1. Introduction to Fengxian

Fengxian was once called Haiyu in the ancient time. It belonged to Haiyan County in Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, Western and Eastern Jin Dynasties and Southern and Northern Dynasties, and was put under administration of Huating County in Tang Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty. Ancients lived here four and five thousand years ago. Yanyan (i.e. Ziyou), the only disciple of Confucius from the South used to give lectures here. It is said that when Yanzi came to Haiyu, people here from all walks of life, no matter officers or workers, all showed great respect. Yanzi was deeply moved by the devout followers listening to the lecture, who jostled against each other, holding their breath and gathering themselves. After giving the lectures, he accepted the invitation of local landlords and stayed here for a few more days to have a further investigation on the local customs. Yanzi highly praised Haiyu in his books that "although Haiyu was a place of salt production (by solar evaporation), the people here paid much more attention to study than people in any other place". Since then, Haiyu became well-known in the south of the Changjiang River for respecting lecturer wisdom and encouraging study.

In 1726 AD, Jian County was formally separated from Huating County, with its government in Qingcun (now called Fengcheng Town). According to historical records, "during the late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, an atmosphere of studying was prevailing in Qingcun, and all people sent their children to school. Qingcun took the lead among the cultural districts in the coastal area." According to historical records that Yanzi gave lectures in Haiyu and appreciated its customs, along with the fact that Qingcun highly respected wisdom and talents and enjoyed a prevailing atmosphere of studying, the imperial court gave the county the name "Fengxian".

Located in the south suburb of Shanghai, Fengxian has Hangzhou Bay of the East Sea on the south, the Huangpu River in the north, adjacent to Nanhui District and Jinshan District on the east and west respectively, and Songjiang District and Minhang Distruct on the north. Fengxian covers an area of 704.94 km2, with a permanent population of 706,800, among which 508,700 are registered population. The district now has 60 neighborhood committees and 287 administrative villages. It has arable area of 468,100 mu and river coastline of 13.7 km and coastline of 31.6 km.

According to the historical records, 4000-6000 years ago, the ridge belt of the coastline in this district was in the direction from the north to the south and a little to the west. The embankment built in the 12th century was in the direction from the east to the southwest. To the west of the ridge lies a limnetic zone formed by the sediments of rivers and lakes deposited alternately. While to the east of the ridge is the strand plain formed mainly by the alluvial deposits of rivers and the sea. The terrain of the entire district looks like a semi-dish higher in the east and lower in the west. The climate in Fengxian is warm and moist. The annual average temperature 15.7℃; the annual frost-free period is 230 days long; and the annual average rainfall is 1162 mm. Throughout the history, Fengxian seldom suffered from natural disasters, thus a folk rhyme says, "Fengxian is a place with auspicious. It is who have benevolences for accumulating virtues for several generations can live in.". Fengxian, named the bright pearl in south of Shanghai, where Wu Culture and Yue Culture converge, enjoys an advantageous geographical location and a prosperous future of development.

2.Humanism and History

Although Haiyu used to be called “a place for salt production”, towns in the west of Fengxian, such as Zhelin, Nanqiao, Xiaotang, had been developed for more than 1000 years. In Song Dynasty, as the army of Jin Dynasty intruded the North, people living in central plains all crossed the Huanghe River to the South and some of them settled in Fengxian, promoting the economic and cultural prosperity. During Yuan Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, Taozhai had become a town of military importance in the southeast of Huating County, and Zhelin, Qingcun had become important places for sea defense.

The natural and humanistic advantages helped to foster a number of celebrities in Fengxian. According to the Amended Annals of Fengxian County published during the Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty, from Song Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, altogether 88 persons obtained Jinshi title in the highest imperial examination and even more candidates received Juren or Gongsheng titles. Among them, Wei Jing from Xiaotang, worked as Minister of the Department of History and Palace Assistant Imperial Secretary in Song Dynasty. Tao Yuquan from Taozhai was one of the eight most rich and powerful persons in Songjiang District; and its fellow townsman, Zhang Bi was a famous calligrapher in early Ming Dynasty and was named “the master of cursive in Wuzhong”. Song Maocheng, the writer of the popular novel Du Shiniang, was from Niuqian of Wuqiao Town of Fengxian District. After the foundation of PRC, Fengxian has cultivated more than 20,000 university graduates. More than 1,000 students studied abroad and a number of advanced scientific talents and researchers worked all over the world. In Fengxian, there used to be “rolling lamp”, Folk Song of Baiyang Village, the longest narrative folk song in the south of Changjiang River, instrument master Cheng Wujia and urheen player Sun Wenming, and a lot of distinctive folk arts, such as shadow play, paper carving, paper folding. The handloomed cloth of Zhuanghang enjoys a good reputation of “furnishing clothes and quilts to vast consumers all over the world”. Named as “small great wall in the south of Changjiang River”, Shitang, in the east of Huating, has a long coastline and broad beach, with reeds growing, seabirds gathering and fisherboats anchoring. It is a national level kite flying place and a coastal tourism resorts. Fengxian District also holds various cultural activities, including the annual Shanghai International Tourism Kite Festival and the Culture & Art Festival, which has distinctive local cultural characteristics

3.Natural environment

Lying against Huangpu River in the north and Hangzhou Bay in the soth, Fengxian District enjoys a subtropical monsoon climate, characterized by southeaster throughout the year, humid climate and four distinct seasons, with abundant sunlight and plentiful rainfall.

Fengxian enjoys the best air quality in Shanghai inland area, with a dust fall of 1.5 tons/km2/year, only 10% of the downtown's dust fall, and the content of suspended particles remained at 0.110 mg/m3.

With flat physiognomy, it is part of the alluvial plain of the Changjiang Delta. Groundsill Carrying Capability: 8-10 tons/kilometers. With 4 to 4.5 meters of ground elevation, 0.5 meter higher than the average ground elevation in Shanghai, it is the highest part in Shanghai.

The annual amount of rainfall was 1091 mm, the frost-free period was 232 days, and the annual average temperature was 15.5℃. The annual average sunlight time was 1942 hours; the annual average relative humidity was 82%; and the annual average wind speed was 3.3m/s.

3.Social economy

The district realized an increased value of 22.34 billion yuan in 2005, up by 22.5% over the previous year at comparable prices, accounting for 2.5% of the total GDP of the Municipality. The increased value of the primary industry was 0.99 billion yuan, down by 4.0% over the previous year, that of the secondary industry was 14.77 billion yuan, up by 23.7% from the preceding year and accounting for 68.8% of the total GDP of the District, and the tertiary industry realized an increased value of 6.58 billion yuan, up by 24.9% compared to the past year and accounting for 32.2 % of the total GDP of the District. The proportion of the primary, secondary and tertiary industry was 4.4:66.1:29.5.

The economic benefit was largely increased, the tax revenue source was expanded, and collection and administration of tax revenue was strengthened, resulting in a strong growth of the Distict’s revenue. In 2005, the revenue of the whole district reached 6.061 billion yuan, up by 39.49% over the preceding year, of which the revenue of district level was 3.115 billion yuan, up by 43.4%. The tax revenues of the past year reached 5.65 billion yuan, up by 39.02% over the preceding year. Of the total, tax revenue from the secondary industry was 2.82 billion yuan, up by 33.34%; that from the tertiary industry was 2.83 billion yuan, up by 45.19%. The value-added tax was 2.304 billion yuan, up by 31.1% and accounting for 40.8% of the total revenue; business tax, 1.518 billion yuan, up by 56.8% and accounting for 26.9%; up by 3.1 percentage; income tax was 1.078 billion yuan, down by 11.2%, of which individual income tax was 0.423 billion yuan, up by 29.4%; and real estate tax was 18.25 million yuan, up by 27.0%.

The total investment completed in social fixed assets for the whole year was 11.621 billion yuan, up by 48.4% over the preceding year, its rate of increase being 7.1 percentage points higher than that of the last year. The adjustment of investment structure was pushed forward continuously. As to the flow of investments, investment in the tertiary industry enjoyed the largest increase. Investment in the primary industry was only 10 million yuan; investment in the secondary industry was 5.302 billion yuan, up by 28.7%, of which, investment in the industrial sector was 5.302 billion yuan, up by 28.7%, contributing 47.1% of the total increase in investment of the District; and investment in the tertiary industry was 6.308 billion yuan, up by 81.3%. The proportion of investment in the tertiary industry was up by 36.2% over the previous year.