This is amazing. You have far more knowledge of Chinese administrative structure than a normal Chinese citizen. Those things are only slightly touched by textbook, but more comprehensive and instructive. I need to bookmark this article for future reference.
Wow, amazing. I am a Chinese language learner, and I would like to add that posts like this one are incredibly helpful as they add a layer of understanding that many foreigners barely ever grasp.
As for ethnic towns and townships, I remember reading somewhere that they differ from "regular" ones only in that position of head of the local people's government is reserved for the local ethnic minority group. Which is not nothing, since apparently, this office can be directly elected by the people at the town/township level.
David, I still don't get how sub-provincial and sub-prefecture divisions are functionally different from cities of those levels. And from an American perspective, the "ranking" of its official doesn't really make sense, either. Is literally the only difference that they are seen as more important within the party system than equivalent cities? Or is there functional differences, such as certain department heads not being under the jurisdiction of their corresponding provincial department heads and thus interacting directly with the national government like the Municipalities?
Thanks, David. I will be directing my students here.
Queries/comments...
Why 'H,' not 'X,' in Da H/Xingan Ling?
On, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC, 兵团), an important one-liner even at this level of detail is that all administrative units in the XPCC are artificially elevated by one level.
Wow, this is pretty cool. I will definitely be saving this for reference. I have basically zero knowledge of Chinese, uh, I don't even know what this is called- administrative area naming conventions, I guess, but there's probably a real term for it, right? Stumbling into it like this felt a little Tolkien-esque, only of course it's real and not the product of one person's imagination; that analogy may not work for everyone (anyone?), but it's a comment on the scope and detail involved. I appreciate the work that must have gone into this.
Nice stuff. Thanks! I was struggling with these oddities myself when I was trying to understand what does the Shennongjia Forestry District mean and how much is it related to UNESCO ? (not much). Also noticed that there are regular changes and merges and even after I understand divisions of a place like Hangzhou, it still can change and new districts like Linping or Hangzhou Qiantang New Area are created with no historical meanings. I guess there will be a lot more to come when less urbanised areas will start to follow Hangzhou and start creating new development areas (to make prestigious posts for new cadres maybe?).
Man, you are a beast, and thanks for telling me things I don’t even know. That Kunshan being a sub-prefecture level thing really got me.
This is amazing. You have far more knowledge of Chinese administrative structure than a normal Chinese citizen. Those things are only slightly touched by textbook, but more comprehensive and instructive. I need to bookmark this article for future reference.
Wow, amazing. I am a Chinese language learner, and I would like to add that posts like this one are incredibly helpful as they add a layer of understanding that many foreigners barely ever grasp.
As for ethnic towns and townships, I remember reading somewhere that they differ from "regular" ones only in that position of head of the local people's government is reserved for the local ethnic minority group. Which is not nothing, since apparently, this office can be directly elected by the people at the town/township level.
David, I still don't get how sub-provincial and sub-prefecture divisions are functionally different from cities of those levels. And from an American perspective, the "ranking" of its official doesn't really make sense, either. Is literally the only difference that they are seen as more important within the party system than equivalent cities? Or is there functional differences, such as certain department heads not being under the jurisdiction of their corresponding provincial department heads and thus interacting directly with the national government like the Municipalities?
Thanks, David. I will be directing my students here.
Queries/comments...
Why 'H,' not 'X,' in Da H/Xingan Ling?
On, Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps (XPCC, 兵团), an important one-liner even at this level of detail is that all administrative units in the XPCC are artificially elevated by one level.
Just terrific work. 🙌
Wow, this is pretty cool. I will definitely be saving this for reference. I have basically zero knowledge of Chinese, uh, I don't even know what this is called- administrative area naming conventions, I guess, but there's probably a real term for it, right? Stumbling into it like this felt a little Tolkien-esque, only of course it's real and not the product of one person's imagination; that analogy may not work for everyone (anyone?), but it's a comment on the scope and detail involved. I appreciate the work that must have gone into this.
Nice stuff. Thanks! I was struggling with these oddities myself when I was trying to understand what does the Shennongjia Forestry District mean and how much is it related to UNESCO ? (not much). Also noticed that there are regular changes and merges and even after I understand divisions of a place like Hangzhou, it still can change and new districts like Linping or Hangzhou Qiantang New Area are created with no historical meanings. I guess there will be a lot more to come when less urbanised areas will start to follow Hangzhou and start creating new development areas (to make prestigious posts for new cadres maybe?).