Lichuan, Hubei
| Lichuan 利川 |
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| — County-level city — | |
 Lichuan
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| Coordinates: 30°18′N 108°55′E / 30.3°N 108.917°ECoordinates: 30°18′N 108°55′E / 30.3°N 108.917°E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Hubei |
| Prefecture | Enshi |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
Lichuan (Chinese: 利川; pinyin: Lìchuān) is a county-level city of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in southwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It has approximately 73,000 inhabitants.
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[edit] Ran Jianxin
Ran Jianxin was an official of Lichuan who fought against local corruption and organized expropriation by the government. He was accused by the government of corruption. Six months later, on 26 May 2011, Ran was arrested. His accusers were never able to produce evidence to support their charges.
On 4 June 2011, during the interrogation of Ran Jianxin, investigators from the People's Procuratorate of Badong learned that the suspect was feeling ill. Ran was sent for treatment Badong People's hospital. At 16:30 the same day, Ran Jianxin died, despite attempts to revive him. The cause of death is officially under investigation.
Meanwhile, photos of Ran Jianxin have been circulating around the Internet for all to see, often accompanied by the following question: "Do you need an investigation to prove that this man was killed ...?"
By uploading these pictures of the bruised body of Ran Jianxin, there seems to be little doubt about the cause of his death.
While the government is officially "investigating", many people in Linchuan went to the streets to express their anger and discontent. According to various online sources, the number of people who took to the streets range from 1,500 to 20,000.
[edit] Nature
Lichuan is believed to be the location of most (if not all) of the naturally growing Metasequoia glyptostroboides trees in existence. The Metasequoia genus, related to the giant redwoods of North America, was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic Era in 1941. But in 1943 a small stand of an unidentified tree was discovered in Modaoxi (磨刀溪), presently known as Moudao (谋道) Town, in Lichuan County, by Zhan Wang.[1] After the end of the World War II, this tree species was officially described as the only living species of Metasequoia, and given scientific name Metasequoia glyptostroboides. In 1948 the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University sent an expedition to Lichuan to collect seeds and, soon after, seedling trees were distributed to various universities and arboreta worldwide for growth trials.
Presently, a number of natural Metasequoia populations exist in the hills and wetlands of Lichuan. Most of these groups are small, with fewer than 30 trees each; however, the largest of them, in Xiaohe Valley, is estimated to consist of around 5,400 trees.[1] Outside of Lichuan, a few trees are also said to exist in the Hunan Province.[1]
[edit] Transport
China National Highway 318 runs through Lichuan on its way from Enshi to Wanzhou.
Until recently, there were no railways in Lichuan (or anywhere in Enshi Prefecture). But with the construction of the Yiwan Railway (scheduled to open in 2010), the new Lichuan Station will become a junction where the Yuli Railway (the line from Lichuan toward Chongqing) will join the Yiwan Railway mainline (from Yichang via Lichuan to Wanzhou, with further connections to Chengdu).
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Langlois, Gaytha A. (2005), "A conservation plant for Metasequoia in China", in LePage, Ben A.; Williams, Christopher James; Yang, Hong, The geobiology and ecology of Metasequoia, Volume 22 of Topics in geobiology, Springer, p. 369, ISBN 1402026315, http://books.google.com/books?id=JfiWU-1GSqEC&pg=PA369
[edit] External links
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