Zhongxiang
| Zhongxiang 钟祥 |
|
|---|---|
| — County-level City — | |
| 钟祥市 | |
 Zhongxiang
|
|
| Coordinates: 31°10′N 112°35′E / 31.167°N 112.583°ECoordinates: 31°10′N 112°35′E / 31.167°N 112.583°E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Hubei |
| Prefecture | Jingmen |
| Area | |
| • Total | 4,488 km2 (1,732.8 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 52 m (170 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 1,032,568 |
| • Density | 230.1/km2 (595.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
| Area code(s) | 0724 |
| Website | http://www.zhongxiang.gov.cn/ |
Zhongxiang (simplified Chinese: 钟祥; traditional Chinese: 鐘祥; pinyin: Zhōngxiáng) is a county-level city of Jingmen, central Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Zhongxiang means "Blessed with propitious omen", which was gifted by Emperor Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty. Zhongxiang is a well-known historical and cultural city in China.
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[edit] History
Zhongxiang is one of the cradles of Chu[disambiguation needed 
] culture. It was the alternate capital of the Chu state in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period.
Because the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing Emperor (known also under the temple name Shizong; reigned 1521–1567) was born and had lived in the city before he succeeded to the throne, Zhongxiang, the place where the Chengtian Prefecture (fu) Government Office was located, became one of the three major prefectures directly under the central government. Once on the throne, the Jiajing Emperor controversially had his dead father Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519) retroactively styled as the Gongruixian Emperor; his mother became the Zhangsheng empress dowager. They were buried at a sumptuous mausoleum, knowns as the Xianling Tomb, a few kilometers northeast of Zhongxiang.[1]
During Jiajing's reign, a large estate owned by the emperor occupied a significant part of Chengtian Prefecture, and was run by the same eunuch who was in charge of the protection of the mausoleum.[2]
The mausoleum complex is now a tourist site; it was included on the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 2000, as one of the Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dynasties.[3]
[edit] Economy
[edit] Industry
After years of construction, an industrial structure has been initially formed by the development of machinery, building materials, chemicals, light industry, textile and food industry. Among more than 600 industrial products, 20 of them entered international markets, 45 species are at national leading level and 130 species are at the leading level in Hubei province.
As of 2009, 265 main industrial enterprises contribute 19.563 billion yuan to the city's industrial output value with a sales value of 18.9747 billion yuan, export delivery value of 307.16 million yuan. [4]
[edit] Agriculture
ZhongXiang has diversified terrain and appropriate subtropical monsoon climate. The total land area is 4760 square kilometer, with 1300 square kilometer cultivated land 300 square kilometer uncultivated land. Area for forest, waters and pasture is 1300 square kilometer, 50 square kilometer and 1200 square kilometer respectively. The total amount of freshwater resources is 5104.2 billion cubic meters.
With diversified terrain, there are different kinds of agricultural products. Main agricultural products include grains, cotton, oil, pigs, poultry, fruits, vegetables, and edible fungus. Main crops includes rice, wheat, corn, soybean silkworm peas, and cotton, rapeseed, peanut, sesame, vegetables, citrus fruit, pears, grape, red jujube, peaches, tea, etc.
In 2009, the municipal agricultural output value reached 8.2 billion yuan. Total agricultural production includes 816500 tons total grain output, 144100 tons cotton output, 120700 tons oil production; 92000 tons animal production; 110000 tons output of aquatic products; 193300 tons fruit production. [5]
[edit] Geography
Zhongxiang,with a total land area of 4,488 square kilometers, is situated in the central part of Hubei Province. It lies at the north of Jianghan Plain, and the middle reaches of the Hanjiang River. Zhongxiang is at 66 m above sea level. Another city not far from Zhongxiang is Jingmen. After the building of the Three Gorges Dam a number of people from the Gaoyang area moved to the area around Zhongxiang.
[edit] Climate
Zhongxiang has a subtropical monsoon climate.The average annual temperature is 15.9 °C. July is the hottest month, with an average temperature 27.8 °C or above, The highest temperature recorded in the city is 39.7 °C, reached on June 22, 1961. January is the coldest month, with an average temperature of 3 °C. The coldest temperature ever recorded in Zhongxiang was -15.3 °C on January 30, 1977.
Zhongxiang has abundant precipitation throughout the year, with average precipitation of 961.6 mm every year. Rain and heat occurring in the same season. Snow commonly occurres on December and January. Zhongxinag receives plenty of sunshine, with about 1930.8 to 2114.3 hours every year.
| Climate data for Zhongxiang | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 7 (44) |
9 (48) |
14 (57) |
20 (68) |
25 (77) |
29 (84) |
31 (87) |
31 (87) |
27 (80) |
22 (71) |
15 (59) |
9 (48) |
19 (66) |
| Average low °C (°F) | 0 (32) |
1 (33) |
5 (41) |
12 (53) |
17 (62) |
21 (69) |
24 (75) |
23 (73) |
18 (64) |
13 (55) |
7 (44) |
1 (33) |
11 (51) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 23 (0.9) |
30 (1.2) |
51 (2) |
86 (3.4) |
114 (4.5) |
135 (5.3) |
178 (7) |
124 (4.9) |
91 (3.6) |
64 (2.5) |
41 (1.6) |
20 (0.8) |
958 (37.7) |
| Source: Weatherbase [6] | |||||||||||||
[edit] Administrative divisions
Zhongxiang is administratively equal to a county and is divided into 19 townships:
- Yingzhong (郢中街道), 49|km}}², 170.991
- Yangzi (洋梓镇), 403|km}}², 68.341
- Changshou (长寿镇), 275|km}}², 27.535
- Fengle (丰乐镇), 162|km}}², 68.700
- Huji (胡集镇), 393|km}}², 129.891
- Shuanghe (双河镇), 235|km}}², 46.220
- Linkuang (磷矿镇), 219|km}}², 47.092
- Wenji (文集镇), 128|km}}², 44.405
- Lengshui (冷水镇), 314|km}}², 47.393
- Shipai (石牌镇), 295|km}}², 84.296
- Jiukou (旧口镇), 201|km}}², 103.514
- Chaihu (柴湖镇), 225|km}}², 95.663
- Changtan (长滩镇), 153|km}}², 20.338
- Dongqiao (东桥镇), 256|km}}², 24.085
- Kedian (客店镇), 293|km}}², 14.581
- Zhangji (张集镇), 289|km}}², 22.805
- Jiuli (九里回族乡), 99|km}}², 16.718
[edit] Sights
- Xianling Tomb (显陵)
- Mountain Dahong National Scenic Area (大洪山国家森林公园)
- Huangxian Cave (黄仙洞) famous for its karst landform
- Wenxia Reservoir (温峡水库)
[edit] References
- ^ Eric N. Danielson, "The Ming Ancestor Tomb"
- ^ Shih-shan Henry Tsai, The Eunuchs in the Ming Dynasty. SUNY Press, 1996. ISBN 0-7914-2687-4. Partial text on Google Books. P. 168
- ^ Imperial Tombs of the Ming and Qing Dyansties. See in particular the China's official nomination document for the UNESCO, with a large chapter on Xianling.
- ^ http://www.zhongxiang.gov.cn/zjzx/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=223
- ^ http://www.zhongxiang.gov.cn/zjzx/ShowArticle.asp?ArticleID=222
- ^ "Weatherbase: Historical Weather for Zhongxiang, China". Weatherbase. 2011. http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weather.php3?s=573780&refer=wikipedia. Retrieved on November 24, 2011.
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