Hu County

Hu County
—  County  —
Chinese transcription(s)
 • Traditional 戶縣
 • Simplified 户县
 • Pinyin Hù Xiàn
Hu County
Location in the People's Republic of China
Coordinates:
Country  China
Province Shaanxi
Prefecture Xi'an
Time zone China standard time (UTC+8)

Hu County is a county in Xi'an, Shaanxi, China, which has a population of about 578 thousand. It has an area of 1255 square kilometers, containing 11 towns and 5 townships.To the south of the county is Mount Qinling and north is Weihe River.There are all together 36 rivers running through the area feeding into the water table resulting in a very fertile land.There are 55 acres of arable land, 52.4 acres of land covered by forests. The region also has an abundance of various minerals such as gold, silver, copper, iron, limestone, marble etc. In 2010 the county's GDP reached 100 billion yuan, about 2000 dollars US per capita.

The county has an rich history dating back more than 2000 years. In 1964 the changed the name of the county to Hu County . The phonetics of the name did not change simply the character. The popular farmer's folk art shows the county's natural beauty. They are mainly depiction of life as a farmer, everything from planting the seeds to the harvest. The paintings represent the people's positive outlook on life and is an important part of the culture.

The county has a male population of 303.4 thousand and female population of 274.6 thousand, hence a male to female ratio of about 1.1:1. The rural population takes up the majority of the population of the county at 477.4 thousand while the urban population comes in at 100.6 thousand.With the percentages coming to 86.45% and 16.55% respectively. The population density is 477 people per square kilometer with great discrepancies between the rural and urban areas, some times up to 3400 down to 11 per square kilometer.There are 21 ethnic groups within the county with Han being the largest at about 99.88%.

The county enjoys a warm tropical climate free of extreme temperatures.With an average temperature of around 13.3 degrees Celsius. The most pleasant months are in the spring between the month of March and May and also in the autumn from September to November. The winters are cold but not excessive with an average of -1 degrees in January. The summers are warm and dry with most of the precipitation coming in the autumn.

Wide variety of wildlife live in the area, including takin, a nationally protected animal and pheasant also an endangered species. There are 340 kinds of medicinal herbs,such as iris, aggregata, Bupleurum, Tianma, honeysuckle, Fritillaria, Schisandra, etc., Hu County in Shaanxi Province is one of the main origins of aggregata.