Wenzhou understand · Wenzhou tourist information
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Wenzhou tourist information
Wenzhou tourist information
Wenzhou is the third city of Zhejiang Province and one of the economic power houses of the region. Famed for its businessmen and women of the night (and the Wenzhou model of business), Wenzhou is frequently used by Western media as a barometer of the Chinese export economy; among other things, Wenzhou manufactures around 90% of the world's spectacles and massive quantities of shoes. Wenzhou is not on many China tour itineraries and despite being a Chinese cultural hotpot, it is not the most foreigner friendly of cities (compared with Hangzhou and Ningbo, for example). However, there are plenty of things to do and see should you find yourself with time on your hands in Wenzhou. The city has a resident foreigner community that is below average for the city's size (100-200) although foreign businessmen often pass through.
Although Mandarin is widely spoken, the local dialect is Wenzhounese (温州话; Wēnzhōuhuà) and is regarded by Chinese nationals as one of the most difficult dialects in the country, so much so that Wenzhounese speakers were used by the Chinese resistance in World War II to communicate under the nose of the Japanese. Due to early Christian missionary influence in Zhejiang, a deep water port, and being the first special economic zone in Zhejiang, circumstance has led to advantageous conditions for business, trade, and travel. Wenzhounese regularly misattribute this favorable happenstance to character traits (which happen to be found everywhere in Southern China), namely, "entrepreneurial nature" and "hard working". Common statements are that Wenzhounese people founded many of the China towns around the globe (where their language is still spoken) and own the leases to many properties in Beijing and even San Francisco. It is important to note that these are a reflection of their own values: regionalism, feeling superior to other Chinese, and money. Reality shows that ~40% of Americans of Chinese descent trace ancestry back to Taishan, Guangdong, and that Taishanese was the Chinatown lingua franca until gradually being replaced by Mandarin. As a tourist, you will always have the opportunity to educate the populace on these matters, and a quick "Actually, almost half came from Taishan, Guangdong" does wonders for their own enlightenment while also breaking the mindless regionalism so disliked by other Chinese.
The Most Frequently Asked Travel Questions about Wenzhou
Where To Stay & Best Hotels in Wenzhou - updated Apr 2024
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Wenzhou Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.