Yichang Introduction

Yichang City is located at Longitude 110°15′ E to 112°04′ E, Latitude29°56′ N to 31°34′ N . At the west of China’s Hubei Province,Yichang is where the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River are divided. Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Yichang has been defined as a distributing center, an important trading port and a transportation hub along the Yangtze river linking west Hubei and east Sichuan since ancient times. For a very long time, it has been renown as “Gateway to the Three Gorges”, and “Throat between Sichuan and Hubei”. Today,Yichang remains a brisk river port of China, controlling the access to Chongqing City to its southwest.

Yichang covers about 21,000 square kilometers (on both sides of the river) and has a population of some 2½ million urban residents, or about 4 million if the outlying areas are included. Main Nationalities are : Han, Hui, Manchu, Miao, Tujia and Mongolian .

Yichang lies at the eastern end of Xiling Gorge, one of the three gorges of the Three Gorges Dam area, and because of Yichang’s central role in the construction and maintenance of the Three Gorges Dam (alternatively, the Three Gorges Project, or TGP), the city sports an impressive transportation infrastructure: National Highway 318 and the Yihuang Expressway – or the highway that is a part of the TGP itself – both service Yichang, as do Jiaoliu Railway and Three Gorges Airport.

History

With more than 7,000 or 8,000 years of history; called as “the throat of Chuan (namely Sichuan province) and E (namely Hubei province)”; in the Xia and Shang dynasties, used to be the ancient “lands of Jingzhou”; in Spring and Autumn Period, as well as Warring States, cortrolled by the Chu State, being called “the west frontier fortress of Chu” in history; one of the cradles of Chu Culture; called “Xiling” in remote antiquity; also known as “Yiling” for the Yishan Mountain in the northwest, “Xiazhou” for guarding the Three Gorges.

Climates :
In subtropical humid monsoonal climate zone, four seasons clearly demarcated; cloudy and sunny not certain in springs; with humid and hot summers; fine autumns; dry cold winters; with frost free period of 220- 300 days .

Yichang neighbors with Anhui, Jiangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, Shaanxi, and Henan provinces , the Physical Features of Yichang is  higher in the west and lower in the east . The Mountanins around Yichang are    Mt. Dasheng nongjia (with the highest peak of 3053 m), Mt. Wushan (with average height of 700-800m), Mt. Mingfeng, Mt. Guanmiao, Mt. Qingshan, Mt. Xiling .

The Rivers: Huangbaihe River, Qingjiang River, Juzhanghe River, Yuyanghe River, Jingjiang River and Xiangxi River.

Yichang arterial highways extend to every corner, No.318 National Highway crosses the whole Yichang City, through which you may reach Shanghai in the east and Tibet in the west. “The Golden Water Route” of the Yangtze runs through Yichang and it reaches Wanzhou, Chongqing in the west and Wuhan , Shanghai in the east. The express way is from Yichang to Wuhan, Beijing, Xi’an and the railway from Yichang to Zhenzhou, Wuxi, Huaihua, Guangzhou were put into use long ago and an international railway container transport network was also established. Air transport conditions are advantageous. Yichang civil airliners can fly to China’s 23 large and middle cities, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen. The international temporary air-liners was opened, too.

Yichang has a freshness and tidiness, and is able to offer some picturesque natural sights in the region. There aren’t much to see in Yichang city except for the Chinese Sturgeon Museum, where visitors can have a look at all the life-cycle stages of the Chinese sturgeon, as well as 10 different species of sturgeon from around the world. Around Yichang, there are dozens of natual sights worth a visit. Highlights are the Xiling Gorge, Three Gorges Dam, Sanyou Cave and Golden Lion Cave.