- Wuxue
Wuxue (Chinese: 武穴), formerly Guangji County (广济县), is a
county-level city on the north shore of theYangtze River in easternHubei province,China . Wuxue falls under the administration of Huanggang (黃冈) Municipality.Geography
Wuxue's total population is about 580,000 and the city extends over 1,200 square kilometers, almost all of which is cultivated.
The city has
Mount Lu to the east, is close to theQizhou hometown of famed ancient pharmacistLi Shizhen in neighboringQichun County in the west, borders theYangtze River in the south, and leans against theDabie Shan mountain range in the north.Wuxue is 220 kilometers downriver from the provincial capital of
Wuhan and about 50 kilometers upriver from the port ofJiujiang city, on the south side of the Yangtze inJiangxi province.History
Wuxue opened as a port towards the end of the 16th century. Upon China signing the 1876
Yantai treaty with Britain, foreign merchants established an upgraded wharf.The port's strategic advantage lies in its proximity to the juncture of three provinces — Hubei,
Anhui , andJiangxi — and serves as a central hub for commodity trade.The port was modernized in 1953, with further-enhanced navigational improvements in 1975 and 1980. The total length of the port waterfront is now 14 kilometers, with 23 quay berths and many large warehouses, hoists, and cranes. The port handles both commodity and passenger traffic.
Transportation
In addition to the port, Wuxue is known as the "Gateway to Three Provinces" ("mentioned above"). As well, it is served by the east-west inter-provincial Shanghai-Hibiscus Expressway, and is a major station on the Beijing-Guangzhou railway. A passenger ferry runs across the river and downstream to
Jiujiang , and Wuxue is about one hour by car from Jiujiang airport.References
* [http://www.wuxue.gov.cn/ Wuxue Government website] (Chinese)
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