Wenchang ( postal: Mencheong; ;

Hainanese Hainanese ( Hainan Romanised: ''Hái-nâm-oe'', Hainanese Pinyin: ''Hhai3 nam2 ue1'', ), also known as Qiongwen (), Qiongyu () or Hainan Min () is a group of Min Chinese varieties spoken in the far southern Chinese island province of Hain ...

spellings: Boon Siou) is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

in the northeast of

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 ...

Island in China. Covering an area of , the city has a coastline of , and is divided into 17 towns. The city is a major target for typhoons in the northwestern Pacific, and experiences the most frequent and severe typhoon-induced storm surges in the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

. The city is a major ancestral home of

Chinese diaspora Overseas Chinese people are people of Chinese origin who reside outside Greater China (mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan). As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. As of 2023, there were 10.5 million people livin ...

, with the local dish Wenchang chicken as an origin of

Hainanese chicken rice Hainanese chicken rice is a dish of poached chicken and seasoned rice, served with chilli sauce and usually with cucumber garnishes. It was created by immigrants from Hainan in southern China and adapted from the Hainanese dishes of Wencha ...

in Southeast Asia. Since 2016, the city has also been home to China’s newest spaceport.

History

Wenchang was elevated from a county to a city on November 7, 1995. Its population was recorded as 86,551 in 1999, with an estimated increase to 115,000 by 2006. Maps published by the Republic of China in Taiwan still depict Wenchang as a county within its Guangdong province. In 2016,

Wenchang Space Launch Site The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no) is a rocket launch site located in Wenchang on the island of Hainan, in China. Formally a suborbital test center, it currently serves as China's southernmost spaceport. T ...

was put in use, which is China's latest

spaceport A spaceport or cosmodrome is a site for launching or receiving spacecraft, by analogy to a seaport for ships or an airport for aircraft. The word ''spaceport''—and even more so ''cosmodrome''—has traditionally referred to sites capable of ...

Geography

Located in the northeastern part of Hainan, Boon Siou/Wenchang covers a total area of . The east side has a long coastline along the South China Sea while the west borders

Dongzhai Harbor Dongzhai Harbor () is located in the northeast of Hainan Province, China. This water body is bordered by Haikou's Meilan District at the west and Wenchang at the east. Etymology Before the year 1605, there was a village in the area called Dongzh ...

Haikou Haikou; Chinese postal romanization, formerly romanized as Hoihow is the capital city, capital and most populous city of the Chinese province of Hainan. Haikou city is situated on the northern coast of Hainan, by the mouth of the Nandu River. ...

Meilan District Meilan () is a district in Haikou City, Hainan, China. Administrative regions Meilan district has jurisdiction over places within Haikou city, such as Haifu Road, Bo'ai Road area, Haidian Road, Renminlu Road, Bailong Road, Hepingnan Road, and Bai ...

Qionghai Qionghai, also called Keng Hai, is a County-level city, county-level city in Hainan, China. It is located in the east of Hainan Island. Kachek city was the capital of Keng Hai. Kachek city was 2nd largest city in Hainan island. Previous counties ...

, and

Ding'an County Dìng'ān (; postal: Tingan) is an administrative district in Hainan, People's Republic of China. It is one of 4 counties of Hainan. In 1999, its population was 304,522 people. The town of Dingcheng is the main population center. Climate Ding' ...

. The land is mostly hilly and contains both forest and agricultural areas. The entire area is populated with countless towns, farms, and villages.

Wencheng Town

Hainan subdivisions - Wenchang showing main town

Wencheng Town is located in the south of Wenchang, southeast of the provincial capital,

.Wenchang, http://en.hainan.gov.cn/englishgov/map/wenchang/index.html There is a central park and covered market downtown. Also located downtown is a large, modern campus. A new hospital is under construction on the outskirts. The centre of the town is at near sea level with a canal running between one of the main streets and Wennan Old Street. This area has been subject severe flooding a number of times in the past. Another main road runs from the centre, uphill to the south. This road leads to Yilong Bay. Directly to the north of the town centre lies a fairly affluent hilltop community occupied by numerous housing compounds for retired military and other government workers.

Wennan Old Street

Wennan Old Street is a visitor attraction located in the heart of the town. The street is lined with fully restored

tong lau Tong lau or ke lau are tenement buildings built from the late 19th century to the 1960s in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Southern China, and Southeast Asia. Designed for both residential and commercial uses, they are similar in style and function to the ...

buildings similar to those in Haikou's

Bo'ai Road area The Bo'ai Road area () is a historical neighbourhood in Haikou City, Hainan, China. It is located on the south side of the Haidian River, at the northern part of mainland Haikou. The main hub of the neighbourhood is the north-south Bo'ai Road its ...

(now being restored) as well as the old street in

Puqian Puqian () is a port town on the eastern shore of Dongzhai Harbor in Wenchang, Hainan province, China. Old street A road running from the port at the west to the southernmost point of the main road is lined with tong lau buildings similar in sty ...

(unrestored and dilapidated).

Other towns

* Baoluo () * Changsa () * Chongxing () * Dongge () Dongjiao Coconut Forest in Wenchang

* Dongjiao () - literally "east suburb" and known as "coconut town", is located east of Wencheng Town over the

Qinglan Bridge The Qinglan Bridge () is a bridge in Wenchang, Hainan, China. It connects Qinglan Town and Dongjiao Town by crossing over the Qinglan Bay. It is long and wide. This cable-stayed bridge has two A-shaped towers that are 105.81 meters high. It has ...

. This town is coastal, and is forested mainly with coconut trees. Small industries for processing coconut products exist there. * Donglu () * Fengpo () *

Huiwen Huiwen (慧文) is considered to be the first patriarch of the Chinese Buddhist School Tiantai. He derived from the Gao (高) family in the current Bohai region of Shandong, under the Northern Qi Dynasty, which ruled northeast China Northeast ...

() * Jinshan () * Longlou () * Penglai () *

() - a coastal town located in the northern part of Wenchang situated on the eastern shore of Dongzhai Harbor * Tanniu () * Wengtian () - a coastal town located in the northeast of Wenchang, 53 kilometres away from Wencheng Town. There are two ports: Baohu Port and Hulu Port. * Wenjiao ()

Climate

Wenchang has a

tropical monsoon climate An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a sub-equatorial, tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a tropical climate subtype that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category ' ...

(

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 ...

''Am'').

Culture

Wenchang Chicken originates from this city.

Points of interest

Wenchang is the ancestral home of the

Soong sisters The Soong sisters, Soong Ai-ling, Soong Ching-ling, and Soong Mei-ling, were three prominent women in modern Chinese history. All three sisters married powerful men, respectively, from eldest to youngest, H. H. Kung, Sun Yat-sen, and Chiang K ...

Soong Ching-ling Soong Ch'ing-ling (27 January 1893 – 29 May 1981), Christian name Rosamonde or Rosamond, was a Chinese political figure. She was the wife of Sun Yat-sen, therefore known by Madame Sun Yat-sen and the "''Father of the Nation, Mother of Mode ...

Soong Ai-ling Soong Ai-ling (; July 15, 1889 – October 20, 1973), legally Soong E-ling or Eling Soong, Christian name Nancy, was a Chinese businesswoman, the eldest of the Soong sisters and the wife of H. H. Kung (Kung Hsiang-Hsi), who was the richest man ...

Soong Mei-ling Soong Mei-ling (also spelled Soong May-ling; March 4, 1898 – October 23, 2003), also known as Madame Chiang (), was a Chinese political figure and socialite. The youngest of the Soong sisters, she married Chiang Kai-shek and played a prom ...

and the birthplace of their father

Charlie Soong Charles Jones Soong ( zh, c=宋嘉澍, p=Sòng Jiāshù, w=Sung Chia-shu; October 17, 1861 – May 3, 1918), also known by his courtesy name Soong Yao-ju ( zh, c=宋耀如, p=Sòng Yàorú, w=Sung Yao-ju), was a Chinese businessman who first ac ...

. *

Mulantou Lighthouse Mulantou Lighthouse (), also known as the Hainan Head Light, located in the province of Hainan, China, is the fifth-tallest lighthouse in the world, and the tallest in China. Built in 1995, this active lighthouse has a focal plane of . It emits t ...

- located at the northernmost point of Wenchang, this is the fifth tallest lighthouse in the world. * Qinglan Harbour *

Temple of Confucius A temple of Confucius or Confucian temple is a temple for the veneration of Confucius and the sages and philosophers of Confucianism in Chinese folk religion and other East Asian religions. They were formerly the site of the administration of ...

Spaceport

The

Wenchang Satellite Launch Center The Wenchang Space Launch Site ( zh, 文昌航天发射场, links=no) is a rocket launch site located in Wenchang on the island of Hainan, in China. Formally a suborbital test center, it currently serves as China's southernmost spaceport. ...

is located in Wenchang. This is China's fourth and southernmost space vehicle launch facility and because of its low latitude, the

has been selected to launch China's space station. On 22 September 2007, CCTV officially announced the construction of an expanded Wenchang Satellite Launch Center has been approved by the

State Council State Council may refer to: Government * State Council of the People's Republic of China, the national cabinet and chief administrative authority of China, headed by the Premier * State Council of the Republic of Korea, the national cabinet of S ...

and the

Central Military Commission Central Military Commission may refer to: *Central Military Commission (China), the highest national defense organization in the People's Republic of China. *Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the highest body in Vietnam ...

of 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 ...

after decades of postponement due to political concerns.

Education

* Hainan College of Foreign Studies

Notable people

Wenchang is the ancestral homeland of most overseas Hainanese migrants. A significant portion of the Hainanese populations in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States, Canada, and Europe trace their roots to Wenchang. The Wenchang dialect is regarded as the prestige variety of the Hainanese language and is used by the island's provincial broadcasting media.

Artists

Aw Tee Hong Aw Tee Hong (; May 29, 1931 – October 10, 2021) was a Singaporean artist who was known for his oil paintings of the old Singapore River, as well as for numerous public sculptures themed towards Singapore heritage, like the marble relief title ...

(歐世鴻) - Singaporean painter and sculptor. * Ho Ho Ying (何和應) - Singaporean abstract artist.

Business

(宋嘉樹) - Chinese businessman

Eunuchs

Wu Rui Wu Rui (died ), King Wen of Changsha, was an ancient Chinese general and rebel leader who helped Liu Bang establish the Han dynasty. A Baiyue magistrate of Po County under the Qin dynasty, he rose to become King of Hengshan during the collapse ...

: a young Chinese man castrated and enslaved as a

eunuch A eunuch ( , ) is a male who has been castration, castrated. Throughout history, castration often served a specific social function. The earliest records for intentional castration to produce eunuchs are from the Sumerian city of Lagash in the 2 ...

Lê dynasty The Lê dynasty, also known in historiography as the Later Lê dynasty (, chữ Hán: 朝後黎, chữ Nôm: 茹後黎), officially Đại Việt (; Chữ Hán: 大越), was the longest-ruling List of Vietnamese dynasties, Vietnamese dynasty, h ...

Annam (Vietnam).

References

External links

Official website of Wenchang government
{{Prefectural-level divisions of the People's Republic of China Cities in Hainan County-level divisions of Hainan