Yichang 宜昌市 |
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Prefecture-level city | |
Yichang skyline
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Location of Yichang City jurisdiction in Hubei |
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Location of the city centre in Hubei | |
Coordinates: 30°43′N 111°17′E / 30.717°N 111.283°ECoordinates: 30°43′N 111°17′E / 30.717°N 111.283°E | |
Country | China |
Province | Hubei |
Municipal seat | Xiling District |
Government | |
• CPC Party Secretary | Huang Chuping |
• Mayor | Ma Xuming |
Area | |
• Prefecture-level city | 21,227 km2 (8,196 sq mi) |
• Urban | 4,232.4 km2 (1,634.1 sq mi) |
• Metro | 4,192 km2 (1,619 sq mi) |
Elevation | 58 m (191 ft) |
Highest elevation | 2,427 m (7,963 ft) |
Lowest elevation | 35 m (115 ft) |
Population (2010 census) | |
• Prefecture-level city | 4,059,686 |
• Density | 190/km2 (500/sq mi) |
• Urban | 1,411,380 |
• Urban density | 330/km2 (860/sq mi) |
• Metro | 1,350,150 |
• Metro density | 320/km2 (830/sq mi) |
Time zone | China Standard (UTC+8) |
Postal codes | 443000 |
Area code(s) | 0717 |
ISO-3166 | cn-42-05 |
Licence plate prefixes | 鄂E |
Website | http://en.yichang.gov.cn/ |
Yichang | |||||||||
"Yichang", as written in Chinese
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Chinese | 宜昌 | ||||||||
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Postal | Ichang | ||||||||
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Transcriptions | |
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Standard Mandarin | |
Hanyu Pinyin | Yíchāng |
Wade–Giles | I2-ch'ang1 |
Yichang (Chinese: 宜昌; old postal name 'Ichang') is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the second largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan. The Three Gorges Dam is located within its administrative area, in Yiling District. At the 2010 census, its population was 4,059,686 inhabitants whom 1,350,150 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Yiling, Xiling, Wujiagang and Dianjun urban districts as Xiaoting District are not yet urbanized.
In ancient times Yichang was known as Yiling. There are historical records telling that in the year 278 BC during the Warring States period, the Qin general Bai Qi set fire to Yiling. In 222 AD Yichang was also the site of the Battle of Yiling during the Three Kingdoms Period.
Under the Qing Guangxu Emperor, Yichang was opened to foreign trade as a trading port after Qing and Great Britain signed Chefoo Convention, which was signed by Sir Thomas Wade and Li Hongzhang in Chefoo on 21 August 1876. The imperial government set up a navigation company there and built wharfs less than 0.5 kilometres (0.31 mi) in length. Since 1949, more than 50 wharves have been constructed at the port so that its wharf area is now over 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) long.
In October 1938,Yichang Retreat happened after Wuhan was taken by the Japanese army.This retreat was commanded by a Chinese businessman Lu Zuofu.It helped China transfer a huge number of technological and scientific materials.People treated it like an Eastern version of the Dunkirk Evacuation.