From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jinjiang (晋江市; pinyin: Jìnjiāng) is a county-level city of Quanzhou Municipality in Fujian. It is located in the southeastern part of the province, on the right or south bank of the Jin River, across from Quanzhou's urban district of Fengze. Jinjiang city also borders the Taiwan Strait of the East China Sea to the south, and Quanzhou's other county-cities of Shishi and Nan'an to the east and west, respectively.

Jinjiang is known for the large number of foreign-invested factories which operate there, especially clothing and name-brand footwear. Despite appalling sweatshop conditions, many migrant labourers come from around and even outside the province to commit themselves to year-long contracts.

Jinjiang speaks a form of the Minnan or Hokkien dialect which is intelligible in Xiamen or on Taiwan. Most of its people can also speak Mandarin, which is used in schools and to communicate with non-minnan-speakers in business and daily life.

Jinjiang is the site of the Quanzhou Airport, a gift from Lai Changxing (see below). The facility is of international standard but is kept domestic because the province has been allotted only two international airports, one in the capital Fuzhou and one in nearby Xiamen.

Jinjiang's most infamous son is undoubtedly Lai Changxing who has been described by the official Xinhua news agency as "China's most wanted fugitive". Lai was a major player in the Xiamen-centred Yuanhua corruption and smuggling scandal which broke in 1999. Tipped off by China's central police leadership, Lai fled to Canada on fake Hong Kong SAR documents with his wife Zeng (often Tsang) Mingna and their children. He was eventually detained on Canadian immigration charges and put under house arrest at his home in Burnaby, British Columbia.

• José Rizal

• Postcards from China - Travel blog of an American visiting Jinjiang with his wife, a native of the region, and their two young children. Lots of photos and observations on local culture.