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Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea. Ningbo is the southern economic center of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis.
- Overview
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- The contemporary city
Ningbo, city, northeastern Zhejiang sheng (province), China. Ningbo (“Calm Waves”) is situated in the low-lying coastal plain on the Yong River, some 16 miles (25 km) upstream from its mouth in Hangzhou Bay, at the confluence where two tributaries, the Yuyao and Fenghua rivers, join the main stream. Ningbo was from an early period itself a port, al...
After Gouzhang county, a short distance to the east, was transferred to what is now Ningbo in 625, it became the seat of an independent Ming prefecture in 738. In 908 the county seat’s name, which had been Mao Xian since 625, was changed to Yin Xian, which it has since retained. Under the Nan (Southern) Song (1127–1279), Ming prefecture was promoted in 1195 to a superior prefecture, Qingyuan. It kept this name through the Yuan (Mongol) period (1206–1368). In 1381 it became Ningbo superior prefecture, and it kept that name until 1912, when it was demoted to county status, taking the formal name of Yin Xian. It regained the name of Ningbo when the county seat was separated from the county to form a new city in 1949.
Ningbo first rose to importance during the latter part of the 5th century, when Korean shipping found it to be the most convenient port for contacts with the southern capital at Jiankang (present-day Nanjing). Under the Tang (618–907) this traffic continued. Although official relations lapsed after 838, private trade continued on a large scale. In the 11th century, Ningbo became a centre of the coastal trade. Its importance grew with the establishment of the Nan Song capital at Hangzhou in 1127, when overseas trade to and from the capital flowed through Ningbo. It grew rapidly during the Song (960–1279) and Yuan periods.
The early part of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644) was one of setbacks to Ningbo’s development. Overseas trade was deliberately curtailed by the government; the building of oceangoing ships was prohibited; and even coastal trade was severely restricted. Ningbo was attacked by Japanese pirates, and it became a defensive base of some importance. Its growth seems to have stagnated, however, until the last quarter of the 15th century, when the rural prosperity of its hinterland began to recover.
This recovery was assisted when the Portuguese began trading in Ningbo in 1545, at first illicitly but later (after 1567) legally. Still later, Dutch and British merchants arrived, and the Ningbo merchants began to trade with the China coast from Manchuria (Northeast China) to Guangzhou (Canton), as well as with the Philippines and Taiwan. Ningbo was the commercial centre of the coastal plain to the east of Shaoxing and an outport for the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) delta area, to which it was linked by the Zhedong Canal leading to Shaoxing and the Qiantang River. As a result, in the 17th and 18th centuries the Ningbo merchants became important in China’s internal commerce and began to play a national role as bankers in the early 19th century. In 1843 Ningbo was opened to foreign trade as a treaty port, but later trade declined, and its place was taken by Shanghai to the north across Hangzhou Bay.
Ningbo is now a local commercial centre and a busy port for northeastern Zhejiang. Ships of 3,000 tons can use the port, and there is regular passenger service to Shanghai. A large passenger terminal was built in 1979. A separate newer port, Beilun, east of the city on the southern coast of Hangzhou Bay, is now one of China’s largest deep-water seaports with container-handling facilities. Established in 1985, Beilun is now a district of Ningbo. There are rail and expressway links with Shanghai via Hangzhou, and the new Hangzhou Bay Bridge (opened 2008) more directly links Ningbo to the Shanghai region; the bridge, 22 miles (36 km) in length, is one of the longest sea bridges in the world.
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Ningbo is also the hub of a water-transportation network of coastal junk traffic and canals. It is a collection centre for cotton and other agricultural produce of the plain, for the marine products of the local fisheries, and for timber from the mountains in the hinterland, and it is a major distribution centre for coal, oil, textiles, and consumer goods. In 1984 Ningbo was designated one of China’s “open” cities in the new open-door policy inviting foreign investment.
Cotton-spinning mills, flour mills, textile plants, and tobacco factories were established before World War II, and from 1949 industrialization continued. The textile industry has expanded, with new textile plants, knitting factories, dyeing plants, and yarn-spinning mills. Food processing—flour milling, rice polishing, oil extraction, wine making, and particularly the canning of foodstuffs—has become a major economic activity. In addition, Ningbo supports a number of manufacturing concerns. A large shipbuilding industry constructs fishing vessels. Factories produce diesel engines, agricultural and other machinery, generators, machine tools, and petrochemicals. Thermal-power-generating stations there supply electricity to the entire region.
Ningbo was designated one of the national-level historical and cultural cities in China in 1986. The oldest library building in China, Tianyige, is in the western part of the city. Its collection of rare books and documents dates to the 11th century and includes many unique local chronicles of the Ming dynasty.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Jan 20, 2023 · Ningbo is a historic port city and cultural hub in the east of Zhejiang, with a rich Buddhist heritage and scenic attractions. Learn about its history, economy, climate, attractions, and how to get there from this comprehensive guide.
Ningbo Travel: check Ningbo (Zhejiang, China) travel guide here, including attractions, accommodation, best travel season, map & how to get there to plan Ningbo tour 2024!
- Tianyi Pavilion. When you get to Ningbo, do not forget to see Tianyi Pavilion, which is among the top Ningbo things to do. It was initially constructed in 1560s for collected books of a retired military minister.
- Nantang Old Street. What to do in Ningbo for food lovers? Nantang Old Street is unmissable. It is a more than 500 meters (547 yards) long pedestrian street full of ancient architecture and food stalls.
- Dongqian Lake. As the largest freshwater lake in Zhejiang Province, Dongqian Lake should be listed among the things to do in Ningbo China. It is very popular to cycle around the lake to see the landscapes.
- Old Bund of Ningbo. Talking about what to do in Ningbo China, Old Bund must be included. Since Ningbo became one of China’s first five open ports in 1844, the Old Bund, at the place where three rivers meet, has been filled with European buildings.
Things to Do in Ningbo, China: See Tripadvisor's 47,170 traveler reviews and photos of Ningbo tourist attractions. Find what to do today, this weekend, or in April. We have reviews of the best places to see in Ningbo. Visit top-rated & must-see attractions.
China, Asia. Níngbō (宁波), an ancient harbour city, has been an important trading port for millennia, and today is one of China's busiest. One of the five ports opened during the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842, it has a former foreign concession, Lǎo Wàitān (老外滩), now a vibrant, pedestrian-only entertainment district along the Yǒng River.
