Shifang 什邡市 She-fang Heen[1] | |
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| Nickname: | |
.png) Location of Shifang City (red) within Deyang City (yellow) and Sichuan | |
  Shifang Location of the city center in Sichuan | |
| Coordinates (Shifang government):31°07′37″N104°10′01″E / 31.127°N 104.167°E /31.127; 104.167 | |
| Country | China |
| Province | Sichuan |
| Prefecture-level city | Deyang |
| Municipal seat | Fangting Subdistrict (方亭街道) |
| Area | |
• Total | 863 km2 (333 sq mi) |
| Population (2020 census) | |
• Total | 406,775 |
| • Density | 470/km2 (1,200/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | 618400 |
| Area code | 0838 |
| Website | http://www.shifang.gov.cn/ |
| Shifang | |||||||
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| Chinese | 什邡 | ||||||
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| Former names | |||||||
| Zhifang | |||||||
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| Chinese | 汁方 汁邡(Later Han) | ||||||
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| Meixin | |||||||
| Chinese | 美信 | ||||||
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| Fangting | |||||||
| Chinese | 方亭 | ||||||
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| Fangning | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 方寧 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 方宁 | ||||||
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| Tongji | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 通計 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 通计 | ||||||
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Shifang is acounty-level city inSichuan, China, under administration ofDeyangprefecture-level city. It is located directly about 50 kilometers (31 mi) fromChengdu. It had an area of 863 km2 (333 sq mi) and a population of 406,775 in 2020.[3] Shifang has a history stretching back over two thousand years. It suffered heavy damage during the2008 Sichuan earthquake. The city was also the scene of alarge-scale environmental protest against acopper smelting plant in July 2012.
The area was first known asZhifang during theChu-Han Contention that followed the collapse ofChina'sQindynasty. UnderWang Mang'sXin dynasty, the area was renamedMeixin County in AD 4, but theBright and Martial Emperor of therestored Han dynasty restored the nameZhifang—with a differentcharacter—in AD 25. The current name was first adopted in AD 221 by theKingdom of Shu. Under theNorthern Zhou, Shifang was known asFangting orFangning between 557 and its merger withLuo County sometime between 566 and 576. Between 912 and 919, it was known asTongji County.
The area of present-day Shifang formed part ofWestern Qiang (西羌,Xīqiāng), one of the regions that appear in ancient Chinese records as the birthplace of the famedYu the Great. The local tourism board has pressed the claim that he was specifically born in Shifang,[4] but similar claims are made byBeichuan,Wenchuan, andDujiangyan in Sichuan,[5] as well as many other places in other parts of China.
Following the conquest ofShu byQin, the Qin administratorLi Bing lived in Shifang during his work on theDujiangyan irrigation system.[6] Some historians make him a native of the area.[7] Following thecollapse of Qin, the tinykingdom of Zhifang was formed in present-day Shifang in 201 BC. The area was reconquered by theMartial Emperor of theHan in 111 BC and formed part of theKingdom of Shu during China'sThree Kingdoms period. Under theNorthern Zhou, it was merged withLuo County (雒縣) sometime between 566 and 576. It was reëstablished by theTang in 619. TheChanBuddhist patriarchMazu Daoyi was born in Shifang's town of Mazu in 709.[8] It formed part ofFormer Shu between 912 and 919.
In late imperial times, Shifang County was organized as part of theprefecture ofChengdu. Following theColumbian Exchange, it—along with the rest of the plain aroundChengdu—became a center of China'stobacco cultivation. In the 19th century, Shifang County was reckoned to have the third-best quality oftobacco, after nearbyPi andJintang counties.[1]
ThePeople's Republic of China made it acounty-level city in 1995, placing it under the administration ofDeyang.
Shifang was one of the most severely hit cities in the2008 Sichuan earthquake, with a death toll of 5924.[9] Many of those killed were children, with 13 school buildings totally collapsing inHongbai,Yinghua,Luoshui,Jiandi,Bajiao, and other towns and dozens of other schools partially collapsing throughout the county. Altogether, 12 teachers and 550 students were killed.[10][11][12]
In 2012, high school students organised a protest against the construction of a copper plant in the city that would have caused a significant amount of pollution. The protest was successful at blocking the construction of the factory.[13]
Prior to the 2008 earthquake, Shifang had a GDP of 12.7 billion RMB.[14] It was reckoned one of the "100 Small and Medium-Sized Chinese Cities Most Rewarding to Investment" (全国最具投资潜力中小城市百强)[15] and had been rated the second-best county for growth in Sichuan every year since 1995.[14]
Its status as the "Pearl of Western Sichuan" had been built on its natural resources and productions. It was called "Phosphorite City" (磷矿城) from its rich veins ofphosphate rock and associated chemical industry[16] and the "Hometown of Chinese Mineral Water" (中国矿泉水之乡) from itsnatural springs.[17][18] For over 400 years, theChengdu plain has been a center of China'stobacco cultivation,[19] with Shifang's produce reckoned among the best.[20] At a time when most of China took tobacco in the form ofsnuff, the people of Sichuan were rolling it into a form ofcigar.[20] Shifang's were given as tribute to theGuangxu Emperor during theQing and toMao Zedong and otherCommunist leaders in the 1950s,[19] earning the town the nickname of the "Hometown of the Chinese Cigar" (中国雪茄之乡).[21]
In 2008,Beijing Municipality planned to coördinate with Shifang City during its construction of a 10 km2 (3.9 sq mi) capital industry park atLuoshui (北京市对口支援什邡市).[22] The road which will link the Chengdu-Mianyang Expressway and Shifang City will be completed in 2008. In addition, a newChengdu-Shifang-MianyangExpressway and theChengdu-Lanzhou High-speedRailway, which will pass through Shifang, are scheduled to complete around 2011, and will make it possible to travel fromChengdu to Shifang in 30 minutes.[23] With the leadership of Chinese government and support of international community, the government of Shifang City plans to complete reconstruction until 2011, make GDP recover to same of 2007 until 2013, and make the city to be a modernized city until 2018.[24]
The cigar industry is undergoing a revival with an investment of €85 million by China Tobacco Chuanyu Industrial Corporation, the owner of Great Wall-brand cigars, in partnership with the Dutch cigar maker Agio, in a cigar complex that is expected to be finished by 2013 and will be capable of churning out two billion cigars a year.[19]
A $1.64 billioncopper andmolybdenum processing plant is planned by theHTC for the Shifang Economic Development Zone.[25] The project has become controversial, due to environmental reasons.[26] The project further provoked a demonstration of local residents demanding cancellation of the project on 2 July 2012. After violent clashes between the public and the police and nationwide campaigns on the Internet, the project was finally dropped.[27]
Shifang has twosubdistricts and eighttowns.[28]
Some towns like Shuangsheng (双盛镇) has been merged in 2019 according to the authority.
| Climate data for Shifang (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) | |||||||||||||
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| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 17.3 (63.1) | 19.9 (67.8) | 27.3 (81.1) | 31.5 (88.7) | 35.1 (95.2) | 34.8 (94.6) | 35.6 (96.1) | 35.2 (95.4) | 35.7 (96.3) | 27.7 (81.9) | 23.9 (75.0) | 19.2 (66.6) | 35.7 (96.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.2 (48.6) | 12.1 (53.8) | 16.8 (62.2) | 22.6 (72.7) | 26.6 (79.9) | 28.5 (83.3) | 30.2 (86.4) | 30.1 (86.2) | 25.8 (78.4) | 20.8 (69.4) | 16.0 (60.8) | 10.6 (51.1) | 20.8 (69.4) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.5 (41.9) | 8.1 (46.6) | 12.2 (54.0) | 17.3 (63.1) | 21.5 (70.7) | 24.1 (75.4) | 25.8 (78.4) | 25.3 (77.5) | 21.8 (71.2) | 17.2 (63.0) | 12.4 (54.3) | 7.0 (44.6) | 16.5 (61.7) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) | 5.1 (41.2) | 8.7 (47.7) | 13.2 (55.8) | 17.3 (63.1) | 20.7 (69.3) | 22.4 (72.3) | 21.9 (71.4) | 19.1 (66.4) | 14.8 (58.6) | 9.7 (49.5) | 4.3 (39.7) | 13.3 (56.0) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4.3 (24.3) | −4.3 (24.3) | −2.6 (27.3) | 3.1 (37.6) | 5.9 (42.6) | 14.2 (57.6) | 16.3 (61.3) | 15.8 (60.4) | 12.6 (54.7) | 2.9 (37.2) | −0.1 (31.8) | −4.8 (23.4) | −4.8 (23.4) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 8.2 (0.32) | 9.8 (0.39) | 21.8 (0.86) | 45.6 (1.80) | 70.5 (2.78) | 101.3 (3.99) | 217.6 (8.57) | 210.0 (8.27) | 121.2 (4.77) | 43.0 (1.69) | 13.8 (0.54) | 5.1 (0.20) | 867.9 (34.18) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.1 mm) | 6.9 | 7.4 | 11.1 | 12.7 | 14.2 | 14.7 | 14.9 | 15.2 | 16.2 | 15.0 | 7.5 | 5.2 | 141 |
| Average snowy days | 1.3 | 0.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.3 | 2.1 |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 81 | 79 | 77 | 75 | 72 | 79 | 83 | 83 | 83 | 83 | 82 | 82 | 80 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 57.7 | 61.5 | 90.8 | 117.1 | 125.1 | 113.5 | 128.7 | 140.7 | 71.0 | 58.9 | 61.6 | 57.8 | 1,084.4 |
| Percentagepossible sunshine | 18 | 19 | 24 | 30 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 35 | 19 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 24 |
| Source:China Meteorological Administration[29][30] | |||||||||||||
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| National | |
