Songjiang District

Songjiang 松江区
District
Songjiang Guangfulin Relics Park, containing the historical site of the Guangfulin Culture dated over 5,000 years ago.
Songjiang in Shanghai
Country	China
Region	Shanghai
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)

Songjiang, is a suburban district, formerly a county, of Shanghai. It has a land area of 605.64 km² (233.84 sq mi) and a population of 1,582,398 (2010). Owing to a long history, Songjiang is known as the cultural root of Shanghai.

Songjiang Town, the urban center of the district, was formerly the major city in the area. It is now connected to downtown Shanghai by Line 9 of the Shanghai Metro.

About 7000 years ago, people living in Songjiang created four types of unique culture: Majiabang Culture, Songze Culture, Liangzhu Culture and Guangfulin Culture, which laid a solid foundation of multicultural characteristics of Shanghai Culture. Songjiang was formerly known as Huating County (华亭县) and was part of Jiangsu province.

In AD 751, during the mid-Tang Dynasty, Huating County was established at modern-day Songjiang, the first county-level administration within modern-day Shanghai.

In the Yuan Dynasty, Huating County was raised to prefecture status and changed its name to Songjiang Prefecture (松江府).

Under the Republic, the Songjiang Special Administration District extended as far as Chongming Island in northern Shanghai.

In 1998, the current Songjiang District was established.

It has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four distinct seasons. Winters are chilly and damp, and cold northwesterly winds from Siberia can cause nighttime temperatures to drop below freezing, although most years there are only one or two days of snowfall. Summers are hot and humid, with an average of 8.7 days exceeding 35 °C (95 °F) annually; occasional downpours or freak thunderstorms can be expected. It is also susceptible to typhoons in summer and the beginning of autumn, none of which in recent years has caused considerable damage. The most pleasant seasons are spring, although changeable and often rainy, and autumn, which is generally sunny and dry. It averages 4.2 °C (39.6 °F) in January and 27.9 °C (82.2 °F) in July, for an annual mean of 16.1 °C (61.0 °F). With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 34% in March to 54% in August, it receives 1,895 hours of bright sunshine annually. Extreme temperatures within the municipality range from 40.8 °C (105 °F) on 7 August 2013, down to −12.1 °C (10 °F) on 19 January 1893.