Ezhou () is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. During the Republican era, many of China' ...

in eastern

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Province, China. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 1,079,353, of which 695,697 lived in the core

Echeng District Echeng District () is one of the three administrative districts into which the prefecture-level city of Ezhou, China's Hubei province, is divided. The district is quite small, and includes Ezhou's main urban area (i.e., in informal terms, Ezhou "c ...

. The Ezhou -

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang. It border ...

built-up (''or metro'') area was home to 1,152,559 inhabitants made of the Echeng and Huangzhou, Huanggang Districts.

Geography

Ezhou lies on the southern bank of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

east of the southern section of

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

, across the river from the city of

, to which it is connected by the

Ehuang Bridge The Ehuang Yangtze River Bridge () crosses the Yangtze River in Hubei, China. The bridge carries traffic on China National Highway 106 between Echeng, Ezhou south of the river and Huangzhou, Huanggang to the north. Construction of the bridge sta ...

. Lying between the cities of Wuhan and

Huangshi Huangshi (), Postal Map Romanization, alternatively romanized as Hwangshih, is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 2,469,079 inhabitants at the 2020 census; 1,567,108 of whom liv ...

, Ezhou has a relatively small area of . There are many lakes in Ezhou, including the

Liangzi Lake Liangzi Lake (), originally Fan Lake (), is a freshwater lake in the southeast of Hubei Province, divided between the Liangzihu Scenic Spot Office of Jiangxia District, Wuhan and the Liangzihu District of Ezhou City (both areas named after the ...

Liangzihu District Liangzihu District () is a district of the city of Ezhou, Hubei, People's Republic of China. The district is named after the Liangzi Lake (Liangzihu), eastern part of which is located within the district. On January 1, 2018, Ezhou officially im ...

and Yanglan Lake, along with more than 133 lakes and pools. The city is the origin of Wuchang Bream and as a result is nicknamed "city of one hundred lakes" and "the land of fish and rice".

Climate

History

The name "Ezhou" dates to the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

(206BCE220CE) and derives from the nearby ancient

Zhou Dynasty The Zhou dynasty ( ; Old Chinese ( B&S): *''tiw'') was a royal dynasty of China that followed the Shang dynasty. Having lasted 789 years, the Zhou dynasty was the longest dynastic regime in Chinese history. The military control of China by th ...

(1046256BCE) vassal

State of E The State of E (IPA:/ ɤ̂/), whose Middle and Old Chinese name has been reconstructed as Ngak (IPA:/ŋˤak/), was an ancient Chinese state in the area of present-day Henan and Hubei in China from around the 12th century BCE until its overthrow i ...

. Although the administrative seat of the city changed several times, the name remained unchanged until the

Three Kingdoms The Three Kingdoms () from 220 to 280 AD was the tripartite division of China among the dynastic states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The Three Kingdoms period was preceded by the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty and wa ...

era (220−280) at which time it became the capital of the state of

Eastern Wu Wu ( Chinese: 吳; pinyin: ''Wú''; Middle Chinese *''ŋuo'' <

Eastern Han Chinese

: ''*ŋuɑ''), known in h ...

ruled by

Sun Quan Sun Quan (, Chinese: 孫權) (183 – 21 May 252), courtesy name Zhongmou (), posthumously known as Emperor Da of Wu, was the founder of the Eastern Wu dynasty, one of the Three Kingdoms of China. He inherited control of the warlord regime es ...

and was renamed "Wuchang". This name remained in use as late as 1915, which proved confusing to travelers, as it was also applied to the much larger city of Wuchang, itself shortly to become part of Wuhan. Throughout China's history Ezhou has remained an important city politically, economically, and militarily with its strategic position along the middle part of the Yangtze River. It is also an important location in the history of the Pure Land Sect of Buddhism.

Administration

Ezhou has three

districts A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

Economy

Ezhou has six ports on the Yangtze including one than can handle up to vessels. Many important rail lines and national highways cross the area. This infrastructure make it a major logistics and distribution center. Important industries include metallurgy, construction materials, textiles, chemicals, and machinery.

Transportation

Ezhou is served by the E-Huang Expressway,

China National Highways The China National Highways (CNH/Guodao) () is a network of trunk roads across mainland China. Apart from the expressways of China that are planned and constructed later, most of the CNH are not controlled-access highways. History The bui ...

106 and 316, the

Wuhan–Jiujiang Railway The Wuhan–Jiujiang railway or Wujiu railway (), is a double-track, electrified railroad in central China between Wuhan in Hubei Province and Jiujiang in Jiangxi Province. The line is long and follows the south bank of the Yangtze River from Wuc ...

, the Wuhan–Huangshi intercity railway of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Intercity Railway and

Ezhou Huahu Airport Ezhou Huahu Airport () is an airport serving the city of Ezhou, Hubei, China. The airport was developed by SF Express and the Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part ...

. Ezhou has two bridges over the Yangtze. The

Ezhou railway station Ezhou railway station ( Chinese: 鄂州站) is a railway station in Echeng District, Ezhou, Hubei, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependenc ...

(), located southwest of downtown, has an interesting layout, somewhat similar to that of the

Secaucus Junction Secaucus Junction (known as Secaucus Transfer during planning stages and signed simply as Secaucus) is a NJ Transit Rail Operations commuter rail hub in Secaucus, New Jersey. The $450 million, station opened on December 15, 2003, and was ded ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Until 2014, there was just one rail line there: the north–south

, which is served by a large number of trains traveling from Wuhan to

Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...

and points further east and south (Fujian, Zhejiang, etc.). Until 2013, there were no commuter trains in per se in Hubei, but it took only about one hour (usually, with a stop at Huarong) to reach one of Wuhan's train stations (such as

Wuchang railway station Wuchang railway station is a major railway station on the Beijing–Guangzhou railway, the Wuhan–Jiujiang railway and the Hankou–Danjiangkou railway, located on the east side of Zhongshan Road in Wuchang District, Wuhan, Hubei, China. Fou ...

) train station from Ezhou using any of those trains. The distance from the Ezhou railway station to Wuchang by rail is . In 2014, the Wuhan-Huangshi intercity railway of the Wuhan Metropolitan Area Intercity Railway, the region's new commuter line system, was opened. This line, which runs east–west in the area, has crossed the Wuhan–Jiujiang Railway tracks at the right angle just south of the previously existing Ezhou station. To accommodate the new line, the Ezhou Station was expanded in 2013–2014, with platforms constructed on the new commuter line, providing a possibility for an easy transfer between the two lines. This is said to be the first station in China with this layout. The trains on the commuter line travel to the

Wuhan Railway Station Wuhan railway station () is one of the three main passenger railway stations of Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei Province. It is located northeast of Wuhan's East Lake, near a small lake called Yangchunhu, and is adjacent to the 3rd Ring Road ...

(, 30–40 min from Ezhou). The commuter line has one more station in Ezhou, farther to the east. It is Ezhou East, from Wuhan Railway Station.

Tourism

Ezhou has several tourism sites, including the West Hill (which is in the center of the city), and the nearby Lotus Hill. There are also three lakes,

, Yanglan Lake () and Honglian Lake.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Cities in Hubei Populated places on the Yangtze River Prefecture-level divisions of Hubei Huanggang Wuhan urban agglomeration Former prefectures in Hubei Prefectures of the Sui dynasty Prefectures of the Tang dynasty Prefectures of the Song dynasty Prefectures of the Yuan dynasty Prefectures of Yang Wu Prefectures of Southern Tang Prefectures of Later Zhou