Shihezi

In 1951, General Wang Zhen decided to build a new base for the People's Liberation Army and selected the location of current Shihezi. Zhao Xiguang (赵锡光) took charge in the development of the city, and established the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps in 1954.

Quasimilitary-structured farms surrounding Shihezi fueled the development of the city by producing materials for the factories that have been the economic drivers of the city. In 1974, Shihezi became a city.

Shihezi contains 5 subdistricts, 2 towns, and a township-equivalent region:

Nowadays textile and food industries are the most important in Shihezi. The railway to Wusu and Ürümqi skirts the city, while a United Nations economic development project provided a high-quality highway system for the city. The textile industry is the primary employer, although the international trade environment on textiles has brought in fluctuations in employment. As a hub to surrounding farms, the city's destiny is currently tied with theirs. Sugar beets are cultivated near Shihezi. Cultivation of cotton in the farms was accelerated in the 1990s and now dominates the economy.Shihezi a 'Shining Pearl in the Gobi Desert' (China.org.cn by staff reporter Wang Qian, October 3, 2004)

Shihezi is also home to a polysilicon factory of Daqo New Energy Corp., one of the largest polysilicon producers in the world.{{Cite web|date=12 May 2021|title=Polysilicon Manufacturers: Global Top 10 {{!}} Bernreuter Research|url=https://www.bernreuter.com/polysilicon/manufacturers/|access-date=2 December 2021|website=Bernreuter Research}}

Shihezi is located at the northern foothills of the middle part of the Tian Shan range approximately {{convert|136|km}} from the regional capital of Ürümqi.

Although Shihezi is almost surrounded on the east, west and north by the Changji Hui Autonomous Prefecture (which also includes the city's eastern neighbor, the much older historically Hui town of Manas), it is not a part of it.

Located in an area further from the nearest seacoast than any other region on earth, Shihezi has a continental semi-arid climate (Köppen BSk), with a large temperature differences between summer and winter. Monthly average temperatures range from {{convert|-15.3|°C|1}} in January to {{convert|25.3|°C|1}}, and the annual mean temperature is {{convert|7.39|°C|1}}. Precipitation is very low year-round, with an annual total of only {{convert|206|mm|2|sp=us}}, compared to the annual evaporation rate, which is usually more than {{convert|1000|mm|0|sp=us}}.

{{Weather box|width=auto

|metric first=y

|single line=y

|collapsed = Y

|location = Shihezi, elevation {{convert|443|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2010)

|Jan record high C = 7.6

|Feb record high C = 6.6

|Mar record high C = 22.7

|Apr record high C = 35.4

|May record high C = 37.4

|Jun record high C = 39.2

|Jul record high C = 42.2

|Aug record high C = 41.0

|Sep record high C = 39.4

|Oct record high C = 33.3

|Nov record high C = 17.5

|Dec record high C = 8.3

|Jan record low C = -34.4

|Feb record low C = -36.5

|Mar record low C = -30.5

|Apr record low C = -19.4

|May record low C = -0.2

|Jun record low C = 6.6

|Jul record low C = 9.6

|Aug record low C = 3.5

|Sep record low C = -0.5

|Oct record low C = -8.9

|Nov record low C = -28.9

|Dec record low C = -36.0

|Jan high C = -11.0

|Feb high C = -5.8

|Mar high C = 6.5

|Apr high C = 20.7

|May high C = 27.0

|Jun high C = 31.7

|Jul high C = 33.0

|Aug high C = 31.7

|Sep high C = 25.9

|Oct high C = 16.5

|Nov high C = 4.0

|Dec high C = -7.3

|Jan mean C = -15.6

|Feb mean C = -10.6

|Mar mean C = 1.5

|Apr mean C = 13.5

|May mean C = 19.7

|Jun mean C = 24.5

|Jul mean C = 25.7

|Aug mean C = 23.7

|Sep mean C = 17.7

|Oct mean C = 9.1

|Nov mean C = -0.5

|Dec mean C = -11.3

|Jan low C = -20.2

|Feb low C = -15.3

|Mar low C = -3.3

|Apr low C = 6.7

|May low C = 12.5

|Jun low C = 17.3

|Jul low C = 18.5

|Aug low C = 16.3

|Sep low C = 10.1

|Oct low C = 2.9

|Nov low C = -4.3

|Dec low C = -15.0

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 10.1

|Feb precipitation mm = 11.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 12.9

|Apr precipitation mm = 29.0

|May precipitation mm = 31.6

|Jun precipitation mm = 22.1

|Jul precipitation mm = 22.7

|Aug precipitation mm = 21.3

|Sep precipitation mm = 13.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 18.4

|Nov precipitation mm = 19.6

|Dec precipitation mm = 14.2

|Jan humidity = 82

|Feb humidity = 81

|Mar humidity = 71

|Apr humidity = 49

|May humidity = 44

|Jun humidity = 46

|Jul humidity = 51

|Aug humidity = 53

|Sep humidity = 54

|Oct humidity = 63

|Nov humidity = 77

|Dec humidity = 84

|unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 9.4

|Feb precipitation days = 7.6

|Mar precipitation days = 4.8

|Apr precipitation days = 6.2

|May precipitation days = 7.4

|Jun precipitation days = 7.3

|Jul precipitation days = 7.5

|Aug precipitation days = 6.4

|Sep precipitation days = 4.4

|Oct precipitation days = 4.9

|Nov precipitation days = 6.8

|Dec precipitation days = 9.7

|year precipitation days =

|Jan sun = 93.4

|Feb sun = 125.4

|Mar sun = 211.0

|Apr sun = 270.4

|May sun = 320.0

|Jun sun = 318.1

|Jul sun = 328.6

|Aug sun = 317.6

|Sep sun = 281.8

|Oct sun = 237.6

|Nov sun = 131.2

|Dec sun = 79.2

|year sun =

| Jan percentsun = 32

| Feb percentsun = 42

| Mar percentsun = 56

| Apr percentsun = 66

| May percentsun = 69

| Jun percentsun = 69

| Jul percentsun = 71

| Aug percentsun = 75

| Sep percentsun = 77

| Oct percentsun = 71

| Nov percentsun = 46

| Dec percentsun = 29

| year percentsun =

|Jan snow days = 14.3

|Feb snow days = 10.7

|Mar snow days = 4.2

|Apr snow days = 1.1

|May snow days = 0

|Jun snow days = 0

|Jul snow days = 0

|Aug snow days = 0

|Sep snow days = 0

|Oct snow days = 0.7

|Nov snow days = 6.2

|Dec snow days = 13.4

|year snow days =

|source 1 = China Meteorological Administration{{cite web |url=http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data |publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans |access-date=10 October 2023}}

{{cite web|url=https://experience.arcgis.com/template/e724038fda394e9d9b7921f10fd1aa55/page/%E7%BA%AF%E8%A1%A8%E6%A0%BC%E7%BB%9F%E8%AE%A1-(%E5%AF%B9%E6%AF%948110%E5%8F%98%E5%8C%96)/?org=UQmaps |script-title=zh:中国气象数据网|publisher=China Meteorological Administration |language = zh-hans | access-date =10 October 2023 |title=Experience Template }}

|source 2 = Weather China{{cite web

| url = http://www.weather.com.cn/cityintro/101130301.shtml?

| script-title=zh:石河子城市介绍

| publisher = Weather China

| language = zh-hans

| access-date = 2011-11-29}}

|date=March 2012}}

The Manas River forms the administrative border between Shihezi City and its eastern neighbor, Manas County. An extensive system of reservoirs (such as the Jiahezi Reservoir ({{lang-zh|s=夹河子水库|p=Jiāhézi shuǐkù|labels=no}}, with the dam at {{coord|44|27|00|N|86|7|15|E|region:CN-65_type:landmark}}) and irrigation canals has been constructed in the area, supporting irrigated agriculture.

Shihezi University is located in Shihezi. It is the second-largest university in Xinjiang, with approximately 40,000 students.

Shihezi is served by China National Highway 312, the Northern Xinjiang and the Second Ürümqi-Jinghe Railways. Reconstruction of the Shihezi Huayuan Airport began in May 2012 and it reopened on 26 December 2015.{{cite web|url=http://news.163.com/15/1228/13/BBU4QR3100014AED.html |title=石河子花园机场正式通航|publisher=163.com|date=26 December 2015 |access-date=26 December 2015}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Portal|China}}

• [http://www.setd.gov.cn/ Shihezi economic development zone] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120622105529/http://www.setd.gov.cn/ |date=2012-06-22 }} {{in lang|zh-hans}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20051223172046/http://www.xjshz.gov.cn/ Shihezi party politics public information network] {{in lang|zh-hans}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070314195922/http://www.9654.com/m/shihezi.htm Map of the City of Shihezi] {{in lang|zh}}
• [http://www.china.org.cn/english/2004/Oct/108620.htm Shihezi a 'Shining Pearl in the Gobi Desert' ]
• [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/540410/Shihezi Shihezi (China) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia]

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Category:Populated places in Xinjiang

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