Wenzhou, also spelled Wen-chou (pop. 3,100,000), is a busy seaport and a major city in Zhejiang Province, China. It is also called Yongjia. Wenzhou stands on the Ou River, 40 miles (64 kilometers) from the East China Sea and 240 miles (386 kilometers) southwest of Shanghai.
The city is an important marketing center for farm products and raw materials from the interior, and a major shipping port for timber and bamboo. Manufactured products include leather goods, straw mats, and umbrellas. The city was opened to foreign trade in 1876 and was a center of the tea trade.
