Ningbo

Ningbo is a port city in Zhejiang province in eastern China, on the coast of the East China Sea south of Hangzhou Bay. Its name, given in 1381 under the Ming dynasty, means ‘calm waves’, and it replaced the older name Mingzhou.

The Hemudu site, near Yuyao in the west of the city, shows rice farming and wooden houses raised on stilts from thousands of years ago. As Mingzhou under the Tang dynasty, the port traded with Japan and Korea, and Japanese envoys and monks landed there on their way to the imperial court. Ningbo opened to British trade as a treaty port in 1844 under the Treaty of Nanjing. Merchants from the city went on to run banks, shipping lines and shops in Shanghai, where they were known as the Ningbo Bang.

Tianyi Pavilion, built by the official Fan Qin in the 16th century, is the oldest surviving private library in China. The main hall of Baoguo Temple, in the hills north of the city, is a wooden building of the Northern Song dynasty, raised in the early 11th century without nails. The philosopher Wang Yangming, a leading thinker of the Ming dynasty, was born in Yuyao. Tangyuan, glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame and lard, are the city's best-known sweet and are eaten at the Lantern Festival.

The Port of Ningbo-Zhoushan handles containers, crude oil and iron ore at deep-water berths along the coast and the nearby islands. Youngor makes men's suits and shirts in the city. Aux Group, known for its air conditioners, is based in Ningbo, and Joyson Electronics supplies airbags and steering wheels to carmakers from its home in the city.