Description of Wenzhou Wenzhou lies in the middle section of China's golden coastline. Bordering on the East China Sea and standing by the Oujiang River, it is the economic, political and cutural as well as communication center of the southern part of Zhejiang Province. Under its jurisdiction are 3 districts of Lucheng, Longwan and Ouhai, 2 county-level cities of Ruian and Yueqing and 6 counties of Yongjia, Dongtou,Pingyang, Cangnan, Wencheng and Taishun.In accordance with the statistics by the end of 1996, Wenzhou has a total population of 7.04 million, of which 1.06 million are the permanent residents of the city proper.
Wenzhou covers a total land area of 11,784 square kilometers with anannual average temperature of about 18and rainfall of 1800mm.Thfrost-free period lasts 280 days for a whole year. Thanks to fertile soil, mild climate, green hills and limpid waters, Wenzhou is renowned for its abundant products. The area is also in plenty of reserves of illite, pyrophyllite and alunite, the 3 gems of nonmetallic minerals. In particular, the storage of alunite amounts to 220 million tons, the area enjoying the name of "the Capital of Alunite in the World". The East China Sea continental shelf , over 100 kilometers away from the estuary of the Oujiang River, is rich in deposit of natural gas and oil, where 16 public bidding areas spreading over 54000 square kilometers of sea waters have started to call for tenders in order to boost its prospecting and exploitation. In addition, the city enjoys exceptional advantages of tourism resources, the acreage under scenic spots accounting for 22.2of the total territory of the city. Wenzhou has a coastline 355 kilometers long from north to south.Provided with superior conditions, Wenzhou Harbor has been listed as one of 20 main hub ports along the coastal area of China by the National Ministry of Commu- nications. Wenzhou Airport, since being completed in 1990, has opened 45 domestic air routes and 2 regional air routes linking to Hongkong and Macao.In terms of land transportation, the 104 and 330 State Trunk Highway run through the boundary of
Wen- zhou City from both flanks, east and west.