Huanggang
(travelchinaguide.com, chinatravel.com, wikipedia)
Updated: 2011-11-21
A bird's eye view of Huanggang city |
Lying at the southern foot of the Dabie Mountains, Huanggang city is situated in the east of Hubei province and is separated from the cities of Ezhou, Huangshi and Jiujiang by the Yellow River. It is bordered by Henan province in the north and Anhui province in the east. Downtown Huanggang is about 78 kilometers west of the capital of the province, Wuhan.
Since a county found here in the Qing Dynasty, Huanggang has always been the political, economic and cultural center in the east of Hubei province and is famous for many celebrities born here, like Bi Sheng ,the inventor of movable-type printing, one of Chinese four great inventions of ancient China (movable-type printing, compass, gunpowder, papermaking).
Huanggang is also home of famous doctors, like Li Shizhen, a great doctor of ancient China, who wrote his famous medicine work, Compendium of Materia Medica.
Huanggang is a rapidly developing city, where the Beijing-Kowloon Railway passes through. Huanggang boasts many picturesque sceneries and is an old revolutionary area with glorious and frugal tradition. Numerous famous generals were born in this place as well.
Zhuqian Lake in Huanggang |
The administrative regionalization of Huanggang began as early as the Xia (21st - 16th century BC) and Shang (16th - 11th century BC) dynasties. It has been about 1,680 years since the first city-level district was established in 329 of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265 - 316). From the Sui (581-618) to the early Ming (1368-1644) dynasties, this area was governed by Huangzhou and Qizhou. After the Ming Dynasty, Huangzhou became the only political center of the region.
Huanggang is bordered to the northeast by the Dabie Mountains; the main ridge of which stretches northwest-southeast through the city, with the terrain sloping smoothly downwards. Central Huangang is a hilly area but the south is narrow and features a long lake. In total, six rivers originate in the Dabie Mountains and flow through the city.
The city enjoys a subtropical monsoon climate with rich rainfall and abundant sunshine. Its annual average temperature is somewhere around 15.7-17.1℃ (60.3-62.8℉). Huanggang's rainy season falls in June to July.
Wunao (five brains) Mountain |
Huanggang has rich natural resources, where more than 50 mineral resources have been found, and among them those with great deposits and high quality are iron sand, phosphorite, quartz and yellow sand etc.
Huanggang is also known for its scenic beauty and numerous spots of history and cultural. Spring and autumn are the most practical seasons to visit Huanggang. The Red Cliff in Huangzhou (the name of Huanggang in ancient times) was a place that every state want to occupy, and many bookman visited there for its history.
Downtown Huanggang is one hour's drive from Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and Jiujiang Airport (Jiangxi province).
Baitan Lake |