Taicang as a place name is mentioned in a memorial to the throne of geographer Jia Dan during the Song dynasty, "Where lies to the east of Kunshan nowadays", he supposedly wrote, "is called Taicang, also known as Gangshen".[3]
Overview
Taicang is a natural port. Under the Yuan, the city reached its peak between 1271 and 1368. Under the Ming, Taicang's Liuhe Harbor was the departure point for Zheng He's treasure fleets. It was also during this period that the shoals in the Yangtze estuary which later became Chongming Island were placed under the supervision of Taicang Prefecture.[4]
The Taicang port is in the east of the city, and south of the Yangtze exit into the East China Sea. The center of the Taicang port is on 31°37′00" North, 121°14′00" East. The port line stretches 24.3 miles (38.8 km), of which 15.6 miles can park 50 thousand ton vessels.
Taicang is in a humid subtropical climate zone with distinctive seasons. The average year round temperature is 15.5 Celsius. Precipitation is around 1078.1 mm.
Climate
Climate data for Taicang (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Taicang is known for having operations from companies established by Germans since 1985, when the first German businessperson went to Taicang. Accordingly, the city obtained the nickname "Little Swabia" with it having German-inspired businesses. The area does not have a significant German population as the German expatriates prefer Shanghai since it contains the German School of Shanghai. The city has the German Centre for Industry and Trade Taicang (Chinese: 太仓德国中心).[7]
Walking through Nanyang square, in Taicang.
ABA Chemicals, a chemicals manufacturing company, is headquartered in Taicang.[8]
By 2021 the city had a labor shortage with workers demanding higher wages.[7]
^2011年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：太仓市 (in Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Archived from the original on 2012-11-01. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
