Wenzhou (pronounced ; Wenzhounese: Yuziou , ), historically known as Wenchow is a prefecture-level city in China's Zhejiang province. Wenzhou is located at the extreme southeast of Zhejiang, bordering Lishui to the west, Taizhou to the north, and the province of Fujian to the south. The area consists of mostly mountainous terrain, as well as hundreds of islands off the East China Sea coast, which is nearly in length. It is said that the city's land is 70% mountains, 20% farmland, and 10% water. At the time of the 2010 Chinese census, 3,039,500 people lived in Wenzhou's urban area. The greater Wenzhou prefecture, which also includes three satellite cities and six counties, had a population totalling 9,122,100, of which 31.16% are residents originally from outside of Wenzhou.
During the 19th century, the progenitor city of modern Wenzhou was known as Yungkia (, Yǒngjiā), a prosperous foreign treaty port that remains well-preserved today. Being situated in the mountains, it has been isolated for most of its history from the rest of the country, making its local culture and language particularly distinct, even from its direct neighbours. The city is also the native land of many emigrants to Europe and the United States, with many Wenzhounese immigrants abroad becoming entrepreneurs, restaurantiers, and retail and wholesale businesspeople in their adopted countries. Wenzhou people make up a large proportion of the Chinese residents in Italy, consituting approximately 90% of Tuscany's Chinese population. Significant concentrations of Wenzhounese also live in New York City, as well as across France and Spain.
History
Ancient history
The area that would become Wenzhou has history tracing back to 2500 BC, when it became known for its pottery production, and as one of the origins of celadon in ancient China.
Imperial China
In the early second century BC, shortly after the destruction of the Qin dynasty, military and political leader Zou Yao () of Wenzhou helped Emperor Gaozu of Han, the first emperor of the Han Dynasty, defeated the prominent warlord Xiang Yu of the Chu. After the victory, Gaozu's son Hui named Zhou Yao as the king of the Dong'ou kingdom, with its new capital near present-day Wenzhou. This polity would last from 191 BC until it was conquered by the Minyue kingdom in 138 BC.
Around 760, Emperor Gaozu of Tang became the earliest known figure to refer to the city by its present name, the label owing to the city's mild weather.
The city walls were built in the 10th century, and its seven gates were erected in 1598.
Modern era
Throughout its history, Wenzhou's traditional economic role has been as a port giving access to the mountainous interior of southern Zhejiang Province. In early European sources, the name Wenzhou-Fu or -Foo was often transcribed Ouen-tcheou-fou or Wen-tcheou after the accounts of French-speaking missionaries. In 1876, Wenzhou opened for tea exports, which led to a significant Wenzhounese diaspora of merchants in France, but no foreign settlement was ever established there. Between 1937 and 1942, during the Second Sino-Japanese War (i.e., World War II), Wenzhou achieved importance as one of the few ports still under Chinese control. It declined in the later years of the war, but began to recover after coastal trade along the Zhejiang coast was re-established in 1955.
Fengshui of Wenzhou
Wenzhou is the only city in China designed by Guo Pu (), the father of the Fengshui philosophical system. During the Jin Dynasty, Guo Pu organised Wenzhou on the basis of the Fengshui philosophical system along with the Twenty-Eight Mansions, and the Five Elements. These philosophies develop and manage architecture and geography as a whole in metaphoric terms of "invisible forces" that unite the universe, earth, and humanity together.
Throughout its history, Wenzhou has avoided numerous militant activities that were originally set out to invade the city of Wenzhou. However, none of them were successful, and this protection is concluded to be the result of the Fengshui development of the city. During the Northern Song Dynasty, when the Fangla Revolution took place in the now Zhejiang province, the invading army surrounded Wenzhou for over 40 days, but the mountainous isolation blocked the army's movement and the army ended up retreating.