Wenzhou

Wenzhou, formerly known as Yongjia, is a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang, China. Situated on the southeastern coast of China, the city sits at the lower reaches and estuary of the Ou River, bordered by the Zhejiang–Fujian Hills to the west and the East China Sea to the east. It governs four districts, three county-level cities and five counties, with the municipal office in Lucheng. Recognised both as one of the 27 core cities of the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and one of the five central cities of the Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone, the city serves as the only junction between the two economic zones. Archaeological evidence shows that human activity in the area dates back at least 5,000 years. The Ou people, also known as the Ouyue and part of the wider Yue people, established the polity of Dong'ou by at least the fourth century BC and voluntarily surrendered to the Han dynasty of China in 138 BC. The area was successively organised under different administrative names and ranks, including Yongning County from 138, Yongjia Commandery from 323, and Wenzhou Prefecture from 675, later being promoted to Rui'an Fu in 1265 and renamed Wenzhou Circuit in 1276. In the Ming and Qing periods, it was known as Wenzhou Fu, and in 1914 it was designated Ouhai Circuit. Despite repeated changes in administrative status and territorial extent, the seat of Wenzhou prefecture and Yongjia county has remained within the walled city first established in the 4th century, until 1958 when the county seat of Yongjia moved away. A birthplace of China's private economy, the city was among the first in the country to experiment with market-oriented reforms after 1978, prompting extensive debate over what became known as the "[[[Wenzhou Model]]" of development. This model is often linked to the...