Shaoxing

For the county of the same name administered by Shaoxing City, see Shaoxing County.

绍兴市
Shàoxīng Shì
Image:ChinaZhejiangShaoxing.png
Administration Type	Prefecture-level city
Area (Land)	8,256 km²
Population	4,347,200 (2004)
GDP	¥35,753 per capita (2004)
Major Nationalities	Han
County-level divisions	6
Township-level divisions
Mayor	Zhang Jinru (张金如)
Area code	575
License Plate Prefix	浙D
City flower	Orchid

Shaoxing (Simplified Chinese: 绍兴; Traditional Chinese: 紹興; pinyin: Shàoxīng; Wade-Giles: Shao-hsing) is a prefecture-level city in northeastern Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. Lying on the south bank of the Qiantang River mouth, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west.

[edit] Administration

Modern-day Shaoxing sits on the site of the capital of the Spring and Autumn Period Kingdom of Yue. Around the sixth century BC, Yue had a sinicised ruling elite which fought a number of wars against its northern archrival Kingdom of Wu.

Shaoxing became a subprefecture during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Under the Republic of China, it became a county. And under the People's Republic of China, it became a city.

Lu Xun's residence is preserved near the middle of the city, and has become a tourist destination.
East Lake (东湖) is a traditional scenic area just out of town.
Shaoxing has the Tomb of Yu the Great (大禹陵).

The Chinese rice wine (黃酒) is also known as Shaoxing Wine (紹興酒) or simply Shao Wine (紹酒). The brewery takes the natural process with the "pure" water of Jianhu-Mirror Lake. It has a unique flavour and a reputation throughout the nation and internationally. It is used both as a liquor and in cooking, and as a solvent for Chinese herbal medicated ointment.

Prefecture-level divisions of Zhejiang

Sub-provincial cities:	Hangzhou \| Ningbo
Prefecture-level cities:	Huzhou \| Jiaxing \| Jinhua \| Lishui Quzhou \| Shaoxing \| Taizhou \| Wenzhou \| Zhoushan