An Excerpt From:
Overview of Present-Day Ningbo

by Weisheng Liu

Ningbo today is a city of just under six million. It is located a little less than one hundred miles south of Shanghai, across Hangzhou Bay. The city is situated in the northeast corner of Zhejiang province and is about the size of metropolitan Washington, D.C. Ningbo is divided into a rough Y shape by the intersection of three rivers, and it has been a major port since the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE), especially for trade with Japan. Today, Ningbo has the second-largest port in China behind the rival port of Shanghai, though Ningbo handles mostly bulk cargo that is too heavy for Shanghai’s relatively shallow waters. Historically, Ningbo was known for its merchants and entrepreneurial spirit as well as for the fierce loyalty of its people to their home city. The name Ningbo dates from 1381 CE and means “calm waves,” a reference to the water around the city, which is sheltered by an archipelago of more than five hundred islands.

Copyright®2005, Wildflowers Institute

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