () * Lanshan District () * Ju County () * Wulian County ()

Landmarks and tourist attractions

The Zaishui Art Museum on an artificial lake was completed in 2023, along with a promenade and café by the Spanish firm SelgasCano. In addition to the museum, Jun'ya Ishigami designed a horseback-riding center, a hotel, and a 148-foot-high, concrete church. The following locations have a 4-star rating according to Chinese classification for scenic spots () * Wulian Mountain () * Fulai Mountain () * Daqing Mountain () * Wanpingkou Beach () * Rizhao Beach National Park () * Longmengu () * Liujiawan Park ()

Sustainable development

The city now mandates the incorporation of

solar panel A solar panel is a device that converts sunlight into electricity by using photovoltaic (PV) cells. PV cells are made of materials that produce excited electrons when exposed to light. These electrons flow through a circuit and produce direct ...

s in all new buildings, and oversees the construction process to ensure the panels are correctly installed. The effort to install solar water heaters began in 1992.

Transportation

Rizhao features a major seaport ( Port of Rizhao), located approximately north 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 ...

, southwest of

, and north of

Lianyungang Lianyungang () is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Jiangsu province of China, province, China. It borders Yancheng to its southeast, Huai'an and Suqian to its south, Xuzhou to its southwest, and the province of Shandong to its north. Its ...

. The seaport serves as a site for loading and unloading iron ore and coal. Other products passing through the harbor include cement, nickel, bauxite, and the like. In 2011 the Port of Rizhao, together with the cities of Qingdao, Weihai and Yantai in

, signed a strategic alliance with

Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...

, the largest port of the

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. The alliance aims at building a shipping and logistics center in Northeast Asia. The new iron ore port of Lanqiao is located close to it as is the Lanshan port region. Rizhao Shanzihe Airport (IATA: RIZ) is an airport serving the city of Rizhao. The airport received approval from the State Council and the Central Military Commission in October 2013. It is located in the town of (), Donggang District. It was opened on 22 December 2015. The city is served by two railway stations, Rizhao railway station for local trains and Rizhao West railway station for both local and high-speed services.

Education

Universities and colleges

Since becoming a city, Rizhao has seen a significant growth in the number of universities and colleges, * Qufu Normal University () * Jining Medical University () * Rizhao Polytechnic () * Shandong Foreign Languages Vocational College () * Shandong Maritime Vocational College () * Shandong Sport College () * Shandong Water Polytechnic(山东水利学院)

Image gallery

File:Wanping kou beach.jpg, Wanpingkou Beach File:Fulai mountain.jpg, Fulaishan File:Dengta square beach.jpg, Dengta Lighthouse File:Wulian .jpg, Wulian Mountain File:日照站2022.jpg, Rizhao Railway Station File:Rizhao Railway Station.jpg, Rizhao Railway Station File:日照灯塔 - panoramio (1).jpg, Rizhao Lighthouse File:Rizhao1.jpg, Rizhao scenery File:日照市万平口海洋公园2022.jpg, Rizhao Wanpingkou Ocean Park 2022 File:Rizhao sea port.jpg, Rizhao sea port

International relations

Rizhao

twin towns and sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inte ...

are: * Türkmenabat, Türkmenistan (2014)

References

External links

* {{authority control Cities in Shandong Prefecture-level divisions of Shandong National Civilized City