Dachen Islands

{{Short description|Group of islands off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China}} {{Infobox islands | name = Dachen Islands | native_name =  | native_name_link = | native_name_lang = | sobriquet =  | image_name = | image_size = | image_caption = | image_alt = | map = | map_alt = | map_width = | map_caption = | map_relief = | label = | label_position = | coordinates = {{Coord|28.46|N|121.90|E|region:CN_type:isle|display=title}} | location =  | archipelago = | waterbody = | total_islands = 29 islands, islets, and rocks, totalling | major_islands = | area_km2 = 14.6 | area_footnotes = | rank = | length_km =  | length_footnotes = | width_km =  | width_footnotes = | coastline_km =  | coastline_footnotes = | elevation_m = | elevation_footnotes = | highest_mount = | country = People's Republic of China | country_admin_divisions_title = Province | country_admin_divisions = Zhejiang | country_admin_divisions_title_1 = City | country_admin_divisions_1 = Taizhou | country_admin_divisions_title_2 = District | country_admin_divisions_2 = Jiaojiang | country_capital_type = | country_capital = | country_largest_city_type = | country_largest_city = | country_capital_and_largest_city = | country_largest_city_population = | country_leader_title = | country_leader_name = | country_area_km2 =  | country_1 = | country_1_admin_divisions_title = | country_1_admin_divisions = | country_1_admin_divisions_title_1 = | country_1_admin_divisions_1 = | country_1_capital_type = | country_1_capital = | country_1_largest_city_type = | country_1_largest_city = | country_1_capital_and_largest_city = | country_1_largest_city_population = | country_1_leader_title = | country_1_leader_name = | country_1_area_km2 =  | demonym = | population = | population_as_of = | population_footnotes = | population_rank = | population_rank_max = | density_km2 = | density_rank = | density_footnotes = | languages = Taizhou Wu | ethnic_groups = | timezone1 = | utc_offset1 = | timezone1_DST = | utc_offset1_DST = | website = | additional_info = {{Infobox Chinese | child = yes | order = st | s = 大陈诸岛 | t = 大陳諸島 | p = Dàchén Zhū Dǎo | w = {{Tone superscript|Ta4ch'en2 Chu1 Tao3}} }} }} The '''Dachen Islands''', '''Tachen Islands''' or '''Tachens''' form an island group off the coast of Taizhou, Zhejiang, China, in the East China Sea. They are administered by the Jiaojiang District of Taizhou.

Before the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955, the islands were administered by the Republic of China (ROC). Subsequently, they have been administered by the People's Republic of China.

==History== {{Expand section|date=December 2009}}

===ROC evacuation=== thumb|ROC soldiers being evacuated by US forces, 2 March 1955 {{Main|Battle of Dachen Archipelago|Operation King Kong}}

Until 1955, the Dachen (Tachen) Islands were administered by the Republic of China (ROC),<ref name=BBC>[https://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/10/newsid_2538000/2538891.stm BBC. February 10, 1955: ''US evacuates Pacific islands'']</ref> the government of which had been based in Taiwan ({{convert|200|mi}} south of the Dachen Islands)<ref>James C. Bradford. ''America, Sea Power, and the World''. {{ISBN|9781118927922}} [https://books.google.com/books?id=T_alCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA279]</ref>{{rp|279}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=MT19550207.2.5|title = Madera Tribune 7 February 1955 — California Digital Newspaper Collection}}</ref> since major fighting ceased in the Chinese Civil War.

As the People's Liberation Army advanced through Fujian Province in the late 1940s, the U.S.-supported Nationalist forces under Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang retreated to China's offshore Islands. On 20 January 1955, the PLA's conquest of Yijiangshan led to the First Taiwan Strait Crisis. The Formosa Resolution of 1955 passed in Congress nine days later in the United States, leading to the orderly evacuation (Operation Pullback) of the Dachen Islands by the United States Navy in February.<ref name="BBC" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishpathe.com/video/formosa-crisis|title=Formosa Crisis}}</ref> At the time, they served as the temporary capital of the Chekiang Province in exile. The U.S. Seventh Fleet used 132 boats and 400 aircraft to move 14,500 civilians, 10,000 Republic of China servicemen and 4,000 guerrilla fighters, along with 40,000 tons of military equipment and supplies from the island.<ref name="BBC" /> Three days after the evacuation, the islands were taken by the People's Liberation Army. Chiang Kai-shek grudgingly allowed the island to fall to the Communists so that the other offshore island groups, Kinmen and Matsu, could be successfully defended.

The civilian population of the islands was resettled in mostly Yilan County, Taiwan, but also in other urban areas in Taiwan.

Many of those evacuated to Taiwan later moved to the United States as they lacked strong social networks and access to opportunities in Taiwan. Chefs from the Dachen Islands had a strong influence on American Chinese cuisine.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Pio Kuo |first1=Chunghao |url=https://www.nyfoodstory.com/articles/taiwanese-immigrants-spark-a-golden-age-for-chinese-food/ |title=Taiwanese Immigrants Spark a Golden Age for Chinese Food|website=www.nyfoodstory.com |publisher=NY Food Story |access-date=29 April 2020}}</ref>

== Geography and climate == The islands are located in the Gulf of Taizhou, off the coast of Zhejiang, the People's Republic of China. The archipelago is sandwiched between Zhoushan in the north and the Nanjishan Liedao ({{lang-zh|s=南麂山列岛|l=Southern Muntjac Archipelago|labels=no}}) in the south, and it is located {{convert|52|km|0|abbr=on}} from Jiaojiang District, which it administratively belongs to. Dachen Archipelago consists of a total of 29 islands, islets, and rocks, totalling {{convert|14.6|km²|1|abbr=out}}.

The fishing industry had long been the backbone of the local economy and the region was one of the largest of the Chinese class II fisheries. However, after decades of overfishing, the natural resources were depleted and as a result, most of the local population was forced to migrate to the mainland in the late-1980s and the local populace experienced a drastic decrease to a fraction of what it once was. To compensate for the depletion of natural resources, aquaculture has become prosperous and the archipelago is currently one of the largest aquaculture bases in the region. However, due to the adaptation of advanced technology which significantly reduced the need for manual labour, the local population has not recovered to its peak level despite the income generated has already been higher than that of the traditional fishery peak in the past, and in fact, the current local population was not much higher than the lowest point in the late-1980s.

To diversify the local economy, tourism has become another major source of income. The annual average temperature is {{convert|16.7|°C|1}}, and the climate is a typical subtropical climate. The forest coverage rate is greater than 56% and it is the provincial level forest park. Due to the forces of nature such as that of tides and winds, there are many spectacular sceneries and the archipelago is called the Chinese Number One Oceanic Penjing ({{lang|zh-Hans-CN|中国第一海上盆景}}). Another tourist attraction was the military fortifications left behind by the nationalists during the Chinese Civil War in the post-World War II era because the archipelago was the site of the Battle of Dachen Archipelago in the First Taiwan Strait Crisis.

{{Weather box | width = auto | metric first = y | single line = y | collapsed = Y | location = Dachen Islands, elevation {{convert|86|m|ft|abbr=on}}, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–present) | Jan high C = 9.8 | Feb high C = 10.4 | Mar high C = 13.2 | Apr high C = 17.4 | May high C = 22.0 | Jun high C = 25.1 | Jul high C = 28.5 | Aug high C = 29.4 | Sep high C = 26.9 | Oct high C = 22.8 | Nov high C = 18.2 | Dec high C = 12.8 | Jan mean C = 7.6 | Feb mean C = 8.0 | Mar mean C = 10.6 | Apr mean C = 14.8 | May mean C = 19.6 | Jun mean C = 23.1 | Jul mean C = 26.5 | Aug mean C = 27.3 | Sep mean C = 24.9 | Oct mean C = 20.8 | Nov mean C = 16.1 | Dec mean C = 10.5 | Jan low C = 5.7 | Feb low C = 6.2 | Mar low C = 8.6 | Apr low C = 12.8 | May low C = 17.7 | Jun low C = 21.6 | Jul low C = 25.1 | Aug low C = 25.6 | Sep low C = 23.3 | Oct low C = 19.2 | Nov low C = 14.4 | Dec low C = 8.6 | Jan record high C = 20.4 | Jan record low C = -4.1 | Feb record high C = 23.3 | Feb record low C = -2.3 | Mar record high C = 24.4 | Mar record low C = -1.2 | Apr record high C = 25.9 | Apr record low C = 4.9 | May record high C = 30.3 | May record low C = 9.0 | Jun record high C = 30.7 | Jun record low C = 13.2 | Jul record high C = 33.1 | Jul record low C = 17.5 | Aug record high C = 35.1 | Aug record low C = 20.5 | Sep record high C = 34.1 | Sep record low C = 16.8 | Oct record high C = 30.5 | Oct record low C = 9.9 | Nov record high C = 26.2 | Nov record low C = 3.1 | Dec record high C = 22.8 | Dec record low C = -3.3 | year high C = | year low C = | year high F = | year low F = | precipitation colour = green | Jan precipitation mm = 73.9 | Feb precipitation mm = 76.7 | Mar precipitation mm = 132.5 | Apr precipitation mm = 113.6 | May precipitation mm = 134.9 | Jun precipitation mm = 197.9 | Jul precipitation mm = 81.8 | Aug precipitation mm = 154.9 | Sep precipitation mm = 147.3 | Oct precipitation mm = 94 | Nov precipitation mm = 89.6 | Dec precipitation mm = 62.1 | Jan humidity = 78 | Feb humidity = 81 | Mar humidity = 84 | Apr humidity = 86 | May humidity = 89 | Jun humidity = 93 | Jul humidity = 92 | Aug humidity = 88 | Sep humidity = 83 | Oct humidity = 77 | Nov humidity = 79 | Dec humidity = 76 | unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm | Jan precipitation days = 11.7 | Feb precipitation days = 12.9 | Mar precipitation days = 17.2 | Apr precipitation days = 16.3 | May precipitation days = 15.5 | Jun precipitation days = 16.0 | Jul precipitation days = 9.5 | Aug precipitation days = 11.6 | Sep precipitation days = 10.7 | Oct precipitation days = 7.8 | Nov precipitation days = 11.0 | Dec precipitation days = 10.2 | year precipitation days = | Jan sun = 112.5 | Feb sun = 104.8 | Mar sun = 117.6 | Apr sun = 130.8 | May sun = 139.9 | Jun sun = 117.6 | Jul sun = 235.8 | Aug sun = 242.5 | Sep sun = 191.3 | Oct sun = 188.0 | Nov sun = 130.0 | Dec sun = 132.0 | year sun = | Jan percentsun = 34 | Feb percentsun = 33 | Mar percentsun = 32 | Apr percentsun = 34 | May percentsun = 33 | Jun percentsun = 28 | Jul percentsun = 56 | Aug percentsun = 60 | Sep percentsun = 52 | Oct percentsun = 53 | Nov percentsun = 41 | Dec percentsun = 41 | year percentsun = | Jan snow days = 1.1 | Feb snow days = 1.4 | Mar snow days = 0.6 | Apr snow days = 0 | May snow days = 0 | Jun snow days = 0 | Jul snow days = 0 | Aug snow days = 0 | Sep snow days = 0 | Oct snow days = 0 | Nov snow days = 0 | Dec snow days = 0.7 | year snow days = | source 1 = China Meteorological Administration<ref name="cma graphical">{{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=25 June 2023}}</ref><ref> {{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 =25 June 2023 |title=Experience Template }}</ref> all-time extreme temperature<ref name = Mherrera>{{cite web |url= https://www.mherrera.org/temp.htm |title= Extreme Temperatures Around the World |access-date= 2024-10-23 }}</ref> NOAA<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/data/oceans/archive/arc0216/0253808/5.5/data/0-data/Region-2-WMO-Normals-9120/China/CSV/DACHEN_DAO_58666.csv |title = Dachen Dao Climate Normals 1991-2020 |publisher = NOAA |language = en-us }}</ref> All-time Oct extreme<ref>{{cite web|url=https://weibo.com/1920136013/Q7BMSn0cp |script-title=zh:【冷热奔向极致】未来南方继续热，热得奔纪录。未来北方转冷，冷到奔纪录。10月8-9日，南北的气温差异巨大。9日下午，华北等地气温比常年偏低10℃甚至更多，江南比常年同期偏高10℃或更多。具体来说：今天江西浙江福建站点包揽高温榜前十，江西铅山38℃排名第一。今天浙江和吉林有5个站点气温创10月最高纪录，玉环连续3天破纪录，普陀连续2天创纪录，洞头昨天平纪录今天破纪录，大陈和通化县前天刚创的纪录，今天又被刷新。未来在副热带高压持续控制下，南方高温继续。未来7天，福州报出7天高温。今年高温日数将增至75天，打破2022年74天纪录。而且未来最高37-38℃，也打破当地10月最高气温纪录。此外10月连续高温、10月高温日数纪录也将不断被刷新。南昌未来7天报了6天高温，今年高温日数将达到77天，追平2024年重庆创下的省会首府直辖市，全年高温日数最多纪录。今年省会首府直辖市高温榜的冠军，将是南昌和福州二选一。从过往统计看，重庆夺冠次数最多，福州第二多。另外，省会首府直辖市在高温榜上，夺冠的天数，近些年不断增加。2022年福州74天、重庆77天，感觉如同天花板一样的存在。今年或许可能会被追平甚至被打破。总之，又是一个气候变暖的例证。未来北方冷空气势力增强，叠加阴雨，最高气温将大幅下降，并大面积创立秋后新低。9日北京最高气温报11℃，如果预报准确，将打破10月上旬最高气温的最低纪录。毛衣、秋裤，都该翻腾出来了。|publisher=weatherman_信欣 on Weibo |language = zh-hans | access-date = 4 October 2025|title=Sina Visitor System }}</ref> | source = }}

==See also== * Yijiangshan Islands (Yikiangshan Islands)

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20021218082318/http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/5943/p1tachen.html Tachen Islands Evacuation History] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20010918215024/http://www.geocities.com/pentagon/5943/p1album2.html Pictures of the evacuation] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050417235118/http://member.giga.net.tw/taiwannote/newpage8.htm Bank notes and brief history of Tachen between 1949 and 1955] {{in lang|zh-tw}}

Category:1955 in Taiwan Category:Islands of Zhejiang Category:Evacuations Category:Taizhou, Zhejiang Category:Islands of the East China Sea Category:Military history of Taiwan Category:Archipelagoes of Asia Category:American Chinese cuisine