Siming District is an urban district of the city of

Xiamen Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of 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 c ...

province, China. It includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen and the government offices of the modern sub-provincial city.

Geography

Siming occupies the southern half of Xiamen Island. It also includes

Gulangyu Island The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...

to its southwest. The sheltered Yundang Bay responsible for old Xiamen's prized harbor was converted into a lake in the 20th century by the addition of landfill from construction.

History

The modern Siming District includes the territory of the old town of Xiamen, which had its harbor in the sheltered Yundang Bay. The town took the name "Siming" for a brief period in the early Qing when it was occupied by the Southern Ming loyalist Koxinga, who used it from 1650 as a base to launch attacks on the Manchu drive southwards. He abandoned the island in favor of

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northe ...

when he defeated the Dutch there. The Qing held the city from the early 1660s, restoring its former name.

, now part of the district, developed as a foreign enclave after Xiamen became a treaty port at the end of the First Opium War in 1842. After the fall of the Qing in 1912, the

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northea ...

organized the area around Xiamen as Siming

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

. It was renamed the Central

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municipa ...

in October 1945 after its reconquest from the Japanese. Following its capture by the Communists at the end of the

Chinese Civil War The Chinese Civil War was fought between the Kuomintang-led government of the Republic of China and forces of the Chinese Communist Party, continuing intermittently since 1 August 1927 until 7 December 1949 with a Communist victory on main ...

, it was renamed Siming District in 1950. In April 1953, its "district bureau" () administration was upgraded to a "people's government" (). As part of the

Cultural Revolution The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated go ...

, it was renamed Xiangyang District from August 1966 to October 1979. Along with

Huli District () is one of the administrative districts of the city of Xiamen, People's Republic of China. Geography Huli District occupies the northern half of Xiamen Island, with 3 sides facing the narrow ocean straits that separate Xiamen Island from China' ...

to its north, Siming District formed one of the first four special economic zones for foreign investment and trade established by

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. Aft ...

's Opening Up Policy in the early 1980s.

and Kaiyuan District were merged into Siming in May 2003.

Administration

Before the merge, Siming originally had five local government street offices (): * Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'') * Siming (思明, ''Su-bing'') * Wen'an (文安, ''Bun-an'') * Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'') * Zhonghua (中华, ''Tiong-hua'') The above five were divided into 58 residential committees () and two villages, Zengcuo'an (曾厝垵, ''Tsan-tshu-uann'') and Huangcuo (黄厝, ''Ng-tshu''). Xiagang Street was originally a district in 1950. Today, Siming has ten street offices (): * Binhai (滨海, ''Pin-hai'') * Zhonghua (中华, ''Tiong-hua'') * Xiagang (厦港, ''Ha-kang'') * Lianqian (莲前, ''Lian-tsian'') * Jialian (嘉莲, ''Ka-lian'') * Yundang (筼筜, ''Uan-tang'') * Wucun (梧村, ''Ngoh-tshng'') * Kaiyuan (开元, ''Khai-guan'') * Lujiang (鹭江, ''Loo-kang'') *

Gulangyu The Gulangyu, Gulang Island or Kulangsu is a pedestrian-only island off the coast of Xiamen, Fujian Province in southeastern China. A UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, the island is about in area, and is reached by an 8-minute ferry ride fro ...

(''Kulangsu'') These street offices are divided into 95 residential committees ().

Economy

Xiamen Bluebird Cartoon Company (), which makes the '' XingXing Fox'' cartoon, is headquartered in the Amoy Software Park 2 () in Siming District.Home page
Amoy Bluebird Cartoon Company. Retrieved on April 21, 2014.

References

External links

*

{{authority control Geography of Xiamen County-level divisions of Fujian Island counties of China