Xiangtan is a prefecture-level city in Hunan province, China, located on the lower reaches of Xiang River. The hometowns of several founding leaders of the Chinese Communist Party, including Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, and Peng Dehuai, are in the Xiangtan prefecture, as well as the hometowns of Qing dynasty painter Qi Baishi and scholar-general Zeng Guofan.
As of 2010, it had 2,748,552 inhabitants, of whom 1,779,960 lived in the built-up area (2 urban districts plus Xiangtan County). Together with the four adjoining urban districts of Zhuzhou, its built-up area is home to 2,586,948 inhabitants. In 2007, the city is named China’s top ten livable cities by Chinese Cities Brand Value Report, which was released at 2007 Beijing Summit of China Cities Forum.
History
Relics from Daxi culture indicate that people inhabited the Xiangtan area in the 3rd millennium BC. Shang Dynasty bronze wares have been found in the region, as well as tombs from the Warring States period. During the Three Kingdoms Period, the kingdom of Eastern Wu built a city in the west of modern Xiangtan City and organized the Hengyang Commandery around it. In 749, the Tang Dynasty organized the area as Xiangtan County, centered at modern Yisu River. By the time of the Northern Song Dynasty, Xiangtan’s good access to both land and water trade routes had established it as the major commercial center of the region.
Xiangtan prospered throughout the Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty upon an economic foundation of trading in rice and traditional Chinese medicinal ingredients, and was sometimes referred to as “Little Nanjing” or “Golden Xiangtan”. Prior to the Second Opium War, Xiangtan was a central transfer point for import and export goods going to and from ports in Canton, Shanghai, and Wuhan, and had approximately 200,000 inhabitants.
Economy
In 2006, Xiangtan’s nominal GDP was 42.2CNY billion (US$6.2 billion), a year-on-year growth of 13.2% from the previous year. Its per capita GDP was 15,455CNY (US$2,265).
Xiangtan is famous for its production of Lotus seed and Soy sauce. People in Xiangtan like to chew areca nut, though the area itself doesn’t grow them. Most raw areca nut fruits are from Hainan and processed locally. The history of consuming areca nut dates back to 400 years ago, when people chewing it for pandemic prevention. Nowadays, it is quite common to see people chewing areca nut in Hunan. In 2003, the sales revenue of areca nut industry in Xiangtan has reached ¥800 million.
Administrative divisions
The city of Xiangtan has direct jurisdiction over 2 districts, 2 county-level cities, and 1 county :
Yuetang District
Yuhu District
Shaoshan City
Xiangxiang City
Xiangtan County
Tourism and Sport
Many people continue to visit Shaoshan, Xiangtan to visit the birthplace of Mao Zedong, the former chairman of the Chinese Communist Party and the leader of the People’s Republic of China from 1949-1971. There is a great tennis training tradition in Xiangtan. Professional tennis player Peng Shuai was born and trained here. Xiangtan Stadium was the home to Bayi Football Team of the Chinese Football Association Jia League (now Chinese Super League) from 2002 to 2003.
Colleges and universities
This is a list of institutions with full-time bachelor programs in Xiangtan:
Xiangtan University
Hunan University of Science and Technology
Hunan Institute of Engineering
Transportation
Xiangtan is well connected by roads, river and rail. There is a shuttle bus service connecting to Changsha Huanghua International Airport.
Population: 2.81 million
Temperature: average 17.2°C (62.96 °F)
