Quanzhou in Fujian province boasts abundant cultural and natural resources. [Photo provided to enquanzhou.com]

Quanzhou, located in the southeast of Fujian province, is one of the three major central cities of Fujian. The city is south of Fuzhou, the provincial capital, north of Xiamen, east of Zhangzhou, Longyan and Sanming, and with Taiwan to the east. It has jurisdiction over four districts (Licheng, Fengze, Luojiang and Quangang), three county-level cities (Jinjiang, Shishi and Nan'an), and five counties (Huian, Anxi, Yongchun, Dehua and Jinmen [to be unified]). It is also home to Quanzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone and Quanzhou Taiwan Investment Zone.

The city covers 11,015 square kilometers (including Jinmen) and by the end of 2018 had a permanent population of 8.7 million (excluding Jinmen). According to the sixth national census in 2010, there are 53 ethnic minorities in the city, with the largest being the Hui, Tujia, Miao and She. Quanzhou dialect is based on Minnan (southern Fujian) dialect and the common language is mandarin.

Topography

Quanzhou stands in front of mountains and faces the sea. Hills, valleys and basins are scattered throughout the city. Its terrain is high in the northwest and low in the southeast. There are more than 667,000 hectares of mountainous land in Quanzhou, taking up 80 percent of its land.

Coasts and ports

Quanzhou has sea area of 11,360 sq km, a 541-km-long coastline, 14 large and small harbors and 207 islands. Most of the harbors are deep water harbors which provide 123 deep water berths of more than 10,000 tons. Xiaocuo and Douwei ports on the south shore of Meizhou Bay are rare natural harbors in China and even the world. The area of marine fishing grounds is more than 5,000 sq km, 118 sq km of which can be exploited. There are more than 500 kinds of main aquatic organisms, nearly 100 kinds of main commercial fish, and more than 200 kinds of oysters, mussels, clams, snails, kelp, laver and other shellfish and algae.

Climate

Quanzhou features a subtropical oceanic monsoon climate, with warm and humid weather throughout the year. The annual average temperature is 19.5-22 C. The four seasons in Quanzhou are all like spring, so Quanzhou has been dubbed "Wenling" (warm mountainous area).

Resources

Quanzhou's forest growing stock is about 40.18 million cubic meters. Quanzhou has proven reserves of more than 130 mineral deposits, including eight large ones. The main mineral resources include more than 30 kinds, such as kaolin, granite, diabase, quartz sand, limestone, coal, iron, manganese, geothermal and mineral water.

The city receives abundant rainfall throughout the year. There are 34 streams with a total length of 1,620 km. Quanzhou's surface water totals 8.76 billion cubic meters, available water of 1.46 billion cu m, and hydropower reserves up to 430,000 kilowatts.

Jinjiang River is the largest river in Quanzhou, originating from the southeast foot of Daiyun Mountain, running through Yongchun, Anxi, Nan'an, Licheng and Jinjiang, and finally into Quanzhou Bay. The river system is 404.8 km long, with a drainage area of 5,629 sq km. In addition, Quanzhou has one billion cu m of groundwater resources, and 76 million cu m of available groundwater.