Changting County
Changting (simplified Chinese: 长汀; traditional Chinese: 長汀; pinyin: Chángtīng; Hakka Chinese: Tshòng-tin), also known as Tingzhou or Tingchow(汀州), is a county in western Fujian province, People's Republic of China. With a population of 480,000 and an area of 3,099 square kilometres (1,197 sq mi), Changting is the fifth largest county in the province . The majority of the population belongs to the Hakka people (客家人) and speaks Changting dialect, a dialect of Hakka Chinese (客家语). The Changting dialect is mutually unintelligible with the Meixian dialect, which is another Hakka language spoken in Guangdong.
The county seat is the town of Tingzhou.
History
Main article : Tingzhou Prefecture
Changting was originally the name of a prefecture (called Tingzhou in imperial times), established in the second year of the Republic of China - 1913. During the Chinese Civil War, this prefecture was the economic and financial centre of the Chinese Soviet Republic. Tens of thousands of people from Changting joined the Chinese Red Army but not many survived the Long March.
