An aerial view of Hailing district. [Photo/WeChat account: hlfb0523]
Geography and administrative division
Hailing district, located in the center of Taizhou city, has an administrative area of 307.12 square kilometers, with a permanent population of 580,000 people.
It has jurisdiction over four towns, seven sub-districts and two industrial parks, namely Hailing Industrial Park and Taizhou New Energy Industrial Park.
Economy
A night view of Hailing commercial area. [Photo/WeChat account: hlfb0523]
In 2023, Hailing's GDP came in at 78 billion yuan ($10.96 billion), an increase of 7 percent. Its general public budget revenue reached 4 billion yuan, up 8.4 percent. The main goals for the district this year are to realize regional GDP growth of over 6 percent and general public budget revenue growth of over 3 percent.
History and culture
Hailing has a rich history and culture, especially in terms of its salt tax, dramatic productions, and the Buddhist practice of dhyana, with many famous people hailing from the district.
A view of the memorial hall of Mei Lanfang. [Photo provided to etaizhou.gov.cn]
With a history of over 2,100 years, Hailing is the hometown of many famous historical figures, including Hu Yuan, an educator during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Wang Gen, who founded the Taizhou School of Thought, and Mei Lanfang, the late Peking Opera star.
The district also boasts rich resources related to the history of the Communist Part of China including the former site of the Party School of North Jiangsu, the country's only education center themed on rectifying the "four winds" of formalism, bureaucratism, hedonism and extravagance, the Yang Yanxiu memorial hall, and the Sun Longzhen memorial hall.