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| Yichang |
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A
bird's view at "the peal of the Yangtze". The upper left
is Gezhouba Project. |
At
the east mouth of Xiling Gorge, the
west ends of Three Gorges, Yichang,
"the pearl of Three Gorges", is a strategically important
passage between Sichuan and Hubei provinces.
It fueled by the Gezhouba Hydra Project (Gezhouba
Dam) and the Three Gorges Dam,
which is 40 km upstream. It is 120 km away from Jingzhou in highway
and 167 km in waterway. It serves as a major transit port along the
middle reaches of Yangtze River.
Yichang was known as Yiling in ancient times.
Historical records say that, in the year 278 B. C., namely, during
the Warring States period, the Qin general Bai Qi set fire to Yiling.
This implies that Yiling had already become a city of some size as
far back as more than 2,000 years ago. Like Shashi
(Jingzhou), also an ancient battlefield for centuries, with a history
of 2,400 years. It was made a county first in the Han Dynasty (206
B.C.-A.D. 220), and its status was afterwards elevated to that of
a prefecture. It again became a county in 1735, during the Qing Dynasty. |
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Zhixi
Pavilion, not far from Three Travelers' Cave. Please not this scene
will never gone. It is part of the "Forever Three Gorges"
-- bellow the Three Gorges Dam and water level will remain even after
the the big dam completed in 2003. |
| he
city began to prosper, though lopsidedly, in 1876, the second year
of the Qing Emperor Guangxu's reign when it was opened to foreign
trade as a trading port after the Opium War with Britain and the imperial
government set up a navigation company here. The imperialist powers
also came to build wharves to handle their goods. In all the years
before 1949 when new China was founded, however, Yichang's wharf area
was only less than half a kilometer in length and its wharves were
so poorly equipped that no ships could moor for direct loading and
unloading. After 1949, more than 50 wharves have been constructed
at the port so that its wharf area is now over 15 kilometers long.
The wharves can handle dozens of 2,000-ton vessels simultaneously. |
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Sanjiang
(3rd River) Bridge |
With
the commissioning of the shiplocks at Gezhouba, Yichang can nowadays
admit cargo ships of the 10,000-ton class as well as large passenger
steamers. Loading and unloading have been mechanized. Thanks to the
building of the Jiaozuo - Zhicheng Railway and its branch, the Yaqueling
- Yichang line, the city has been incorporated into the national rail
network, making it a center of water and land transport.
Yichang has undergone renovation and expansion in recent years, especially
since the start of the Gezhouba water control project. New streets
and factory and residential buildings have linked its urban and suburban
industrial districts together. It now developed itself into one of
China's medium-sized industrial cities and an internationally noted
light industry city. Its 300 factories -metallurgical, machine-building,
shipbuilding, textile, chemical, power-generating, electronic, instrument
and meter, pharmaceutical, rubber, paper-making, etc.-- turn out a
wide variety of products, many of which sell readily both at home
and abroad. |
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Baofengao
Bridge connecting the Three Gorges Project and Yichang City |
Situated
as it is on the intersection of the upper and middle reaches of
the Yangtze River, Yichang has a number of scenic and historical
sites. The Nature Pagoda on the bank of the Yangtze dates back to
the Jin Dynasty (265-420), and went through repeated reconstruction.
The present octagonal structure, a legacy from 1790 (during the
Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty), has seven stories. It stands
to a height of 42 meters with windows on each story for viewing
the scenery around.
Local produce is seedless orange, much exported to Japan and Southeast
Asia. Terra cotta wares, mushroom, black tea, garden plants and
decorations, are among those renowned local specialties.
The shiplock in Gezhouba Dam is the border
between the Three Gorges and the middle reaches of Yangtze River.
The world famous Three Gorges Dam is just 30 km away from the city.
Along with the progress of the Three Gorges Project, Yichang will
increase in importance as an industrial city and as a tourist center.
In the city, the Three Gorges Dam model and the Chinese
Sturgeon Aquarium & Research Institute are the haunts of
the tourists. Three Travelers Cave overlooks the
Nanjin Pass of the Yangtze magnificent scenery of the Xiling
Gorge. |
| Yichang
Average Temperatures |
| Month |
Jan |
Feb |
Mar |
Apr |
May |
Jun |
| Temperature(°C
) |
4.7 |
6.4 |
11.0 |
16.8 |
21.3 |
25.6 |
| Month |
Jul |
Aug |
Sept |
Oct |
Nov |
Dec |
| Temperature(°C
) |
28.2 |
27.7 |
23.3 |
18.1 |
12.3 |
6.7 |
|
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Other
Cities/Ports :
Chongqing
Fengdu
Wanxian
Shibaozhai
Wushan (Lesser Three
Gorges)
Badong (Shennong Stream)
Maoping
Yangjiawan Port
(Sandouping)
Yichang
Shashi (Jingzhou)
Wuhan
Puqi (Chibi or Red Cliff)
Jiujiang
Huangshan
Nanjing
Zhenjiang
Yangzhou
Suzhou
Wuxi
Shanghai
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Relating
topics:
Gezhouba Dam
Three Gorges Project (TGP)
Three Travelers' Cave
Nanjin Pass
Chinese Sturgeon
Aquarium
Sandouping (Three Gorges Dam
Shadow Play Gorge
Yellow Ox Temple
Yellow Ox Gorge
Three Travelers' Cave
Map of China with Yangtze River
Map of Yangtze River Three Gorges
and Extended Area
Xiling Gorge
Qutang
Gorge
Wu Gorge
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