Liuhe, Taicang

Liuhe (simplified Chinese: 浏河; traditional Chinese: 瀏河; pinyin: Liúhé; lit. "Liu Creek") is a town under the jurisdiction of Taicang county-level city in Jiangsu province, China. Liuhe has an area of 68 square kilometers (26 sq mi), with around 56 000 permanent residents.

Name

Liuhe was called Liujiagang (simplified Chinese: 刘家港; traditional Chinese: 劉家港; pinyin: Liújiāgǎng; lit. "Liu Family Harbor") under the Yuan dynasty. It is sometimes also encountered as Liuhegang (simplified Chinese: 刘河港; traditional Chinese: 劉河港; pinyin: Liúhégǎng; lit. "Liuhe Harbor").

Geography

File:Treasure Boat Shipyard - stele pavilion - Calicut stele - detail - P1080096.JPG

Zheng He's Liujiagang stele (modern replica)

Liuhe is located around 35 kilometers (22 mi) to the north of downtown Shanghai. It borders Huating in Shanghai Municipality's Jiading district and Yangqiao in Baoshan district. The border is formed by the eponymous Liu Creek, which flows into the Yangtze estuary. Owing to this placement, Liuhe is sometimes known in Chinese as the "First Town at the End of the River and the Start of the Sea".

Famous people

Famous people linked to Liuhe include:

• The explorer Zheng He in the Ming Dynasty set off from Liuhe to explore the seas of the world. There is a memorial museum in Liuhe to celebrate his life and experiences. The stele he erected in Liujiagang remains one of the important documentary evidences of his voyages.
• Chien-Shiung Wu is a Chinese-born American physicist raised in Liuhe.
• Steven Chu is a Chinese American physicist, whose ancestral hometown is Liuhe.

Industries

Fishing is the traditional industry in Liuhe and it is still one of the most important industries in Liuhe. Actually it is the biggest fishing port of Jiangsu province. Nowadays, fishing is modernized and industrialized. The seafood caught by Liuhe fishermen were sold to cities such as Shanghai.

Liuhe also has quite developed manufacturing. There are a few regionally famous manufacturing companies in Liuhe.

Transportation

China National Highway 328 runs through Liuhe.

External links

• Government of Liuhe portal
• Baidu profile in Chinese