|
Urumqi
History of Urumqi City
 |
Urumqi means " A beautiful
Pasture land " in ancient Mongolian used by the Junggar
tribe. 2000 years ago it was once an important town on the
new northern route of the Silk Road, which made important
contribution in promoting Sino-fore- ign economic &
cultural exchanges. During the 22nd year of the Zhenguan's
reign in the Tang Dynasty, 648 A.D. , the Tang government
set up the town of Luntai in the ancient town seat of Urabo.which
is 10 kilometers away from the southern su- burb of Urumqi
nowadays. The Ancient Luntai Town, which played quit significant
a role on the new northern route of Silk Road in the Tang
Dynasty, was the only town of tax collection, the only town
of management, the town of supply and the first town as
well. In the time of Qing Dynasty(A.D.1763) , the emperor
Qian Lon- g named the expanded city as "DiHua".
UP to A.D.1884, another emperor Guang Xu put up Xinjiang
as a Province and the Di Hua city as the capital of XinJiang.
Af- ter the founding of the people's Republic of China,
by Feb.1,1954, the city name was restored to its original
meaning e.g. Urumqi .
Urumqi has one county and seven districts
under her jurisdiction. Such as Urum- qi county, Tianshan
District, Sharyibark District,Toutunhe District, Shuimogou
Dis- trict, Xinshi District,Dongshan District, Nanshan Mine
District.
Exotic and unique ethnic Feature of
Urumqi
Urumqi is a city where multiethnic groups
of people live in compact of mixed communities.They are
the Uygur,Han,Hui,Kazak,Mongolian,Kirgiz, Xibe, totally
over 40 ethnic groups of people.
Visitors from other parts of China and abroad are immediately
attracted by the city's uniqueness, the strong colorful
ethnic life styles and local custo- ms. From architectural
complex to family courtyards, from furniture to utens- ils,
from food to clothing,from etiquette of the young to rituals
of the old,from marriage customs to funeral rites,at all
times and on all occasions, one sen- ses a strong unique
ethnicity.
unique tourist resources
No.1 Glacier Urumqi is the only road of
the north new route on the ancient "Silk Road"
of world renown and the land of being gathered together
for east- west cultural exchange in his- tory. The ancient
city of wula- po is a miniature of silk-road culture.TheRepressing-Dragon
of Red Hill Tower , The Red Phoenix Facing The Sun pavil-
ion and Yue Wei Cottage etc reflect history and declare
to the visitors£®In the landscape of the Heavenly
Lake , the ice corrodes lake and the white snow makes a
pleasing scene in the natural landscape of Nanshan Mountain
, the snowy peaks penetrate into the clouds, with verdant
woods .
Urumqi City Basic Situation Introduction
Urumqi city is the capital of Xinjiang
autonomous region and the center of politics , economy and
culture of Xinjiang . It also is the communications pivot
of connecting with Xinjiang and inland provinces , and now
it has become the window of exchange for economy culture
and the important door of expend- ing the opening to western
of China .
Urumqi city located in the middle--northern
of Tianshan, the south edge of Zhunger Basins, The average
elevation of Urumqi city is 800 meters, belongs to semiarid
continental climate of middle temperate zone, annual temperature
is 6.4¡æ average and has 236mm of average annual
precipitation.The city has jurisdiction over seven zones
and one county , the total area is 12000 square kilometers,
among which the city program area is 1600 square kilo- meters
and the established area is 82 square kilometers.
Urumqi is a multi-national city, where
there are 43 ethnic groups headed by the Han, the Uygur,
the Kazak, the Hui, the Mongolian and etc, with a total
population is 1548 thousands up to the end of 1998 year,
of which minority nationality makes up 27.3 percent .
The distribution of population is characteristic
of "Big City, Small Suburbs", which the agricultural
population only makes up 13 percent of the total one.
 |
Urumqi has plenty of natural resource
in its jurisdiction. The area of glacier and nevermelting
snows covered on the peaks of Tianshan Mountains is 164
K©O. Their storage of water in solid is 6.2 billion
stere, and it is called Solid Water Reservoir and Source
of life. Urumqi lies in the middle of one of the China's
super-large coal fields: the Zhunggar Coal Field, and it
situates in the center of some oil field, such as the eastern
oil field of Zhunger Basin in its northern, the Kelamayi
oil field in it western and the Tu Ha oil field in its eastern,
so, Urumqi is called as "coal ship on the oil sea"
and "city on the coal field ". There are over
10 billion tons of coal reserves in underground. The exploitable
coal seam is more than 80 meters in thickness. The coal
is good in quality and different in variety. The Salt Lake
is rich in minerals.The deposits of salt and mirabilite
are over 100 million tons. The minerals resour- ces of gypsum,
oil shale ,phosphorus, iron, copper, uranium, manganese
and gold etc are quite notable. The total area of the fertile
and cultivated land is 980,000 mu(65,333 hectares). The
available natural grass land is 9.63 millio- n.The forest
covers an area of 1.35 million mu(900,000 hectares). The
water area is about 80,000 mu (5333 hectares). Urumqi abounds
with leral crops, grains, vegetable oil, vegetables, melons,
fruits, grapes, hops and there are more than 300 kinds of
medical herbs growing in the fields and mountains, such
as snow lotus flower(suassurea), boxthorn, fritillary asafetida.
Thirty- three breeds of livestock, fowls and 10 species
of fishes are living and bree- ding here. The abundant energy
of sunlight, heat and wind are waiting to be exploited.
The energy of solar radiation and efficient wind is 130
kcal/c©O and 2-3kw/©O. Oil and natural gas reserve
a great deal in the jurisdiction of Urum- qi and the three
large basins it borders. The advantages of the solo-owned
and plentiful resources make Urumqi play an important role
in the country.
|
