Ningbo: a dynamic city connected to Shanghai
Located in the middle coastline of China in Zhejiang province, Ningbo faces Shanghai across the Hangzhou Bay. Ningbo nestles on the junction of three rivers is about an hour and a half by car from Hangzhou the province capital. Long noted for its dynamic merchant class, Ningbo has a strong manufacturing sector and makes high-quality goods for export, particularly textiles, fabrics, and garments. The city of Ningbo is one of China's coastal cities opened to the outside world via the country's second largest harbor. The Ningbo port located in Beilun district is one of the largest natural deep-water ports in East China. The city has been an important center of foreign trade since ancient times and is home to the 7,000-year-old "Hemudu" civilization.
Since 2008, Ningbo is only about 2 hours ride from Shanghai via the 36kms Bridge crossing the Hangzhou Bay. The agglomeration of Ningbo includes:
• 2 counties (Xiangshan and Ninghai)
• 3 county-level cities (Yuyao, Cixi and Fenghua)
• 6 urban districts (Haishu, Jiangdong, Jiangbei,Yinzhou, Zhenhai and Beilun)
You can find maps and a lot more information on the English city website HelloNingbo and find listings of hotels, restaurants, bars, schools and supermarkets. HelloNingbo has an active community who exchange through the online forum to get in touch between expats and get answers for their everyday life.
Ningbo is a large but not huge city. It has a total area of 9365 square kilometers with a population of about 6 million inhabitants. In the agglomeration of Ningbo, the city urban area represents 1,033km2 and a population of 1,5 million inhabitants.
Ningbo has all the commodities a foreign traveler could wish and even more ! It has luxurious five stars hotels, numerous refined restaurants and several international shopping centers with the world's greatest trade marks (Lancel, Cartier, etc), department stores, superstores (Auchan, Carrefour, Wal-Mart, Metro, etc...) and hundreds of shops all worth discovering...
Concerning the weather, the climate in Ningbo is particularly hot and humid during the summer. In winter, temperature in Ningbo is not very low but the humidity still constant accentuates the sensation of cold. Snowing is quite rare and only lasts a few days. The best periods to visit Ningbo and South East Asia in general are in spring from April to June and in autumn from mid-September to the end of November. Find the current conditions and the latest forecast about Ningbo on the website called Ningbo Weather. They offer even detailed forecast for cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.
If you visit China and stay in Shanghai, we suggest you to visit places around like Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, then Ningbo which is on the way to Zhoushan and Putuoshan islands.
Welcome to China !