Huanggang, Hubei

Huanggang City (Chinese: 黃冈; pinyin: Huánggāng) is a major municipality (also known as a Prefecture) in eastern Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Shan mountain range.

Seven counties fall under its jurisdiction (Tuanfeng, Hongan, Xishui, Qichun, Huangmei, Luotian, and Yingshan) plus two county-level cities (Wuxue and Macheng), as well as two direct administrative divisions (Huangzhou and Longganghu).

The complete municipality covers 9,861 square kilometers and the total population was 7,227,000 at the 2002 census.

History

Huanggang has a history of at least 2,000 years.

Cultural Heritage

Huanggang is home to several significant cultural sites of historical interest, such as the Buddhist Ancestral Hall of Sakyamuni at Doufang Mountain, Wuzu Temple and its Changchun Nunnery, and Dongpo Red Cliff.

Education

Huanggang is the home of Huanggang Middle School which is one of the most famous middle schools of China,making it a city brand. The school is especially famous for its diligent students and excellent records in National College Entrance Examination. Textbooks edited by teachers from this school are widely recognized and popular all over the country.Huanggang Normal University is also in Huanggang.

Economy

Huanggang has a diversified economy, ranging from bio- and herbal medicine to manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism. Since ancient times, Huanggang has been renowned for local specialties such as the "Qichun Four Treasures" (snake, turtle, bamboo, and moxa), Huangmei "tiaohua" embroidery, and Wuxue "zhangshuiqian" bamboo products. Today, Huanggang at large is recognized for organic vegetables. With its "Guihuaxiang" brand of chestnuts, Luotian is the leading chestnut-growing county in all of China. Yingshan is famous for its "cloud mist" green tea. Qichun, of course, is famous for herbal medicine. Macheng is a national model county for cattle breeding. Huangmei is a major center of freshwater shrimp and fragrant jade rice production. And Hongan peanut production ranks the first in Hubei Province.

Transportation

Huanggang enjoys an excellent transportation infrastructure. Wuhan airport is only 90 kilometers (km) to the west, while Jiujiang airport in Jiangxi Province to the east is only 160km away. Being on the Yangtze River, Wuhan main port is within 80km and Huangzhou city has a small bulk-handling port. There is an extensive road network, with three north-south and seven east-west major roads within the main city area. The city also is served by several new expressways, including the north-south "Jingzhu" (Beijing to Zhuhai, in Guangdong Province) expressway and the east-west Wuhan to Shanghai expressway. Huanggang also is on the main north-south "Jingjiu" (Beijing to Hong Kong) and "Jingguang" (Beijing to Guangzhou, in Guangdong) railway lines. And to cross the Yangtze by road, there are three bridges routes: to Ezhou, Huangshi, and Jiujiang.

Famous Persons

Huanggang prefecture is the birthplace of several famous Chinese inventors, scientists, and scholars, including:
* Bi Sheng, the inventor of movable type printing;
* Cheng Yi, ancient idealist philosopher;
* Li Shizhen, herbalist and author of the ancient medical classic "Compendium of Materia Medica";
* Li Siguang, ecologist;
* Lin Biao, One of the ten marshals in China;
* Wen Yiduo, patriotic poet.

As well, Huanggang is famous for breeding military and political leaders. Hongan County is known as the "County of Generals" in that more than 400 Chinese army generals have been born there, a total far greater than for any other county in all of China. In addition, former military leader and President of China, Li Xiannian (1909-1992), was born in Hongan.

References & Links

* [http://www.hg.gov.cn/ Huanggang Government Website] (bilingual Chinese-English)