Suqian ( zh, s=, t=, p=Sùqiān, IPA: ) 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 northern

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, China. It borders

Xuzhou Xuzhou ( zh, s=徐州), also known as Pengcheng () in ancient times, is a major city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. The city, with a recorded population of 9,083,790 at the 2020 Chinese census, 2020 census (3,135,660 of which lived in ...

to the northwest,

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 ...

to the northeast,

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to the south, and the province of

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

to the west.

History

Suqian was said to be the site of a military grain store built when the Emperor Yuan of Jin reigned. Thus, the former Xiaxiang county where the store located was renamed Suyu (; means "prepared" or "usually prepared") in 405. Then the county was annexed by Xuzhou and renamed Suqian in 762 because the homophone "yu ()" as the given name of the

Emperor Daizong of Tang Emperor Daizong of Tang (11 November 726According to Daizong's biography in the ''Old Book of Tang'', he was born on the 13th day in the 12th month of the 14th year of the Kaiyuan era of Tang Xuanzong's reign. This date corresponds to 11 Nov 72 ...

was deemed to be ineffable. The county was put under the jurisdiction of Huaiyang military prefecture during the Song dynasty, then was transferred to Pizhou after Jurchen's Jin took it. The county was administered by Huai'an military prefecture during 1272–75, but restored as a part of Pizhou afterwards. It was annexed by Xuzhou again in 1733. The area was rife with banditry during the early years of the Republic of China. In Autumn 1917, six persons were executed as bandits in Suqian. "They cut off their arms, broke their legs, cut off their ears, punched out their eyes, skinned them, then cut off their heads, and finally cut out their hearts." Suqian was put under the jurisdiction of Huaiyin in 1934. The county was converted as a county-level city in 1987, later was elevated to prefecture status in 1996.

Geography and climate

Suqian possesses the majority of Luoma Lake, which is a major lake in the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

basin.

Demographics

As of the

2020 Chinese census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China, national census conducted by the National Bure ...

, Suqian had a recorded population of about 4,986,192 whom 1,622,912 lived in the built-up (''or metro'') area made of Sucheng and Suyu urban districts.

Economy

Local Yanghe along with Maotai and Wuliangye, are the three biggest manufacturers of

baijiu ''Baijiu'' (), or ''shaojiu'' (), is a colorless Chinese liquor typically coming in between 35% and 60% alcohol by volume (ABV). Each type of baijiu uses its own type of ''qū'' for fermentation to create a distinct and characteristic flavo ...

. Besides, several domestic companies followed JD.com to site their

call centre A call centre ( Commonwealth spelling) or call center ( American spelling; see spelling differences) is a managed capability that can be centralised or remote that is used for receiving or transmitting a large volume of enquiries by telephone ...

s in Suqian.

Transport

Roads

Expressways

G2513 Huai'an–Xuzhou Expressway

Rail

Suqian station on the Xuzhou–Yancheng high-speed railway is located in the southern outskirt of Suqian. Another station, Suqian East, is to be built on the Weifang–Suqian high-speed railway, now under construction as part of the second channel of the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway.

Education

Suqian College is the single institution in Suqian providing bachelor's degree education.

Administration

The

of Suqian administers 5 county-level divisions, including 3

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 ...

and 2

districts 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 counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

. These are further divided into 115

township-level divisions 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 ...

, including 111

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

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 ...

, and 4

subdistrict A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district. Equivalents * Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language * Kelurahan, in Indonesia * Mukim, a township in Brunei, Ind ...

References

External links

Government Website of Suqian
(in Simplified Chinese)
Suqian comprehensive guide with open directory
(Jiangsu.net) {{authority control Cities in Jiangsu Prefecture-level divisions of Jiangsu National Civilized City