Ningbo, located in the South of the Yangtze River Delta, has relied on the sea and the port for thousands of years. Its inborn nature of a port has pushed the City from the land out to the rivers, to the sea and to the world. In 2008, Hangzhou Bay Bridge, the world longest trans-oceanic bridge was opened. The bridge, starting from Jinshan in Shanghai and ending at Cixi in Ningbo, crosses the Hangzhou Bay, and connect the two important cities in China. It cut the distance between Shanghai and Ningbo by 120 km, by passing Zhejiang’s capital city, Hangzhou.The history of Ningbo can be traced back to 7,000 years ago. The discovery of Hemudu Neolithic Culture Ruins proves that Ningbo was one of the first places in the world for cultivating rice. In 1381, the 14th year of the period of the Emperor Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644 A.D.), the city got its current name “Ningbo”, which means “the calm wave”.
At present, City of Ningbo, with six districts of Haishu, Jiangdong, Jiangbei, Zhenhai, Beilun and Yinzhou, three county-level cities of Yuyao, Cixi and Fenghua, and two counties of Xiangshan and Ninghai, covers an area of 9816 sq. km on land. The total population is 5.646 million in Ningbo. The urban area covers 2,462 sq.km, with a population of 2.182 million. It is a modern commercial city full of energy, a socially developed city abound with love, a tolerant and energetic city ideal for startup and innovation, a beautiful homestead where people live and work in peace and contentment. Feel happiness. Ningbo is a city that is open, prosperous, safe and harmonious’. This is the evaluation words for Ningbo during the awarding ceremony of the first batch of Top 10 Chinese with Best Living Environment. In Nov.6, 2007, the result was announced. Ningbo stood out from 35 candidate cities. Happiness is a feeling that residents in Ningbo shares with each other, no matter how long they have lived in the city.
