Longyan

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龙岩市
Lóngyán Shì
Also known as: 闽西 (Pinyin: Mǐnxī)

Administration Type	Prefecture-level city
Area	19,100 km²
Population	2.87 million (2001)
GDP	¥8,985 per capita (2002)
Major Nationalities	Han
County-level divisions	7
Township-level divisions	Unknown
Area Code	597

Longyan (Simplified Chinese: 龙岩; pinyin: Lóngyán) is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is situated in the upper reaches of Jiulongjian River. Longyan borders Sanming City to the north, Quanzhou City to the east, Zhangzhou City to the southeast, and the provinces of Jiangxi and Guangdong to the west and south respectively.

Longyan serves as a strategic centre for the distribution of goods to Xiamen, Quanzhou and Zhangzhou. It also acts as a gateway for trade with Guangdong and Jiangxi province.

Longyan is filled with rich natural resources, impoartant mine field and forest zone.

1 Administration
2 History
3 Famous people of Longyan
4 External links

[edit] Administration

The prefecture-level city of Longyan administers 1 district, 1 county-level city and 5 counties.

Xinluo District (新罗区)
Zhangping City (漳平市)
Changting County (长汀县)
Yongding County (永定县)
Shanghang County (上杭县)
Wuping County (武平县)
Liancheng County (连城县)

[edit] History

In 736, Longyan was setup as Tingzhou Prefecture, which administered Changting County, Huanglian County and Xinluo County. Longyan County took it present name in 742 after the famous scenic spot Longyan cave. The area that Longyan is located on is known as Minxi (West Fujian).

Due to the ancient conflicts in central China and aggression from the northern tribes, many Han people living in central China moved to Longyan. They were known as the Hakka people. The city Changting is often referred to the home of the Hakka and the Tingjiang River is called the mother river of the Hakka people.

in 1734, Lit was designated as Longyan Prefecture under the empire court. In 1913, it reverted to its former name Longyan County and in 1981, Longyan City was established.

Minxi has been used as a strategic base during the Chinese Revolutionary War. Minxi is the strategic hub for Xiamen, Zhangzhou and Quanzhou for distributing goods within Fujian, Guangdong and Jiangxi provinces. It is the main connection between the inner land and coastal area.