Xianning

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Xianning
咸宁
Prefecture-level city
咸宁市
In the fields just south of Xianning's city centre
Location of Xianning City in Hubei and the PRC
Xianning
Location of the city centre in Hubei
Coordinates: 29°53′N 114°13′E / 29.883°N 114.217°E / 29.883; 114.217Coordinates: 29°53′N 114°13′E / 29.883°N 114.217°E / 29.883; 114.217
Country People's Republic of China
Province Hubei
Area
 • Total 9,861 km2 (3,807 sq mi)
Population (2008)
 • Total 2,882,000
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Postal code 437000
Area code(s) 0715
Website xianning.gov.cn

Xianning (simplified Chinese: 咸宁; traditional Chinese: 咸寧; pinyin: Xiánníng) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Jiangxi to the southeast and Hunan to the southwest. It is known as the "City of Osmanthus".

Geography and climate

Xianning is located in southeastern Hubei province, just south of Wuhan, between the southern bank of the Yangtze River in the north and the Mufu Mountains in the south. It borders Jiangxi to the southeast and Hunan to the southwest. It is called Hubei's southern gateway. Xianning is hilly and mountainous (especially in its southern part), with some flatlands (mostly in the north) and lakes. Its area is 1,501 square kilometres (580 sq mi), 56% of which is forested.

Xianning's climate is temperate/continental. Average annual temperature is 17 °C and precipitation is 1,400 millimetres (55 in).

Administration

Xianning has 1 district, 4 counties, 1 county-level city, 9 towns, 1 township, and 3 sub-districts.

City:

  • Chibi (赤壁市)

District:

  • Xian'an (咸安区)

Counties:

Demographics

Xianning has a population of 2,772,000 people. Most of the inhabitants of Xianning are Han; only 4,785 are from other ethnic groups including Hui, Tujia, Zhuang, Miao, Manchu, and Dong. The place with the largest ethnic minority population is in Chibi City.

Economy

Agriculture and forestry are two of Xianning's biggest industries. It is known by the three names, "City of Osmanthus", "City of Nan Bamboo", and "City of Tea". There are more than 1 million mu (~151,822 English acres) of "Nan" Bamboo, 30,000 Chinese acres of osmanthus, and more than 150,000 Chinese acres of tea.

Mineral resources are also an important part of Xianning's economy. Niobium, gold, magnesium, antimony, monazite, coal, manganese, vanadium, mica, and marble are all mined or quarried in Xianning.

Xianning Nuclear Power Plant is under construction near Dafan Town, Tongshan County. On 17 August 2010, the Shaw Group announced an agreement with State Nuclear Power Engineering Corp. Ltd., a subsidiary of China’s State Nuclear Power Technology Corp. Ltd. (SNPTC), to add two new AP1000 units at the Xianning Nuclear Power Plant.[1]

Transportation

Xianning has major rail lines, including the Beijing-Guangzhou line, many national highways, and a large stretch of the Yangtze River, making it an important transportation and shipping center.

There are two passenger train stations on the "conventional" Beijing-Guangzhou line within the Prefecture-level city of Xianning - the Xianning Railway Station in urban area itself (80 kilometres (50 mi) from Wuhan's Wuchang train station), and the one in Chibi (118 kilometres (73 mi) from Wuchang) - are usually the first and the second stops for the slower trains leaving Wuchang toward Changsha and Guangzhou. Typical travel times from Wuchang is 40-50 min and 1 hour 20 min, respectively.[2]

The new Wuhan–Guangzhou High-Speed Railway has Xianning North Railway Station, which is located on the northern outskirts of the city's main urban area, about 2 km northeast of Xianning Railway Station.

The Wuhan–Xianning Intercity Railway (part of the future Wuhan Metropolitan Area Intercity Railway system), which is to open at the end of 2013, will provide direct rail service from Wuhan's Wuchang Railway Station to Xianning city center. It will have two stations in the city's main urban area: Xianning East Railway Station in downtown Xianning, and Xianning South in the industrial area south of downtown. The expected travel time from Wuchang to Xianning is 28 min.[3][4]

Tourism

Xianning's biggest tourist draw is its natural scenery. There are many sites including Taiyi Cave (太乙洞), Star Bamboo Sea (星星竹海), Mount Jiugong (九宫山, in Tongshan County), Lushui Lake (陆水湖), as well as the historical site the Chibi Ancient Ruins (赤壁遗址).

At the "Underground Project 131" site, some 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of downtown Xianning (within Xian'an District, tourists can visit a system of underground tunnels that were built in 1969-71 to accommodate national military headquarters in the case of a war, but never used.[5]

References

  1. ↑ BUSINESS WIRE
  2. ↑ Xianning schedule search at tielu.org
  3. ↑ 武咸城际铁路将通车 13站串起湖北首条市郊客运线 (Wuhan-Xianning Intercity Railway to start service soon. Thirteen station along Hubei's first suburban passenger railway), 2013-12-16
  4. ↑ See the detailed system map at http://bbs.cnhubei.com/thread-1538025-1-1.html
  5. ↑ 林彪为毛主席修建的地下避难所“131地下工程”

External links

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