Overview

Situated in the southwest of Zhejiang Province, Lishui city shares a common boundary with Fujian Province. It covers an area of 17.300 square kilometers with a population of 2.50 million. Lishui enjoys the jurisdiction over two county-level cities, seven counties, among which Jingning County is the one and only Autonomy County of She nationality and Qingtian County is one of the famous hometowns of overseas Chinese in Zhejiang Province. Lishui is the largest in area in Zhejiang Province but with the least persons living here. Called Chu Zhou (the unit of administrative areas at that time) in ancient times, Lishui City began her first name in the ninth year of Kaihuang Emperor of Sui Dynasty (589 A.D) with more than 1.400 years history. In the time of Hongwu Emperor of Ming Dynasty, it became Chuzhou Fu (the unit of administrative areas at that time). Now it is the place where the administrative offices are stationed. It is named “Lian Town” duo to her landform similar to lotus flower. It is the politic, economy and culture center of Southwest of Zhejiang Province.

Lishui City enjoys rich resource and various specialties. There are more than 3800 breeds of plants growing in the city which is also the main place of growing many famous and valuable Chinese Medicine herbs, such as Houpu, Yuanhu, Tuckahoe, Baishao and so on. More than 60 breeds of national first-class protection animals live here, such as South China Tiger, Spotted Deer and so on. Beside, traditional arts and crafts are also famous, such as, Stone Carving of Qingtian County, the Double-Edged Sword and Celadon of Longquan County, the Wooden Toy of Yunhe, Black Pottery of Suichang and so on. Six counties or cities were appraised as the hometowns of specialties, such as, the hometown of mushroom in China, the hometown of poonkan in China, the hometown of celadon in China, the hometown of double-edged sword, the hometown of stone carving, the hometown of wooden toy.

Lishui City is attractive with green hills and clear waters and many historic sites. The scenery of national and provincial natural protection zone is so beautiful that hold your eyes for a long time, such as, Fengyang Mountain of Longquan County, Baishanzu of Qingyuan County, Jiulong Mountain of Suichang and so on. Some places, where natural sights and human culture sights combine with each other, are an ideal resort for tour and spending your holidays.

The citizens of Lishui city try their best to visualize the city as “the hometown of art, romantic city and the resort for leisure time”. Gradually, Lishui will become a regional center city with six functions of a city including educational center, medical treatment center, traffic center, business and logistics center, characteristic culture and tour resort.

There are 24 nationalities living in Lishui City, which is also the largest living center of She nationality. Jingning County is the one and only Autonomy County of She nationality. The visitors can realize the traditional culture and custom of She Nationality, such as colorful raiment, bite and sup, marriage and religion.