Qingtian County

Qingtian County 青田县
County
Chinese transcription(s)
• Chinese	青田
• Pinyin	Qīngtián
Hecheng (seat of Qingtian), from the north-west, in 2011 Hecheng (seat of Qingtian), from the north-west, in 2011
Nickname(s): Little Europe (小欧洲)
Coordinates:
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture-level city	Lishui
Area
• County	2,493 km2 (963 sq mi)
Population (2010)
• County	361,062
• Urban	75,152
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	323900
Area code(s)	0578
Website	Qingtian County

Qingtian (Chinese: 青田; pinyin: Qīngtián; literally: "azure field"), is a county in southeastern Zhejiang Province, on the middle-lower reaches of the Ou River which flows 388 kilometers (241 mi) before finally reaching the city of Wenzhou and emptying into the East China Sea. Ouju, a form of Chinese Opera of the city of Wenzhou always derivers its name from Ou River. The county is known from AD 711 and was named for its rich rice paddy fields. Population 361,062, area 2,493 km² (963 sq mi). Subtropical monsoon climate: annual average temperature 18.3 degrees, annual rainfall 1,747 mm (68.8 in). Hilly territory with many ravines. The county went under the administration of Lishui in 1963 as ruled by the central government. Its capital is Hecheng, also known as Qingtian City.

Before 1963 when Qingtian county was ruled by the central government to go under the administration of Lishui, Qingtian county had been for the entire of its history a county of Wenzhou city from 323 AD to 1963 AD for a total of 1640 years. Qingitan county was still a county of Wenzhou in the year of 1949 when the Communist Party took the rule until 13 years later. The people of Qingtian speak Wenzhounese and Qingtianese, which is also a Wu language.

The airport of Qingtian is Wenzhou Longwan International Airport.

See also

• Qingtian dialect