Wenzhou

Wenzhou has a history which goes back to about 2500 BC, when it became known for its pottery production as one of the cities of origin of celadon in ancient China.

Wenzhou was the capital of the ancient Dong'ou Kingdom which existed from 191 BC until it was conquered by Minyue Kingdom in 138 BC.

About 80% of the people in Wenzhou trace their ancestry from Fujian, the vast majority of them coming from northern Fujian[10]

In the early 2nd century BC, shortly after the destruction of Qin dynasty, military and political leader Zou Yao (驺摇) of Wenzhou helped the emperor Gaozu of Han, the first emperor of Han Dynasty, defeat the prominent warlord Xiang Yu of Qin Dynasty. After the victory, emperor Hui of Han, the second emperor of Han dynasty named Zhou Yao the King of Dong'ou (Wenzhou), and under the administration of emperor Hui, Wenzhou became the capital of the Dong'ou Kingdom which is the modern-day area of southern Zhejiang.

Around 760AD in Tang dynasty, the founding emperor Emperor Gaozu of Tang named Yongkia (earlier as Dong'ou) by its current name Wenzhou because of its mild weather.

The city walls were built in the 10th century, and the seven gates were erected in 1598.[11]

Throughout its history, Wenzhou's traditional economic role has been as a port giving access to the mountainous interior of southern Zhejiang Province. In early European sources, the name Wenzhou-Fu or -Foo was often transcribed Ouen-tcheou-fou or Wen-tcheou after the accounts of French-speaking missionaries.[12] In 1876, Wenzhou was opened for tea exports, but no foreign settlement was ever established there.[11] Between 1937 and 1942, during the Second Sino-Japanese War (i.e., World War II), Wenzhou achieved importance as one of the few ports still under Chinese control. It declined in the later years of the war, but began to recover after coastal trade along the Zhejiang coast was re-established in 1955.

Wenzhou is the only city in China designed by the founder of Fengshui philosophical system Guo Pu.[13][18] Nowadays, the local Wenzhounese people usually see Guo Pu as the architect and founder of the city of Wenzhou. The locals changed the original name of the mountain West Guo Mountain that Guo Pu stood on to observe the city into Guo Gong Mountain to honor Guo Pu; at the bottom of Guo Gong Mountain, a temple was also built and named Guo Gong Temple. In 2003, the local Wenzhou government built and put up a statue of Guo Pu in downtown Wenzhou. Being the only city in China and the world entirely designed by the pioneer of Fengshui, Wenzhou is usually considered as the city in China with the best Feng Shui condition and nature. Other cities in China that are usually considered to possess excellent Fengshui nature are Beijing, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Kunming, Hengyang, and Shenzhen. However, none of these cities is designed entirely on the basis of philosophy of Fengshui or designed by the father of Fengshui Guo Pu. Moreover, Wenzhou has an enormous cultural impact and influence on the history of China. In the modern time, people from all over China usually refer to the accomplishments and influence of Wenzhounese as a result of Wenzhou's Fengshui development by Guo Pu.

Throughout its history, Wenzhou has avoided numerous militant activities that were originally set out to invade the city of Wenzhou. However, none of them was successful. For example, during Northern Song Dynasty, when Fangla Revolution took place in the now Zhejiang province where Wenzhou city is located in, the invading army that was planned to destroy the city of Wenzhou surrounded it for over 40 days in hope of managing to invade the city. However, because of the establishment of Wenzhou, the mountainous isolation blocked the army's movement and the army ended up retreating instead.[13][15][19][20] Such a phenomenon is now usually referred to as the result of the Fengshui development of the city.

There is a popular saying in China that reflects the status of the city of Wenzhou related to the Fengshui of Wenzhou which is "People of Excellence and Land of Wisdom" (人傑地靈), as the local Wenzhounese peoples are usually described in China as the people of excellence and the city of Wenzhou is usually praised as the city of wisdom.[13][21][22]

Wenzhou derives its present name from its climate, and has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa) with short winters and long, hot, humid summers. Summers are similar to the remainder of the province (albeit slightly cooler during the daytime as compared to inland areas), but winter is much milder, partly due to the southerly location and partly due to the sheltering effect of the surrounding mountains. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 8.0 °C (46.4 °F) in January to 28.0 °C (82.4 °F) in July and August, while the annual mean is 18.08 °C (64.5 °F). Heavy rainfalls occur in late spring and early summer due to the plum rains of the East Asian monsoon, while typhoons are commonly a threat in the second half of summer causing considerable damage and destruction. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 26% in March to 53% in August, the city receives 1,706 hours of bright sunshine annually.

In late March 2012, China's State Council announced that Wenzhou would be the site of a pilot project for the reform of private investment rules. The city had been a significant source of illegal loans, and this project would legalize and provide a regulatory framework for such activities. It has been seen not only as an attempt to legitimize Wenzhou's private finance market, but also as a model for cleaning up underground lending in China as a whole.[24]

In the early days of economic reforms, local Wenzhounese took the lead in China in developing a commodity economy, household industries and specialized markets. Many thousands of people and families were engaged in household manufacturing to develop individual and private economy (private enterprise). Up till now, Wenzhou has a total of 240,000 individually owned commercial and industrial units and 130,000 private enterprises of which 180 are group companies, 4 among China's top 500 enterprises and 36 among national 500 top private enterprises. There are 27 national production bases such as "China's Shoes Capital" and "China's Capital of Electrical Equipment", China's 40 famous trademarks and China's famous-brand products and 67 national inspection-exempt products in the city. The development of private economy in Wenzhou has created the "Wenzhou Economic Model", which inspires the modernization drive in China.

The city of Wenzhou is a world leader in lighter manufacturing with over 500 such companies in the city.[25] The plastic weaving cluster in Wenzhou comprised 1600 enterprises in 2001, employing 42,000 people with an annual output value of 20 billion Yuan. The Local cluster comprised 400 manufacturers in 2001 with a total output of 5 billion Yuan, representing 65 percent of the domestic market share. The cluster is the first in China in terms of market share and sold it products to 60 countries.[26]

There are many areas in which people of Wenzhou opened the first example of private economy in post-1949 China. For instance, Juneyao Airlines started in July 1991, which is the first private airline company in China. Jinwen Rail Way is also the first rail way company which is built with private capital.

• Wenzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone

Wenzhou Economic & Technological Development Zone was established and approved by State Council in 1992. The main traffic system around the zone include No.104 National Highway, Ningbo-Wenzhou Expressway and Wenzhou Bridge. It is located near to Wenzhou International Airport and Wenzhou Port. Industries encouraged in the zone include electrical equipment, electronic information, chemical medicine, building materials, and textiles.[27]

• Wenzhou Oujiang River Estuary Industrial Zone

Located in the east of the city proper, it has an overall planned area of 3.3 million square kilometers, with industrial focuses mainly on logistics, cultual and tourism industry, smart manufacturing, information technology, as well as electronics and petrochemical industry near the coastal area of Dongtou.

The Wenzhou Longwan International Airport serves the Wenzhou area, with scheduled flights to major cities in mainland China as well as Hong Kong and Macau. New direct air routes to Taipei and Cheju Island of South Korea were introduced in 2012. The airport is situated on the southeast of the city (approximately 20 km (12 mi) away). It's been graded as Category B civil airport, serving a population of 20 million spanning areas of Wenzhou, Taizhou and Lishui of Zhejiang and Ningde of the neighbouring Fujian. The correlated GDP of the area reaches 300 billion RMB.

The Airport started opening up in 1995 and direct flight to Macau was approved. Air route to Hong Kong was open in 1996. Linking 65 cities in the country with 34 permanently operating air routes, the Airport is among the fastest-growing and profitable among its peers in China.

The Airport ranks 1st in terms of passenger transit among cities of same level in China. In 2004, the Airport handled 29,700 landings, a passenger transit of 2.439 million, cargo throughput of 38,500 tons.

The new Terminal 2 was launched on 1 June 2018, which handle all domestic flights. The Terminal 1 was changed to international terminal that handles all international and regional (specifically from Wenzhou to Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan) flights. The Terminal 2 is equipped with 21 boarding bridges, 22 security check passages, 52 check-in counters (four check-in zones, A, B, C, and D) and 6 luggage claim systems. The launch of Terminal 2 is a huge milestone in the history of Wenzhou air traffic development.[28]

Wenzhou South train station

Because of Wenzhou's geographic location, it is difficult to build a railway to connect it with other cities. Wenzhou's first railway, the Jinhua–Wenzhou railway, opened on 11 June 1998. The railway runs northwest to Jinhua and is operated by the Jinwen Railway Company. The railway has a total length of 251 km (156 mi), including 135 bridges of 14 km (8.7 mi) in length 96 tunnels of 35 km (22 mi) in length. The Jinwen Railway was the first in China to be built with local capital, and gave birth to China's first standardized joint-stock enterprise: Zhejiang Jinwen Rail Way Development Co., Ltd.[29]

In September 2009, two high-speed railways opened in Wenzhou. The Ningbo–Taizhou–Wenzhou railway runs north to Hangzhou, and the Wenzhou–Fuzhou railway, runs south to Xiamen.[30] Both lines accommodate high-speed CRH (China Railway High-speed) trains running at speeds of up to 200 km/h (120 mph) and have dramatically shortened rail travel time to neighboring cities. The Jinhua–Wenzhou high-speed railway was opened on 26 December 2015.[31]

The city was the site of China's only major high-speed rail accident to date.

Wenzhou Mass Transit Railway Investment Group was launched in February 2011 with registered capital of 2 billion RMB, sole purpose being in the design, investment, construction and operation of the Wenzhou MTR, which will consist of commuter, or S-Lines, and metro lines in Wenzhou. The S-Lines serve the transportation among Wenzhou's Counties and Districts. The S-Line 1, a hybrid of light-rail and subway, stretching 77 kilometers, will be open to traffic in October 2018. Construction of S-Line 2 started on 30 December 2015. A preliminary application with the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) is underway for the initiation of the construction of metro lines M1, M2 and M3, with a total length of 81.41 km (50.59 mi).

On the stage setting of a Nan Opera performance, there are generally 7 role distribution elements, Life (生), Denier (旦), Ugliness (醜), Clarity (淨), Finale (末, Exterior (外), Attachment (貼), with the main drama plot developed around Life (生) and Denial (旦) complemented usually by Ugliness (醜), Clarity (淨), and Finale (末). This stage setting system of Nan Opera invented in Wenzhou with seven-element role distribution principle is the earliest complete on-stage role distribution principle system in the history of Chinese Opera.[36][37][38]

Although Nan Opera is the first-ever mature form of traditional Chinese Opera, throughout its history of development unlike that of many other later forms of Chinese Opera, Nan Opera was generally disregarded and repelled by the officials in early Yuan Dynasty who held great contempt for the Southern Chinese people.

Despite the great resistance, local Wenzhounese that kept on developing Nan Drama still managed to compose extraordinary works respectively named as the "Jing Cha Tale", "Bai Tu Tale", "Bai Yue Ting", and "Sha Gou Ji", which were later known as the "Four Miracles" of Yuan Dynasty.[39] According to modern studies, at least half of the Four Miracles were entirely created by local Wenzhounese artists with no non-local supplements and the other two consisting of some non-local supplements.[33]

Tale of the Pipa(Tale of Lute) created by local Wenzhounese Gao Ming is a work of Nan Opera that represents its highest quality and essence in its highest peak of influence in mid-Yuan Dynasty.[40][35]

It is called as the connecting bridge of the time of Nan Opera and the time of chuanqi. The creation of Tale of the Pipa is among the greatest achievements of Chinese Opera and has had an enormous impact on composition of traditional Chinese Opera, and therefore, it is usually called as the "Ancestor of all Plays" in China along with Nan Drama being called as the "Ancestor of all Operas" in China. In the 19th century, Tale of the Pipa was translated into English, French, German and Latin.[41][42][43] Ever since it was published in modern era, the Lute Song has been significant in the history of Western appreciation of Chinese literature.

The first translation of Lute Song was published in 1841 in Paris by Imprimerie Royale, written by Antoine (A. P. L.) Bazin titled Le Pi-pa-ki ou l'Histoire de Luth, making the history of the first chuanqi play published in a Western language[44] In 1946, American musical comedy based on Tale of the Pipa, titled Lute Song written by Will Irwin, Sidney Howard and starred Yul Brenner and Mary Martin, was produced on Broadway.[45]

Tale of the Pipa is also the only Broadway appearance of then-future First Lady of the United States Nancy Reagan.[46] In the play of Lute Song, Nancy Reagan "dyed her brown hair black and slanted her eyes like a real oriental girl",[47] and the show's producer told her, "You look like you could be Chinese".[48]

Like all the other Nan Opera plays written by local Wenzhounese artists majorly in the original language of Wenzhounese, the Lute Song is known for its complex linguistic demands which has caused international scholars to mainly focus on the shorter, and more accessible version as to their own concepts of the opera.[49]

After the invention of Nan Opera in Wenzhou in the 12th century, Nan Opera soon after started to spread its influence all across China as the first-ever mature form of Chinese Opera. At the time in Ming Dynasty, the original form of Nan Opera sung in Wenzhounese lost its influence because of its universality and evolved into 4 different forms that were sung in 4 different tones(melodies). However, some scholars today argue that Nan Opera in Ming Dynasty were sung in 5 different tones(melodies).[50]

The original Nan Opera gave births to four different forms of itself in Ming Dynasty: Haiyan Tone (海盐腔), Yuyao Tone (余姚腔), Kunshan Tone (昆山腔), and Yiyang Tone (弋阳腔). Among the four forms, the most popular one today is known as the Kun Opera that evolved from the Kunshan Tone of Nan Opera in Ming Dynasty. Kun Opera is listed as one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO since 2001.[51]

Wenzhounese mathematician Shu Shien-Siu is today considered as the father of high-tech industry in Taiwan while the high-tech industry today is considered to be the biggest contributor to Taiwan's economy. When Siu was the Minister of Science and Technology from 1973 to 1980, he proposed to establish the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park in Hsinchu in 1976.

After Siu's revolutionary proposal, rounds of debate about the location of Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park unfolded. Chiang Ching-kuo argued that the park should be built in Longtan District in Taoyuan considering the potential benefits that could be drawn from National Chung-Shan Institute of Science and Technology and future relationship between the military field and the park. However, Shu Shien-Siu argued that the park should be built in Hsinchu because what Taiwan and the park needed was creativity and private economy power that would stem from the people instead of the government and the military. Therefore, Siu said that it was not a wise decision to draw too much relation between the military and the science and industrial park. Also, Longtan District was a relatively remote place as compared to Hsinchu and thus, the potential of park would be greatly diminished if it were to be built in Longtan District.

More importantly, Siu's decision made in 1976 is commonly praised today as he foresaw the right model of the park. Siu wanted the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park to be like Silicon Valley which is adjacent to Stanford University and University of California, Berkeley. Thinking differently from Chiang Ching-kuo, Siu saw the potential advantages and tremendous resources the Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park could benefit from the National Tsing Hua University and National Chiao Tung University. Therefore, Siu determined to manage to build the park in Hsinchu, where both universities are located at.

Today, Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park is commonly considered as the Silicon Valley of the Orient and the high-tech industry stands as the biggest contributor to Taiwan's economy.

In 1961, Shu Shien-Siu founded the Department of Mathematics at National Tsing Hua University, one of the most prestigious universities in Taiwan. A year later in 1962, Siu founded the Summer Mathematics Conference, the first-ever mathematical conference in the history of Taiwan.[62]

When Siu became the president of National Tsing Hua University in 1970, there were only 3 academic departments and no college on campus and the university only held a population of over 660 people including faculty members. In order to expand the size of the university and contribute to the growth of Taiwan, Siu organized to establish the College of Engineering that consists of 5 Departments and expanded the Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science by transforming it into the College of Nuclear Science which consists of 2 Departments and 1 Institute. From 1971 to 1973, Siu managed to employ a total of 165 professors with Doctoral Degree. Also, during his presidency, Siu carried out the 15-year strategic plan for the university and placed heavy emphasis on the construction of buildings on campus such as the Department of Chemistry, the auditorium, the gymnasium and dormitories for students and housing buildings for academic staff as Siu sought to increase the bond between the academic staff and the students.[62][63][64]

By the time he left National Tsing Hua University in 1975, the university had a total of 9 Departments, 3 Colleges, and 13 Institutes with a student population of over 2200(including graduate students) and academic staff population of over 160. In 1975, after Siu's 5 years of presidency, National Tsing Hua University placed 1st in all 3 fields of Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry in Taiwan.[64]

As Siu was deeply influenced by the Yongjia School of Thought when he grew up in Wenzhou, during his presidential career at the university, Siu placed heavy emphasis on the idea of practicality instead of the traditional Chinese belief of the importance of theory, and also made it clear that as students, the interaction with the society will always be more important than that within the campus. One of the most influential quotes of Siu is "What we need the most are the practitioners, who directly involve, but not the theorists" (我们最需要的是实行家，直接的参与，而非理论家). That main idea held by Siu to build the university in its early stage of development is almost identical as one of the central philosophies of Yongjia School of Thought, the cultural gene of the city of Wenzhou. Such a unique form of philosophy of Siu would later be proven to have a tremendous impact on the school and Taiwan's history as today, National Tsing Hua University is known for its emphasis on practicality in Taiwan.[62][63][64]

Wenzhou natives speak a language of Wu Chinese, the language family shared by Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou and Shanghai; called Wenzhounese, also known as Oujiang (瓯江话; 甌江話; ōujiāng huà) or Dong'ou (东瓯; 東甌). Geographic isolation and the immigration of Southern Min speakers from nearby Fujian have caused Wenzhounese to evolve into a very phonologically divergent hybrid difficult for outsiders to understand. As a result, even the adjacent Taizhou Wu variety has little mutual intelligibility with Wenzhounese.

The esoteric Wenzhounese language is reputed to have been used during the Second Sino-Japanese War during wartime communication and in the Sino-Vietnamese War for programming military ciphers (code)[65][66][67] Due to its unique grammar, vocabulary, and pronunciation, the language is basically impossible for any non-local to understand.

There is a common "fearing" rhymed saying in China that reflects the extreme comprehension difficulty of Wenzhounese: "Fear not the Heavens, fear not the Earth, but fear the Wenzhou person speaking Wenzhounese." (天不怕，地不怕，就怕温州人说温州话)

Temple of Bao Gong in Ouhai District.

Guanji temple (left) and Huang ancestral shrine (right) in Lucheng District.

Most of the Wenzhou people practice Chinese folk religion as people in the rest of China, while a part of the population is non-religious. In addition, Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity also have a presence in the city.

Prior to 1949 there were 2,000 registered places of worship and 4,500 priests, pastors and monks in the city. But, the state officially designated Wenzhou as an experimental site for an "atheistic zone" (无宗教区) in 1958 and during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1976), religious buildings were either closed or converted for other uses.[68] Religion revived quickly since the 1980s, and today there are more registered places of worship than before.[69] Specifically, as of 2015 the city has 8,569 registered folk religious temples and 3,961 registered places of worship of the five institutional religions (Buddhism, Taoism, Islam, Catholicism and Protestantism).[70] The city was the forefront in the registration and management of folk religious temples which was started in January 2015 and later extended to all Zhejiang.[70]

The city has been for centuries a hub of Christian missionary activity; prior to 1949 it was home to 115,000 Christians, more than one-tenth of the total Christians in China at that time.[69] Today it remains an important center of Christianity in China. In 2006, it was reported that between 15 and 20% of the city's population was Christian.[71] In 2012, according to official data the city's Christians were at least one million (about 11% of the 2010 population).[72] Because of its large concentration of Christians, the city has been dubbed the "Jerusalem of the East" or "China's Jerusalem" in some media reports.[68]

In recent years, the prominence of Wenzhou's Christian community has made it the target of some controversial government action. In 2014 CNN reported that local Communist Party authorities had demolished scores of churches and forcibly removed more than 300 church crosses.[73] More recent reports have updated the numbers to over 200 churches destroyed and 2,000 crosses removed.[74] The Chinese government denies that the demolition of churches constitutes persecution of Christians, pointing instead to violations of land-use regulations as the reason for its actions. However, independent human rights groups and news agencies have met this denial with skepticism.[75] The New York Times, for example, reported that internal government documents the newspaper had obtained revealed that these demolitions represented part of a deliberate strategy to reduce the public profile of Christianity in the region. Specifically, the Times cites a nine-page statement of provincial policy, singling-out the Christian community as targets for the regulation of "excessive religious sites" and "overly popular" religious activities. "The priority," the document states, "is to remove crosses at religious activity sites on both sides of expressways, national highways and provincial highways," as well as to, "Over time and in batches, bring down the crosses from the rooftops to the facade of the buildings."[76] The provincial policy has met with some resistance. A Christian pastor who protested the removal of the crosses and the beating of 50 Christians was also jailed in 2015.[77]

A Qing dynasty scroll painting depicting the ranges of Yandang Mountains.

An essay written by Zhu Ziqing on the beauty of Meiyu Pond ({linktext}}) and waterfall in the Middle Yandang Mountains in Xianyan Subdistrict, Ouhai District, Wenzhou after his visits to the area in 1923 is among the sixty potential reading selections test takers may be asked to read for the Putonghua Proficiency Test.[78][79][80]

With a history of over 120 million years, Yandang Mountains or Yandangshan Mountains, literally the wild goose pond mountain(s) is known for its natural environment, arising from its many vertical rock faces and pinnacles, mountain slopes with forests and bamboo groves, streams, waterfalls and caves.

Nanxi River located in Yongjia County, Nanxi River was famous for its 36 bends and 72 beaches. The main scenic spots of the Nanxi River area include the Furong Triangle Rock, the Waterfall of Tengxi Pool, the Twelve Peaks, the Taogong Cave, the Warehouse Under The Cliff, the Furong Ancient Hamlet and the Lion Rock.[81] It was named as one of the National Tourist Scenic Spots by the State Council and has been listed in Tentative Lists of UNESCO World Heritage.[82]

A covered bridge.

Covered bridges, Taishun County has more than 900 covered bridges, Wuyanling National Nature Reserve in the west of the county represents significant natural values as well as being a touristic attraction.

Due to the variety and diverseness of local tourism attractions, Wenzhou was voted as the venue for the 2016 Annual Convention of Society for American Travel Writers (SATW) in October 2016, after beating contenders including Israel, the State of Texas, and Royal Caribbean International, the world leading cruise operator.

Wenzhou is 1682 years old with a profound and brilliant cultural background. It has given birth to many outstanding people and great scholars. Among them were Wang Shipeng, Chen Fuliang, Ye Shi, Huang Gongwang and Liu Ji during the South Song Dynasty, as well as Sun Yirang, Xia Nai, Xia Chengtao and Su Buqing and others of the modern era. All of them have exerted significant influence in the history of Chinese philosophy, literature and science. Wenzhou is also the origin of China's landscape poetry, the founder of which, Xie Lingyun, was the chief of Wenzhou's Yongjia Prefecture in the Nan Dynasty. In Song Dynasty, there were 4 distinguished poets from Yongjia representing the River and Lake Poetry. Moreover, Wenzhou is the birthplace of Nan Drama of China, which is the origin of Chinese traditional drama of which includes drama forms such as Peking Opera and Yue Opera.[83][84] "The Romance of a Hairpin", a tale about Wang Shipeng and Qian Yulian, is well known among locals and serves an inspiration for many who have endured life pains but still have faith in love. For instance, "Tale of Lute", a play by Gao Zecheng of Ming Dynasty, is renowned abroad as one of the most outstanding works of Chinese drama along with Kun Opera of Yongjia which is recognized as the verbal and non-material human heritage. Dancing in public is also part of the Wenzhou culture. Wenzhou, the birthplace of China's private economy, likewise is the birthplace of China's Mercantilism. From the Southern Song Dynasty, in contrasted to the Confucianism represented by Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan in China urging people to study to be officials in the future, the theory of Wenzhou's Yongjia School represented by Ye Shi, emphasized the importance of business. The theory has an enduring impact on the mindset of Wenzhou natives and has become the "cultural gene" in the economic development of Wenzhou ever since.

Due to both Wenzhou's cultural and geographical remoteness and its lack of natural resources (land, minerals, etc.), the Chinese central government has left the people of Wenzhou relatively autonomous. Away from the center of the political and economic stage, its people are more independent, self-reliant, and generally more business and family oriented. Numerous books have been published about the business sense of people from Wenzhou. Hence, when China switched from its planned economy to its so-called capitalist economy with Chinese (socialist) characteristics in the late 1980s, its people adjusted well to the new system and took advantage of it. A popular common saying calls Wenzhounese the "Jews of the Orient" (东方的犹太人).[85][86] Wenzhounese have been stereotyped by other Chinese as real estate speculators. China Daily notes that investments from Wenzhounese buyers play a disproportionately large role in the increase property prices all over China.[87]

The people of Wenzhou are equipped with business sense and a commercial culture more dominant than anywhere else in China. Wenzhou has two economic characteristics: it was the first to launch a market economy, and it has the most active and developed private economy in China. With the city abhoring communisim, Wenzhou has always been called the capital of capitalism.[88]

With most of its universities and colleges established after 1949, before 1949, there was not one single university or college in Wenzhou. The highest educational institution in Wenzhou at the time was senior high school.[89][90][91][92]

There are two major universities in Wenzhou: Wenzhou University and Wenzhou Medical University. Wenzhou University resulted from the merger of the former University of Wenzhou, Wenzhou Normal College and other various normal colleges in the rural towns of Wenzhou. Its main campus is situated in the University Town, Cha Shan (茶山). The former campus of Wenzhou Normal College on Xueyuan Road (学院路) is still in use, while the former main campus of the University of Wenzhou now serves as the campus of the Wenzhou Foreign Language School and the Second Experimental Middle School of Wenzhou (No.13 Middle School).

Wenzhou Medical University is well-known globally in specializing in ophthalmology (national level key discipline), as well as provision of other medical courses. Several of Wenzhou's major hospitals are affiliated to this university, with Wenzhou No.1 Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University being the largest in floor space in Asia. The combined population of medical service covered by all the affiliated hospitals of Wenzhou Medical University is said to be over 20 million.

The Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China approved the establishment of Wenzhou-Kean University on 16 November 2011. It is one of the first two Chinese-American cooperatively run universities with legal person status, the other one being NYU Shanghai inaugurated on 15 October 2012.

• Wenzhou University
• Wenzhou Medical University
• Wenzhou Business College
• Wenzhou Kean University
• Wenzhou Vocational & Technical College
• Zhejiang DongFang Vocationa & Technical College
• Zhejiang Industry and Trade Polytechnic

• Sun Yirang (孫诒让; 1848–1908), pioneer of Oracle Bone Script decipherment, founder of the first mathematical academy in the history of China, mentor of Huang Qingcheng
• Huang Qingcheng (黄庆澄; 1863–1904), uncle of Jiang Lifu, founder of the first periodical of mathematics in the history of China, student of Sun Yirang
• Jiang Lifu (姜立夫; 1890–1978), father of mathematics in modern China, first president of Academia Sinica Institute of Mathematics, mentor of Shiing-Shen Chern,Su Buqing, father of Jiang Boju, nephew and student of Huang Qingcheng
• Su Buqing (苏步青; 1902–2003), honorary chairman of Chinese Mathematical Society, first geometer in the Orient, renowned as "King of Math" in China, student of Jiang Lifu
• Li Ruifu (李锐夫; 1903–1987), prominent mathematician and astronomer, author of Solar System, former vice chairman of Shanghai Mathematical Society and Shanghai Astronomical Society
• Fang Dezhi (方德植; 1910–), former chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Xiamen University, mentor of Zhang Mingyong
• Shu Shien-Siu (徐賢修; 1912–2002), former prime minister of Ministry of Science and Technology of Republic of China, former chairman and director-general of Industrial Technology Research Institute, father of Hsinchu Science and Industrial Park, renowned as the father of high-tech industry in Taiwan
• Xu Guifang (徐桂芳; 1912–), former chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Xi'an Jiaotong University, honorary director of Chinese Society of Computational Mathematics
• Xiang Fuchen (项黼宸; 1916–1990), former chairman of the Department of Mathematics at National Taiwan University, former president of Academia Sinica Institute of Mathematics
• Bai Zhengguo (白正國; 1916–2015), one of the pioneers of geometry in China, student of Su Buqing, mentor of Gu Chaohao
• Chung Tao Yang (杨忠道; 1923–2005), chairman of the Department of Mathematics at University of Pennsylvania from 1978 to 1983, student of Su Buqing
• Zhang Mingyong (张鸣镛; 1926–1986), former vice-chairman of Department of Mathematics at Xiamen University, mentor of Chen Jingrun, student of Su Buqing
• Gu Chaohao (谷超豪; 1926–2012), vice president of Fudan University, president of University of Science and Technology of China, student of Su Buqing, Bai Zhengguo
• Wu-Chung Hsiang (项武忠; born 1935), chairman of the Department of Mathematics at Princeton University from 1982 to 1985, son of Xiang Changquan
• Hu Yuda (胡毓达; born 1935), former vice-chairman of executive council of Shanghai Mathematical Society, former executive director of Operations Research Society of China
• Wu-Yi Hsiang (项武义; born 1937), prominent mathematician in geometry and topology, professor emeritus at University of California, Berkeley, one of the provers of Kepler Conjecture
• Jiang Boju (姜伯驹; born 1937), first president of School of Mathematical Sciences at Peking University, former chairman of Beijing Mathematical Society, son of Jiang Lifu
• Lee Peng Yee (李秉彝; born 1938), former president of Southeast Asian Mathematical Society, former vice president of International Commission on Mathematical Instruction
• Lu Shanzhen (陆善镇; born 1939), prominent mathematician, president of Beijing Normal University, former professor at Washington University in St. Louis, chancellor of Wenzhou-Kean University
• Li Banghe (李邦河; born 1942), prominent mathematician in differential topology, low-dimension topology and invariable quantum, solver of Minimal Genus Problem
• Deane Yang (born 1958), chair of the Department of Mathematics at Polytechnic University(New York University Tandon School of Engineering) from 1993 to 1995, chair of Committee on Mathematics in Finance at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, son of Chung Tao Yang
• David Cai (蔡申瓯; 1963–2017), Chair Professor of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Professor of Mathematics and Neural Science at Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences
• T. Tony Cai (蔡天文; born 1967), 2008 COPSS Presidents' Award winner, Dorothy Silberberg professor at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania

• Bao Yizhong (鲍一中; 1500–1566), Go chess player, most prominent chess player of China in Ming Dynasty, renowned as the "highest echelon of Ming Dynasty"
• Xie Xiaxun (谢侠逊; 1888–1987), father of Chinese chess, renowned as the "Supreme Commander of Chess" and "King of Chess" in China
• Ye Rongguang (叶荣光; born 1963), first-ever chess grandmaster in the history of China, coach of Zhu Chen
• Zhu Chen (諸宸; born 1976), first person in the world's history to win all youth, junior, adult World Championships, female chess international grandmaster and Women's World Champion
• Ding Liren (丁立人; born 1992), chess grandmaster, youngest-ever winner of Chinese Chess Championship at age 16, ranked 1st nationally and 3rd internationally as of June 2020, highest-ever Elo rated Chinese chess grandmaster

• Wang Xizhi (王羲之; 303–361), sage of Chinese calligraphy, former governor of Yongjia
• Xie Lingyun (Duke of Kangle; 谢灵运; 385–433), poet, founder of landscape poetry in China
• Ye Shi (叶适; 1150–1223), philosopher, most important figure of the neo-Confucianism Yongjia School
• Wu Xianwen (伍献文; 1900–1985), one of the pioneers of Ichthyology and Nematology in China
• Fang Jiekan (方介堪; 1901–1987), prominent calligrapher, former honorary chairman of Chinese Calligraphers Association
• Cheng Man-ch'ing (郑曼青; 1902–1975), t'ai chi ch'uan master, calligrapher, painter, poet, doctor of Chinese medicine, called the "Master of Five Excellences"
• Xia Nai (夏鼐; 1910–1985), archaeologist, pioneer of archaeology in modern China, one of the most honored scholars in archaeology
• Qi Jun (琦君; 1917–2006), author, best-selling female author of Taiwan, one of the most significant female authors in the history of China
• Chen Cheng-siang (陈正祥; 1922–2003), first prominent geographer in the history of China, one of the most prominent geographers in the world, renowned as the Alexander von Humboldt of the Orient
• Chen Guangzhong (陈光中; 1930), jurist, renowned as the father of Criminal procedure of China
• Frank Shu (徐遐生; 1943), chair of astronomy department of University of California, Berkeley from 1984 to 1988, former president of American Astronomical Society, president of National Tsing Hua University, son of Shu Shien-Siu
• Hsiao Cheng (萧政; 1943), editor and member of executive council of Journal of Econometrics
• Jin Henghui (金恒炜; 1944), journalist, author, pundit, former vice president of Taiwan Society
• Shen Zhixun (沈志勋; 1962), experimental solid state physicist and a professor at Stanford University, one of the pioneers in materials physics, winner of E.O. Lawrence Award, Advisor for Science and Technology of SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.
• Wu Zhaohui (吴朝晖; 1966), computer scientist, educator, president and professor of Zhejiang University

• Liu Ji (刘基; 1311–1375), one of the greatest military strategists and statesmen in the history of China, founding father of Ming Dynasty alongside founding emperor Zhu Yuanzhang, renowned as the Divine Chinese Nostradamus, author of Shaobing Song
• Huang Huai (黃淮; 1367–1449), Grand Secretariat of Ming Dynasty
• Zhang Cong (张璁; 1475–1539), Ming Dynasty prime minister, reformer, founder of Ming Dynasty Revolution
• Dai Ren (戴任; 1862–1937), revolutionist of Democracy in China, prominent politician during Republic of China, friend and partner of Sun Yat-sen
• Ni Wenya (倪文亚; 1902–2006), former president of the Legislative Yuan of Republic of China
• Xiang Changquan (项昌权; 1903–2000), former vice president of Department of Civil Affairs of Republic of China, former mayor of Taipei, father of Wu-Chung Hsiang
• Wu Qidi (吴启迪; born 1947), educator, former vice prime minister of Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, former president of Tongji University, first collegiate president appointed through election in the history of China
• Jean Ping (让平; born 1942), former Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, former President of the United Nations General Assembly, son of Wenzhounese businessman Cheng Zhiping
• Li Qiang (李强; born 1959), politician, CPC municipal committee secretary of Shanghai, member of the 19th Central Committee.

• Sheun Mingling (林训明; born 1921), billionaire, founder of Evora SA, one of the world's biggest nonwoven manufacturer, biggest aluminum can manufacturer in Brazil
• Nina Wang (龚如心; 1937–2007), billionaire, businesswoman, former Asia and Hong Kong's richest woman, founder of Nina Tower, wife of Teddy Wang
• Kung Yan-sum (龚仁心; born 1942), billionaire, brother of Nina Wang, chairman of Chinachem Group, one of the biggest property developers in Hong Kong
• Jason Chang (张虔生; born 1944), billionaire, founder and president of ASE Group, the world's largest provider of independent semiconductor manufacturing services
• Huang Jiannan (黃建南; born 1945), former chief fundraiser for Democratic National Committee in 1996
• Lin Jianhai (林建海; born 1955), economist, secretary-general of International Monetary Fund
• Nita Ing (殷琪; born 1955), business magnate, billionaire, first lady of the construction business in Taiwan, president of Continental Engineering Corporation
• James Chu (朱家良; born 1957), founder and president of Viewsonic, world's first-ever manufacturer of Smart Display
• Jen-Hsun Huang (黃仁勳; born 1963), co-founder, president and CEO of Nvidia, founder of Jen-Hsun Huang Engineering Center of Stanford University
• Wu Xiaohui (吴小晖; born 1966), owner of Waldorf Astoria New York, founder and CEO of China's second-biggest insurance group, Anbang Insurance Group

• Xia Xuanze (夏煊泽; born 1979), former male badminton player. Badminton at the 2000 Summer Olympics bronze medalist. BWF World Championships gold medalist. Current men's singles coach for the national team of China.
• Ho-Pin Tung (董荷斌; born 1982), first Formula 1 racer in the history of China.
• Zhu Qinan (朱启南; born 1984), Games of the XXVIII Olympiad Gold Medalist in sport shooting
• Xu Jiayu (徐嘉余; born 1995), competitive swimmer who specializes in the backstroke, 2016 Summer Olympics silver medalist. FINA World Aquatics Championships gold medalist. 6X Asian Games gold medalist. Current national record holder in backstroke races in all distances (50, 100, and 200 meters).
• Yao Junsheng (姚均晟; born 1995), footballer who currently plays for Tianjin Tianhai and China national football team.
• Zhang Yuning (footballer, born 1997) (张玉宁; born 1997), footballer who plays as a striker for Beijing Guoan in the Chinese Super League and for the China national football team.

• Yongjia Xuanjue (永嘉玄觉; 655–713), Chán master, Tiantai Buddhist monk, author of the Song of Enlightenment
• Miu Tianrui (缪天瑞; 1908–2009), pioneer of Musical temperament in China, "father of Music journalism" in China
• Zeng Liansong (曾联松; 1917–1999), creator of Flag of the People's Republic of China
• Nan Huai-Chin (南怀瑾; 1918–2012), spiritual teacher of contemporary China, the most important figure of Chinese Buddhism in modern China
• Wang Zhaofan (王昭藩; born 1931), architect, one of the designers along with Minoru Yamasaki of original World Trade Center
• Feng Zhenghu (冯正虎; born 1954), economist, activist, reputed as the "prominent human rights defender" in China
• Zhou Yun (周韵; born 1978), main actress in Let the Bullets Fly and The Assassin
• Tang Wei (汤唯; born 1982), actress, main actress in Lust, Caution
• Sui He (何穗; born 1989), Victoria's Secret fashion model, first Asian face of Shiseido, first Asian model to open a Ralph Lauren runway show
• WINWIN (Dong Si Cheng) (董思成; born 1997), known professionally as WINWIN (윈윈), is a lead dancer of K-pop group NCT (band) of SM Entertainment and WayV of Label V.
• Estelle Chen (Chen Yu) (陈瑜; born 1998), Victoria's Secret fashion model, only Asian model in Dior Haute Couture 2015/2016
• Cai Xukun (蔡徐坤; born 1998), known professionally as KUN, is a Chinese solo artist and former member of C-pop group Nine Percent
• Justin (singer, born 2002) (Huang Ming Hao) (黄明昊; born 2002) , former member of Nine Percent and current member of C-pop group NEXT (Chinese band) also known as NEX7 under Yuehua Entertainment