Hubei

Wuhan

One of the six top cities of China, Wuhan is the capital of Hubei Province and the center of Central China in terms of industry, finance, business, science and education. It has under its jurisdiction nine districts, two suburb areas and two counties with a land area of 8,467 square kilometers and a population of 7.28 million.

Where Wuhan stands in Central China is the confluence of the Yangtze River and its biggest contributor -- the Hanjiang River. The city of Wuhan is naturally divided into three townships, namely Hanshui, Hanyang and Wuchang. With a convenient network of transportation, Wuhan is once the connecting point of nine provinces. It is also a rare city of China with an overall transportation of railway, waterway, road, air, post and telecommunication.

The history of Wuhan dates back to the Shang Dynasty (17th – 11th century BC), 3,500 years ago. Hankou was one of the Top Four Towns in history with advanced business. Wuchang is the place where the 1911 Revolution first started, which overthrew the over 2,000-year-old feudal society.

With more than a hundred lakes and numerous mountains, Wuhan has clearly demarcated four seasons. The culture here is influenced by the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi with a dense flavor of Chu.

Xiangfan

Lying in the northwest of Hubei Province and middle reaches of the Hanshui River, Xiangfan is a historical and cultural city with a history of 2,800 years. It was once the connecting point of seven provinces.

Xiangfan enjoys a rich reserve of historical relics and scenic spots. It is the origin of ancient civilization and one of the birthplaces of the Chinese people. The most famous historic sites include the Baosha Temple, the relics of the ancient city, the tombs and former residences of the nobility. It is an important component of the tour route of the Three Kingdoms. The many relics can always arouse one's imagination of the old days.

There are lots of places for tourists. The well-known ones are the Baopu Rock, the Guanshan Forest Park, Lumen Mountain, and the Xieshan Summer Resort, etc. Other spots to the east are Wuhan and Dahong Mountain, to the west are Wudang Mountain and Shennongjia; to the south are Zhangjiajie, Jiangling Gezhouba Key Water Control Project and the Three Gorges; to the north are Xi’an and Luoyang. With cars, trains and plans directly arrive there; all the trips are within one day.

Xiangfan also has 41 revolutionary spots; it is the place with the devotion of revolutionaries.

Suizhou

Lying in the transitional zone of hills between the Jianghan Plain and the Central Plains, Suizhou is a city of military importance in the north of Hubei Province.

Being a national level historical and cultural city, Suizhou is the birthplace of the primogenitor of the Chinese people, Emperor Yan, who created tillage, planted corns, tasted different herbs and promoted trade, creating the farming civilization of the Chinese nation. The Serial Bells of Marquise Yi of Zeng, unearthed in the drum-beating mound in the west of the city, overwhelmed the world, and is reputed as a wonder of the world music history. The city was once the fiefdom of Yang Jian, Emperor Yangdi of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), and the dynasty was named after Suizhou. Suizhou has beautiful mountain scenery, with Dahong Mountain, Tongbai Mountain, Zhonghua Mountain, the Hujia River, and the Fengjiang River tourist resorts famous home and abroad. Li Bai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), once wrote a poem to admire the scenic beauty here. Dahong Mountain combines steep peaks, elegant hills, quiet forests, odd caves, sweet springs and beautiful lakes, and is a national level tourist destination. Having sweeping willows on both banks, dotted with many islets, and with fishing boats floating on the water, the Fengjiang River and the Xujia River Reservoir are reputed as the Park on the Water. The three ancient passes, namely Pingjing, Huangtu and Wusheng, are located in places of strategic importance, and look magnificent and splendid.

Suizhou has a vast land and is rich in resources. The whole city features the terrain of “seven mountains, one water, and two pieces of fields”, and teems with grains and cottons. It has many special products, like tealeaves, mushrooms, ginkgoes, golden candied date, golden-head centipede, and balloonflower roots, etc.

Yueyang

Yueyang, a bright pearl beside the Dongting Lake, is an important historical and cultural city in the Yangtze River valley.

It learns on Mufu Mountain to the east, faces the Dongting Lake to the west, borders the Yangtze River to the north, and connects with the Xiang, Zi, Yuan and Li rivers to the south. With beautiful scenery, pleasant climate, fertile lands and rich products, Yueyang is reputed as the Land Flowing with Milk and Honey. It has now been listed as a Grade-A tourist city opened to the outside, and is the hometown of the world dragon race culture.

Yueyang is the only port of river in Hunan Province, a center of the small triangle comprising Wuhan, Changsha and Sanxia, and the big triangle comprising East China, Southwest China and South China, and a transportation pivot in eastern China. Transportation on the Yangtze River can lead you to the southwestern border area upstream via Chongqing, and facilitate you to travel across the oceans downstream via Shanghai. The economy in Yueyang holds an important position in China. In June 1992, Yueyang was proclaimed as an open city along the Yangtze River.

The famous Yueyang Pavilion, located at the western city gate of Yueyang, is one of the three noted pavilions south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River in China. It is said that the pavilion was once the parade terrace where Lu Su, a general of the Wu State in the Three Kingdoms Period (220-280), trained the navy. When rebuilt in 1045, Fang Zhongyan was invited to write a poem in memory of the event. In his poem, Fang described the beauty of the structure and indicated his concern about the country and people. The poem was applauded and won the pavilion great fame.

More than 800 years ago, Huang Tingjian, a celebrated poet of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), also wrote a poem for the Yueyang Pavilion when he visited here.

Zhongxiang

Zhongxiang City is located at the central part of Hubei Province and the upper reaches of the Hanjiang River, covers 4,488 square kilometers, and has a population of 1.05 million. Zhongxiang is an ancient but mystic land, and one of the birthplaces of the Chu culture. With a recorded history of more than 2,700 years, it was called Jiaoying and served as the alternate capital of the Chu state in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC) and the Warring States Period (475-221BC), and the prefectural seat of Chengtianfu, one of the three major prefectures directly under the central government, in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

The time-honored history created splendid and colorful Chu culture, and turned out historically influential persons like Song Yu, a litterateur of the Poetry of the South, and Mo Chounü, an artist of Chu songs and dance, etc. Emperor Jiajing of the Ming Dynasty once got on in life here. Zhongxiang boasts numerous cultural relics, including the Xianling Mausoleum, the largest monomer imperial mausoleum in China, and abundant tourism resources, including the national level Dahong Mountain Scenic Area, the national level Dakou Forest Park and other natural landscapes, especially the karst of over 20,000 square meters in the Huangxian Cave.

The long history and splendid culture stored up colorful and special historic sites. In the city, there are 286 cultural relics sites under protection at different levels. Peculiar physiognomy and beautiful mountain and river scenery created fantastic natural landscapes. In the city, there are altogether more than 200 natural scenic spots. These scenic spots and historic sites set off each other and form four famous scenic areas, namely the Chengzhong Historic Site centering on the national level historical and cultural city with, the Kedian Natural Scenic Area centering on the national level Dahong Mountain scenic spot, the Dakou Natural Scenic Area centering on the national forest park, and the Wenxia Reservoir Sight-seeing Area centering on landscapes of mountains and waters.

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