Ganzhou

Ganzhou is a prefecture-level city in Jiangxi province, China. Its administrative seat is at Zhanggong.

History
In 201, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty established a county in the territory of modern Ganzhou. In those early years, ethnic Han settlement and authority in the area was minimal and largely restricted to the Gan River basin. The river, a tributary of the Yangtze River via Poyang Lake, provided a route of communication from the north as well as irrigation for rice farming.

During the Sui Dynasty the county administration was promoted to prefecture status and the area called Qianzhou. During the Song Dynasty immigration from the north bolstered the local population and drove local aboriginal tribes further into the hills. Especially after the fall of the Northern Song capital of Kaifeng, migrants increased dramatically. The name was officially changed to Ganzhou in the Southern Song.

During the late 1800s Ganzhou was opened as one of the southern treaty ports and became a minor base for foreign companies. Between 1929 and 1934, Ganzhou formed a part of the Jiangxi Soviet, one of the bases of the Communist Party of China. Due to its proximity to the Red capital Ruijin, Ganzhou was subject to a number of Kuomintang encirclement campaigns.

Geography
Ganzhou is a large city covering the southern third of Jiangxi province, with an area of 39,400 square kilometers. It borders Hunan province to the west, Guangdong to the south, and Fujian to the east, as well as the cities of Ji'an and Fuzhou to the north. More than 70% of the area is forested. The vast majority of the province, more than 83%, is also mountainous. Several of the major tributaries of the Gan River, Ganzhou's namesake, join at a confluence in the center of the city.

Climate
Ganzhou has a humid subtropical climate affected by the Asian monsoon, with long, humid, very hot summers and short, mild and dry winters with occasional cold snaps. The average annual rainfall is about 1,400 mm (56 inches).

Tourism
Ganzhou receives a small number of domestic tourists each year. Although it is encircled by mountain scenery, it is largely overshadowed by more famous attractions in Jiangxi, such as Lushan and Jingdezhen among others. Some of the places of interest in Ganzhou include:
Mount Jiulian, Longnan County
Mei Pass, Dayu County
Cuiwei Peak, Ningdu County
Hakka architecture : Some of the most representative Hakka houses include Fort Xin, Longnan; Fort Yanji, Yangcun 杨村; Fort Longguang, Taojiang; Fort Dongsheng, Anyuan etc.
Yugu Pavilion, Zhanggong District
Bajing Pavilion, Zhanggong District
Dongjin Bridge: Pontoon bridges have been constructed over the Zhang and Gong rivers since the Song Dynasty. One of the bridges, the Dongjin Bridge, can still be seen. It is 400 metres long, made up of wooden planks placed on around 100 wooden boats linked together with iron chains.
The town of Zhanggong has a city wall dating to the Song Dynasty, as well as a number of pavilions and temples from the Ming and Qing. Altogether there are some 17 National Cultural Relic Protection Units in Ganzhou and 48 Provincial-level Cultural Relic Protection Units.