Hunan
From ChinaTravelGuide
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[edit] Overview
Hunan Province is located in Central China, in the middle reaches of Yangtze River. It borders Hubei in the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong to the south, Guangxi to the southwest, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest.
Hunan is known for its waters (like Lake Dongting) and mountains (like Zhangjiajie), and is one of the most beautiful provinces in China. Hunan's agriculture supply China much of its rice, oranges, ramie, and tea.
[edit] History
Hunan's primeval forests were first occupied by the ancestors of the modern Miao, Tujia, Dong and Yao peoples. It entered the written history of China around 350 BC, when under the kings of the Zhou dynasty, it became part of the State of Chu. At this time, and for hundreds of years thereafter, it was a magnet for migration of Han Chinese from the north, who cleared most of the forests and began farming rice in the valleys and plains. To this day many of the small villages in Hunan are named after the Han families who settled there. Migration from the north was especially prevalent during the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the Southern and Northern Dynasties Periods, when nomadic invaders pushed these peoples south.
During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, Hunan was home to its own independent regime, Ma Chu.
Hunan and Hubei became a part of the province of Huguang (湖廣) until the Qing dynasty.
Hunan became an important communications center due to its position on the Yangzi River (Changjiang). It was also on the Imperial Highway constructed between northern and southern China. The land produced grain so abundantly that it fed many parts of China with its surpluses. The population continued to climb until, by the nineteenth century, Hunan became overcrowded and prone to peasant uprisings.
The Taiping Rebellion began to the south in Guangxi Province in 1850. The rebellion spread into Hunan and then further eastward along the Yangzi River valley. Ultimately, it was a Hunanese army under Zeng Guofan who marched into Nanjing to put down the uprising in 1864.
Hunan was relatively quiet until 1910 when there were uprisings against the crumbling Qing dynasty, which were followed by the Communist's Autumn Harvest Uprising of 1927. It was led by Hunanese native Mao Zedong, and established a short-lived Hunan soviet in 1927. The Communists maintained a guerrilla army in the mountains along the Hunan-Jiangxi border until 1934. Under pressure from the Nationalist Kuomintang (KMT) forces, they began the famous Long March to bases in Shaanxi Province. After the departure of the Communists, the KMT army fought against the Japanese in the second Sino-Japanese war. They defended the capital Changsha until it fell in 1944. Japan launched Operation Ichigo, a plan to control the railroad from Wuchang to Guangzhou (Yuehan Railway). Hunan was relatively unscathed by the civil war that followed the defeat of the Japanese in 1945. In 1949, the Communists returned once more as the Nationalists retreated southward.
As Mao Zedong's home province, Hunan supported the Cultural Revolution of 1966-1976. However it was slower than most provinces in adopting the reforms implemented by Deng Xiaoping in the years that followed Mao's death in 1976.
Former Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji is also Hunanese.
--from wikipedia.org
[edit] Geography
Hunan Province is located on the south bank of the Yangtze River (Changjiang, 长江), about half way along its length. Shanghai lies 1000 km away, Beijing 1200 km away, and Guangzhou 500 km away.
Hunan is situated between 109°-114° east longitude and 20°-30° north latitude. The east, south and west sides of the province are surrounded by mountains and hills, such as the Wuling Mountains to the northwest, the Xuefeng Mountains to the west, the Nanling Mountains to the south, and the Luoxiao Mountains to the east. The mountains and hills occupy more than 80% of the area and the plain comprises less than 20% of the whole province.
The Xiangjiang, the Zijiang, the Yuanjiang and the Lishui Rivers converge on the Yangtze River at Lake Dongting (Dongting Hu, 洞庭湖) in the north of Hunan. The center and northern parts are somewhat low and a U-shaped basin, open in the north and with Lake Dongting as its center. Most of Hunan Province lies in the basins of four major tributaries of the Yangtze River.
Lake Dongting is the largest lake in the province and the second largest freshwater lake of China. Due to the reclamation of land for agriculture, Lake Dongting has been subdivided into many smaller lakes, though there is now a trend to reverse some of the reclamation, which had damaged wetland habitats surrounding the lake.
Hunan's climate is subtropical, with mild winters and plenty of precipitation. January temperatures average 3 to 8 °C while July temperatures average around 27 to 30 °C. Average annual precipitation is 1200 to 1700 mm.
--from wikipedia.org
[edit] Cities
[edit] Other Places
[edit] Attractions
Probably the best attraction in Hunan is the fabulous Wulingyuan mountain, a stunning sandstone karst landscape. Several cable cars shorten distances, and there are many hiking opportunities.
[edit] Culture
[edit] Language
Different dialects exist in Hunan which can date from thousands of years.The commonest dialect cover almost the middle Hunan areas,ranging from Changsa to Xiangtan,that is Changsa dialect,and we call it "Xiang" dialect.
--from wikitravel.org
[edit] Cuisine
Hunan cuisine is noted for its use of chili peppers.
[edit] Music
[edit] Notables
[edit] Ethnic Groups
As of the 2000 census, the population of Hunan is 64,400,700 consisting of forty-one ethnic groups. Its population grew 6.17% (3,742,700) from its 1990 levels. According to the census, 89.79% (57,825,400) identified themselves as Han people, 10.21% (6,575,300) as minority groups. The minority groups are Tujia, Miao, Dong, Yao, Hui, Bai, Zhuang, Uyghurs and so on.
--from wikipedia.org
[edit] Colleges and Universities
[edit] Area and Postal Codes
| City | Area Code | Postal Code | City | Area Code | Postal Code | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Changde (常德) | 736 | 415000 | Changsha (长沙) | 731 | 410000 | |
| Chenzhou (郴州) | 735 | 423000 | Hengyang (衡阳) | 734 | 421000 | |
| Huaihua (怀化) | 745 | 418000 | Jishou (吉首) | 743 | 416000 | |
| Loudi (娄底) | 738 | 417000 | Shaoshan (韶山) | 732 | 411300 | |
| Shaoyang (邵阳) | 739 | 422000 | Xiangtan (湘潭) | 732 | 411100 | |
| Yiyang (益阳) | 737 | 413000 | Yongzhou (永州) | 746 | 425000 | |
| Yueyang (岳阳) | 730 | 414000 | Zhangjiajie (张家界) | 744 | 427000 | |
| Zhuzhou (株洲) | 733 | 412000 |
