Huarong County

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Huarong (华容) is the north-western county of Yueyang city, bordering the Yangtze River and Hubei on the north. About one hour NW of Yueyang by buses that leave from the West Bus Station every 15-20 minutes. Direct buses also run to and from YiChang (4 hours), ZhangJiaJie (7 hours), ChangSha (3 hours), XiangTan (4 hours), ZhuZhou (4 hours) and many other places around China. As yet Huarong is inaccessible by train, but plans are underway to build tracks in the next few years.

Huarong is a small but quickly-growing town of about 100,000 people. It lies on opposite banks of the Huarong river, connected by two large traffic bridges. It is home to one of Hunan's key middle schools, Huarong County Number One Middle School （华容一中）.

Huarong's main industries include a beer factory that makes the popular XingHua （兴华） brand of beer. The largest prison in Hunan is located just to the east of Huarong along the road to Yueyang, surrounded by miles and miles of fields cultivated by the prisoners that grow mainly pumpkins. Surrounding Huarong are hundreds of fish farms, large cotton fields, and rice paddies.

During the summer, tables and chairs spring up all over Huarong for people to sit and drink BingHua, a sweet slushy drink with fruit, nuts, and raisins. A special way of preparing fish "Si bai yu" is Huarong's signature dish.

Huarong boasts its own local dialect, called "Huaronghua."

North-east of Huarong about 45 minutes lies DongShan, a pristine mountain town with a temple and a large reservoir perfect for swimming.

Huarong is the planned site for China's next nuclear power plant, to be built at an isolated location about an hour from the center of town near the Yangtze river. Huarong county is plagued by annual floods, though these floods rarely reach the town itself.

Huarong's foreign population is usually 2-3 people, generally English teachers at the Number One Middle School. Huarong remains undiscovered by tourists, though it is a beautiful and peaceful place with clean air and a small-town feel.