Wenzhou is located at the middle section of the circum-Pacific west coast of China, intersecting the two economic zones of the Yangtze River and the Pearl River Deltas. It is the economic, cultural and transport center of south Zhejiang Province. It also called the City of White Deer, for, as legend has it, when the city was being built a white deer passed by it holding a flower in its mouth. In 675 AD, it began to be called Wenzhou, its name to this today.

Historically, Wenzhou has been a city renowned for its handicrafts and also as one of the birthplaces of celadon. Wenzhou's papermaking, shipbuilding, silk, embroidery, lacquer work, as well as its shoes and leather products, achieved a fairly eminent position in the history of China. During the period of the Southern Song Dynasty, it was opened up as a foreign trade port, enjoying a reputation as a prosperous coastal city comparable to Hangzhou. Wenzhou is the hometown of Nanxi Opera or the Southern Opera. The Tale of the Pipa, written by the famous Wenzhou playwright Gao Ming in the mid-fourteenth century, has been translated into a number of foreign languages and achieved worldwide renown.

Wenzhou derives its present name from its mild climate. It is a part of those subtropical maritime regions with a humid climate, noticeable for its alternating dry and monsoon periods, with distinct seasons and abundant rainfall, yet without intense heat in summer or bitter cold in the winter. It has an average annual temperature and a frost-free period of 260 to 280 days. Therefore, a visit to Wenzhou is a pleasure journey.