Nanchang, China

Nanchang (Chinese: 南昌; pinyin: Nánchāng) is the capital of Jiangxi Province in southeastern China. It is located 60 km south of the Yangtze River and sits on the banks of the Gan River. Nanchang is known for the Tengwang Pavilion, a towering pavilion dating to 653 and Nanchang's People's Square, the second largest public square in China. Nanchang has a population of approximately 1.57 million people and a metropolitan area of about 4.07 million people. [1]

Economics

Nanchang exists as a hub of the agricultural production in Jiangxi Province. Such products as rice and oranges are economic staple. The Ford Motor Company has a plant in Nanchang, assembling the Ford Transit van as part of the Jiangling Motor joint venture. Nanchang also is a center of the production of traditional Chinese medicine and pharmaceuticals.

History

In the early Han Dynasty (201 BC), a city called Gàn (灌) was constructed.

In 589 AD (Sui Dynasty), it was renamed Hongzhou (洪州), and eventually Nanchang.

In the early Tang Dynasty (653 AD), Li Yuanying, the brother of the Emperor Taizong, constructed a building called Tengwang Ge (滕王阁), now a famous tourist site.

In 675 AD, the twenty-five-year-old Wang Bo (王勃) wrote the classic “Tengwang Ge Xu”. The building as well as the city became celebrated for Wang’s introduction article.

Nonetheless, the building experienced 28 cycles of destructions and reconstructions. In 1926, it was burned down for the last time. In 1989, Tengwang Ge was resurrected to a new height of 57 m, presumably according to the design of Song Dynasty.

See also: Nanchang Uprising

Colleges and Universities

Public

• Jiangxi University of Finance & Economics (江西财经大学) (founded 1923)
• Nanchang University (南昌大学)
• Jiangxi Normal University (江西师范大学)
• Jiangxi Agricultural University (江西农业大学)
• East China Jiaotong University (华东交通大学)
• [Nanchang Institute of Aeronautical Technology] (南昌航空工业学院)
• Jiangxi TCM Institute (江西中医学院)

Note: Institutions without full-time bachelor programs are not listed.