Qiaotou, Yongjia County

This article is about the town in Yongjia, Zhejiang. For other settlements named Qiaotou, see Qiaotou.

Qiaotou 桥头镇
Town
Coordinates:
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Zhejiang
Prefecture-level city	Wenzhou
County	Yongjia
Population <http://baike.baidu.com/view/134151.htm>
• Total	6.46 million
Time zone	China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code	325100
Area code(s)	0577

Qiaotou (simplified Chinese: 桥头; traditional Chinese: 橋頭; pinyin: Qiáotóu; literally: "Bridgehead") is a town of western Yongjia County in southern Zhejiang province, China, on the northern (left) shore of the Ou River, located upstream from Wenzhou.

Qiaotou is known as the "button capital of the world" since, as of 2006, the town produces 60 percent of the world's supply of clothing buttons. In addition, the town makes 80 percent of the world's zippers. Qiaotou manufactures 15 billion buttons and 200 million meters of zippers a year and is the site of the China Qiaotou Button City trade center.

The nearest major highway is the G1513 Wenzhou–Lishui Expressway, located just south of the town centre.

External links

• "The tiger's teeth" from The Guardian on Qiaotou's button industry
• "Chinese 'Button Town' Struggles with Success" from Morning Edition on NPR