Zhangzhou

Zhangzhou (Chinese: 漳州; pinyin: Zhāngzhōu; Wade–Giles: Chang¹-chou¹; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chiang-chiu; formerly Lung-ch'i) is a prefecture-level city in southern Fujian province, China. Located on the banks of the Jiulong River (Beixi), Zhangzhou borders the cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou to the northeast, Longyan to the northwest and the province of Guangdong (Shantou City) to the southwest.

Zhangzhou is home to 4,809,983 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom those of Longwen and Xiacheng districts are considered as urban. These two districts, together with Longhai and Xiamen, form a metropolitan area that, as of 2010, is home to about 5 million inhabitants.

In older English works, its name may appear as Chang-chow or Changchow and in Southeast Asian contexts it appears as Chiang-chew or Chiang Chew from the Hokkien name.

Dialect

The main dialect spoken in Zhangzhou is Hokkien, one of the major Min Nan languages/topolects. Standard Mandarin is used in government, commerce and official business.