City Snapshots

City overview, Changchun City Overview: Changchun (Chinese: 长春) is the capital and largest city of Jilin province, located in the northeast of the People’s Republic of China, in the centre of the Songliao Plain. It is a sub-provincial city. The name originated from the Jurchen language. Changchun is situated at Northeast Asia’s geometric center. South [...]

The February 7 Tower, Zhengzhou City Overview: Zhengzhou (Chinese: 郑州), formerly called Zhengxian is a prefecture-level city, and the capital of Henan province, China. Zhengzhou is situated to the south of the Yellow River where its valley broadens into the great plain and at the eastern extremity of the Xionger Mountains. Zhengzhou is at the [...]

City Overview, Shenzhen City Overview: Shenzhen (Chinese: 深圳) is a city of sub-provincial administrative status in southern China’s Guangdong province, situated immediately north of Hong Kong. Owing to China’s economic liberalization under the policies of reformist leader Deng Xiaoping, the area became China’s first—and ultimately most successful—Special Economic Zone. Shenzhen’s novel and modern cityscape is [...]

St. Sophia Church, Harbin Harbin is originally a Manchu word meaning “a place for drying fishing nets”, the city also bears the nicknames “The Pearl on the swan’s neck” because the shape of Heilongjiang Province resembles a swan; and “Oriental Moscow” or “Oriental Paris” for the architecture in the city. It is also known as [...]

Bell Tower, Xi’an The two Chinese characters in the name “Xi’an (Chinese: 西安)” literally mean Western Peace. This name derives from the Ming Dynasty, when the city’s name changed from its former title of “Chang’an (Chinese: 长安)”.