Cixi, alternately romanized as Tzeki, is a county-level city under the jurisdiction of the sub-provincial city of Ningbo, in the north of Zhejiang province, China. As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,829,488. Its urban agglomeration built-up (or metro) area, largely contiguous with Cixi plus the county-level city of Yuyao, had 3,083,520 inhabitants.

History

Cixi was part of the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 B.C.). The county was set up in the Qin dynasty. At first it was called "Gouzhang" and has been using the name of "Cixi" since the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang dynasty (738 A.D.).

Geography

Cixi City is located on the south of the economic circle of Yangtze River Delta, and is 60 km from Ningbo in the east, 148 km from Shanghai in the north and 138 km from Hangzhou in the west.

Administrative divisions

Subdistricts

Towns

Climate

Cixi is located in the Zhejiang Province of eastern China and has a subtropical monsoon climate with an average temperature of 17 C.

Transportation

Highway connections are provided to all major cities, typical travel times are 1.5 hours or less by car, including access to the four major airports, Ningbo Lishe International Airport, Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, Shanghai Hongqiao Airport, and Shanghai Pudong International Airport. Shanghai and Ningbo are also the closest sea ports.

Economy

The Hangzhou Bay New District is located in the city.

Population

Cixi is accelerating the construction of a mid-scale modern city, covering a total land area of 1361 km2 with a population of 1.83 million as of the 2020 census, including 1.04 million registered permanent residents and one million temporary residents. Fifteen towns and five subdistricts are under the jurisdiction of Cixi City and there are 325 administrative villages including committees and communities.

Culture

The city houses many Yue Kiln Sites, which are widely regarded as one of the origin of Chinese porcelain. Cixi has the tradition of advocating culture and emphasizing education, with several thousand years of historical relics and profound cultural background which cultivated three regional cultures, i.e. "celadon, reclamation and immigration". Shanglin Lake celadon has been sold overseas as a "Maritime Silk Road" to the world, historical tideland reclamation area has become one of the areas with the most abundant land reserve resources in Zhejiang Province, and the immigration culture has several years of history. Cixi was listed as the "demonstration base for community digital learning in the national city and countryside" by the Ministry of Education in 2010 and 2011.

Notable people