Rizhao, alternatively romanized as Jihchao, is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Shandongprovince, China. It is situated on the coastline along the Yellow Sea, and features a major seaport. It borders Qingdao to the northeast, Weifang to the north, Linyi to the west and southwest, and faces Korea and Japan across the Yellow Sea to the east. The name of the city literally means "sunshine". The city is known for its sustainability, and it mandates solar-water heaters in all new buildings. Rizhao city was recognized by the United Nations as one of the most habitable cities in the world in 2009. The city population stands at 2,801,100 as of the 2010 census. Out of those, a little over 865,000 people live in the urban area of Donggang District.
Rizhao has a temperate, four-season, monsoon-influenced climate that lies in the transition between the humid subtropical and humid continental regimes, but favoring the former. Winter is cool to cold and windy, but generally dry, with a January average of. Summer is generally hot and humid, but very hot days are rare, with an August average of. Due to its proximity to the coast and being on a peninsula, it experiences a one-month delayed spring compared to much of the province. Conversely, fall is milder than inland areas in Shandong. The annual mean temperature is. On average, there are 2,530 hours of bright sunshine annually and the relative humidity is 70–74 %.
The city now mandates the incorporation of solar panels in all new buildings, and oversees the construction process to ensure the panels are correctly installed. The effort to install solar water heaters began in 1992. As of 2007, 99 percent of households in the central districts use solar water heaters, and most of the lighting and traffic signals are powered with photovoltaic solar power. In 2007 the city had over a half-million square meters of solar water heating panels, which have effectively reduced conventional electricity usage by 348 million kilowatthours per year. The city has been designated as the Environmental ProtectionModel City by China's SEPA, and is consistently listed in the top 10 cities for air quality in China.
Transportation
Rizhao features a major seaport, located approximately north of Shanghai, southwest of Qingdao, and north of Lianyungang. The seaport serves as a site for loading and unloadingiron ore and coal. Other products passing through the harbor include cement, nickel, bauxite, and the like. In 2011 the Port of Rizhao, together with the cities of Qingdao, Weihai and Yantai in Shandong, signed a strategic alliance with Busan, the largest port of the Republic of Korea. The alliance aims at building a shipping and logistics center in Northeast Asia. The new iron ore port of Lanqiao is located close to it as is the Lanshan port region. Rizhao Shanzihe Airport is an airport serving the city of Rizhao. The airport received approval from the State Council and the Central Military Commission in October 2013. It is located in the town of , Donggang District. It was opened on 22 December 2015. The city is served by two railway stations, Rizhao railway station for local trains and Rizhao West railway station for both local and high speed services.
