Taishun is known as the hometown of wooden arch bridges in China. [Photo/CFP]
Registered population: 365,300 (2023)
Area: 1,768 square kilometers
GDP: 15.76 billion yuan (2023)
Located in southern Zhejiang province in East China, Taishun county – administered by Wenzhou city – borders Fujian province. Established as a county in 1452, the county now covers 1,768 sq km.
Belonging to the mid-subtropical ocean monsoon climate zone, Taishun has four distinct seasons, a mild climate and abundant rainfall. With a forest coverage rate of 76.88 percent, the county's air quality index and ecological index ranks it top in the province and it enjoys the title of China's Natural Oxygen Bar.
There are plenty of tourism resources within the county's jurisdiction area, including three national 4A-level tourist attractions and four 3A-level scenic spots. Taishun is regarded as the hometown of wooden arch bridges in China because it has more than 970 bridges of various kinds, including 33 ancient wooden arch ones.
Taishun has a total of 116 items of intangible cultural heritage at the national, provincial and municipal levels. Of these, the traditional design and practices for building Chinese wooden arch bridges was entered by UNESCO in 2009 onto its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage in Need of Urgent Safeguarding.
In 2023, the regional GDP of Taishun was nearly 15.76 billion yuan ($2.17 billion), a year-on-year rise of 7.8 percent. The value of the import-export trade that year hit 970 million yuan, up 7.8 percent.
By the end of 2023, the county had a registered population of 365,300. The per capita disposable income of permanent residents had reached 38,317 yuan, up 8.2 percent.
