Boshan District
Encyclopedia
Description
BoShan is called a district in ZiboZibo
Zibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.Located in the middle part...
City, but actually BoShan is a small city on its own with a population of about 400,000 people. It is about 30 kilometers south from the urban center of Zibo City, Zhang Dian.
Downtown BoShan has a wide central avenue which is divided by a park-like river with walkways, stone bridges and gazebos. A modern expressway bypassed the downtown area, and that has attracted development to the outskirts of the city.
BoShan's major industries are ceramics
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
, industrial pumps, vacuum pumps, chemicals and pharmaceuticals. They advertise themselves as being the Pump Capital of China.
History
In the early 20th century, BoShan was the administrativeAdministration (government)
The term administration, as used in the context of government, differs according to jurisdiction.-United States:In United States usage, the term refers to the executive branch under a specific president , for example: the "Barack Obama administration." It can also mean an executive branch agency...
capital of the area. But BoShan is in the mountains while Zhang Dian is in a flat valley. Zhang Dian is on a main rail corridor, while BoShan was just a spur. So Zhang Dian replaced BoShan as a commercial and administrative center.
ShanDong was a German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
protectorate in the early 20th Century, and in BoShan you can see traces of German influence. Some of the major non-Chinese companies in town are German. Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
is one of the largest companies in town, but that German company sold their BoShan factory to an American company in 2005. The train station looks like a Bavarian building. And the town still has a few small restaurants who brew their own beer, German style.
Around the beginning of the 21st century, new tall buildings were erected and old-styled-one-story houses pulled down.
As the reform of economic system was enforced further in Boshan, many traditional factories which once benefited much from the national policies' protection shut down with lots of workers losing their jobs. Recently, Boshan's government has been trying to promote the local tourist industry.
Attractions
Yuan Shan National Park is a mountain top park located in the center of BoShan.The park features a reconstructed section of the Great Wall of Qi
Great Wall of Qi
The Great Wall of Qi is the oldest existing Great Wall in China. Construction of the wall started in 685 BCE by the state of Qi, to defend itself against an invasion by the Kingdom of Chu. The existing sections date back to 500 BCE. Construction ended during the Warring States Period...
. Near the Great Wall is an ocean of stones, strangely shaped limestones which used to be part of the ocean floor. Because of these stones, Taoists put a temple on the mountain, and the park still has an old Taoist temple. Recently, a huge statue of Jiang Ziya (an important character in the legend stories of ancient China) has been erected at the North Gate of Yuan Shan National Park.
BoShan food is slightly different from other parts of China. BoShan people do not eat hot peppery food. They tend to prefer sour or salty dishes. Some of the local dishes do have a lot of white pepper, a Chinese version of black pepper. The most common kind of restaurants in BoShan are hot pot restaurants, a Chinese stew fondue. Also, there are many seafood restaurants, as well as restaurants which specialize in BoShan food.
One favorite local dish is Pickled Vegetable Fish Soup. It is a stew made from fish and pickled Chinese cabbage, with a variety of other vegetables thrown in.
BoShan is surrounded by mountains, and when the weather is warm, these mountains have many small outdoor restaurants located alongside mountain streams. Tourists hike the mountains and, as they follow the streams, they have a selection of these small restaurants. Dishes include range chickens (not commercially raised), fish, and sometimes locusts or scorpions from the forests. Meals are served on small stone tables located under gazebos alongside the stream.
See also
- ZiboZiboZibo is a prefecture-level city in central Shandong province, People's Republic of China. It borders the provincial capital of Jinan to the west, Laiwu and Tai'an to the southwest, Linyi to the south, Weifang to the east, Dongying to the northeast, and Binzhou the north.Located in the middle part...
- ShandongShandong' is a Province located on the eastern coast of the People's Republic of China. Shandong has played a major role in Chinese history from the beginning of Chinese civilization along the lower reaches of the Yellow River and served as a pivotal cultural and religious site for Taoism, Chinese...
- District (China)District (China)The term district, in the context of China, is used to refer to several unrelated political divisions in both ancient and modern China....
- List of administrative divisions of Shandong
- ChinaChinaChinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...