Jinjiang

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. area code: 595