Xuchang
Xuchang
许昌 | |
|---|---|
| 许昌市 | |
 Xuchang in Henan | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Henan |
| Area | |
| • Prefecture-level city | 4,997 km2 (1,929 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 67 km2 (26 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,069 km2 (413 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 71 m (234 ft) |
| Highest elevation | 1,150.6 m (3,774.9 ft) |
| Lowest elevation | 50.4 m (165.4 ft) |
| Population | |
| • Prefecture-level city | 4,307,199 |
| • Density | 860/km2 (2,200/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 367,004 |
| • Urban density | 5,500/km2 (14,000/sq mi) |
| • Metro | 1,139,644 |
| • Metro density | 1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Postal code | Unknown |
| Area code | 374 |
| GDP | ¥8,153 per capita (2002) |
| Major Nationalities | Han |
| County-level divisions | 6 |
| Township-level divisions | unknown |
| License plate prefixes | 豫K |
| Website | http://www.xuchang.gov.cn/ |
Xuchang (simplified Chinese: 许昌; traditional Chinese: 許昌; pinyin: Xǔchāng; Postal map spelling: Hsuchang) is a prefecture-level city in central Henan province in Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the northwest, Kaifeng to the northeast, Zhoukou to the east, Luohe to the southeast, and Pingdingshan to the southwest.
Its population is 4,307,199 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,139,644 live in the built up area (Weidu district and Xuchang county)
Administration
The prefecture-level city of Xuchang administers 1 district, 2 county-level cities and 3 counties.
- Weidu District (魏都区)
- Yuzhou City (禹州市)
- Changge City (长葛市)
- Xuchang County (许昌县)
- Yanling County (鄢陵县)
- Xiangcheng County (襄城县)
History
According to tradition, the city was named after Xu, an ancient state led by tribal leader Xuyou during the Spring and Autumn Period of the Zhou Dynasty. In ancient times, the city occupied a strategic location in central China.
Xuchang served as the warlord Cao Cao's de facto capital during the Three Kingdoms Period. After finding the Han Dynasty capital Luoyang ravaged by war, Cao moved the imperial court and the emperor to what is now Xuchang in 196.
In 220, Cao Cao's son and successor Cao Pi officially declared the city as the capital of the newly-established state of Wei. The city was renamed "Xuchang", meaning "Xu Rising". The Wei emperors held court at Xuchang until the capital was moved to Luoyang in the 220s.
Geography and climate
Xuchang ranges in latitude from 33° 16' to 34° 24' N and in longitude from 113° 03' to 114° 190' E.
Xuchang has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with four distinct seasons. Winters are cool and dry, summers hot and humid, spring begins early and is warm, and autumn is mild and provides a reasonable transition. Rain mainly falls from May to September, as more than 70% of the annual precipitation occurs then. The city has an annual mean temperature of at 14.5 °C (58.1 °F), and its highest average monthly temperature is 27.1 °C (80.8 °F) in July and the lowest is 0.7 °C (33.3 °F) in January. Just over 700 millimetres (28 in) of precipitation falls each year, and there is on average 217 frost-free days and 2280 hours of sunshine per year.
| Climate data for Xuchang(1971–2000) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 6.1 (43.0) |
8.9 (48.0) |
13.9 (57.0) |
21.3 (70.3) |
26.8 (80.2) |
31.8 (89.2) |
32.0 (89.6) |
30.7 (87.3) |
27.0 (80.6) |
21.7 (71.1) |
14.4 (57.9) |
8.2 (46.8) |
20.2 (68.4) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.6 (25.5) |
−1.4 (29.5) |
3.0 (37.4) |
9.4 (48.9) |
14.8 (58.6) |
20.0 (68.0) |
23.1 (73.6) |
22.0 (71.6) |
16.6 (61.9) |
10.5 (50.9) |
3.7 (38.7) |
−1.7 (28.9) |
9.7 (49.5) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 12.0 (0.47) |
14.9 (0.59) |
33.7 (1.33) |
43.5 (1.71) |
72.8 (2.87) |
83.5 (3.29) |
163.3 (6.43) |
121.7 (4.79) |
71.4 (2.81) |
50.7 (2.00) |
26.0 (1.02) |
12.1 (0.48) |
705.6 (27.79) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 3.5 | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.9 | 7.9 | 8.4 | 11.7 | 10.6 | 8.3 | 7.7 | 5.4 | 3.8 | 86.2 |
| Source: Weather.com.cn[1] | |||||||||||||
Agriculture and industry
Xuchang is an important center of the Chinese tobacco industry. However, due to economic reasons many farmers have chosen not to plant tobacco anymore.
The city is also famous for its man-made human hair exports.
Tourism
Famous tourist attractions include Baling Bridge and Chunqiu Tower.
Sister city
On 18 December 2006, the Oromia Region government in Ethiopia signed an agreement with Henan Province to establish a sister city program with Ambo.[2]
Notes
External links
- Government website of Xuchang (in Simplified Chinese)
