Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture () is located in the mountainous southwestern corner of

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, People's Republic of China. It forms Hubei's southwestern "panhandle", bordering on

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

in the south and

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese dialects, Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), Postal Romanization, alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a Direct-administered municipalities of China, municipality in Southwes ...

Municipality in the west and northwest. 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 ...

crosses the prefecture's northeastern corner in

Badong County Badong County () is a county located in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Chongqing municipality to the west. It is the northernmost county-level division under the administration of Enshi Prefecture. The Yangtze Rive ...

Administrative divisions

There are two county-level cities: *

Enshi City Enshi () is a county-level city in and the seat of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China. The prefecture's legislature, executive and judiciary are seated here, as well as its CPC and Pu ...

(), the prefectural seat *

Lichuan City Lichuan () is a county-level city of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in southwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, located west of Enshi City, the prefecture seat. It borders Chongqing Municipality to the southwest, ...

() There are six counties: *

Xianfeng County Xianfeng County () is a county in the southwest of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Chongqing to the southwest. It is under the administration of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Administrative Divisions Six ...

() *

Laifeng County Laifeng County () is a county of southwestern 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", re ...

() *

Jianshi County Jianshi County () is a county of southwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Administrative Divisions Seven towns: * Yezhou (), Gaoping Gaoping () ...

() *

Hefeng County Hefeng County () is a county on the upper reaches of the Loushui River in the southwestern part of Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan province to the south. It is under the administration of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Auton ...

() *

Xuan'en County Xuan'en County () is a county of southwestern Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Hunan province to the south. It is under the administration of the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. A remarkable topographic feature fo ...

()

History

Imperial

"Endless green mountains to walk on, endless clear water going away" (by a poet of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

)

Republican

Republic of China Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...

's Hubei provincial government was relocated to Enshi during the 1937-45 resistance war (against Japanese invasion and occupation). The Roman Catholic Church had the Diocese of Shinan on the territory of today's Enshi Prefecture.

People's Republic of China

Badong County was the site of the

Deng Yujiao incident The Deng Yujiao incident () occurred on 10 May 2009 at a hotel in Badong County, Hubei. Deng Yujiao, a 21-year-old pedicure worker, tried to rebuff the advances of Deng Guida (; no relation), director of the local township business promotions off ...

Geography

Enshi Prefecture is located in the west end of Hubei Province, a mountainous belt separating Hubei's

Jianghan Plain Jianghan Plain (; pinyin: Jiānghàn Píngyuán), named for the confluence of the Yangtze ('Jiang') and Han ('han') rivers, is an alluvial plain located in the middle and south of Hubei, China. Wuhan, the most populous city in Central China, is l ...

from the

Sichuan Basin The Sichuan Basin (), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China. It is surrounded by mountains on all sides and is drained by the upper Yangtze River and its tributa ...

. There are

karst Karst is a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum. It is characterized by underground drainage systems with sinkholes and caves. It has also been documented for more weathering-resistant ro ...

phenomena in the region. The most famous of them is perhaps the

Tenglong Cave Tenglong Cave () is a cave located from Lichuan City, Hubei, China. It is believed to be the longest monomer karst cave system in the world. The cave entrance is and wide, leading to of passageways.. An underground network of streams runs for ...

near Lichuan, a county-level city of Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. A 290-meter deep

sinkhole, located near the village of Luoquanyan () in

, is described as possessing its own unique ecosystem. The

Enshi Grand Canyon Enshi Grand Canyon () is a natural scenic spot in Enshi, Hubei, China. It is located in the Qing River Basin, adjacent to the world's deepest sinkhole Xiaozhai Tiankeng. The total length of the canyon is about 35 kilometers, and almost all kinds ...

is also a well-known scenic area.

Demographics

The total area is , and the population is 3,800,000. 52.6% of the population belong to the Tujia and

Miao Miao may refer to: * Miao people, linguistically and culturally related group of people, recognized as such by the government of the People's Republic of China * Miao script or Pollard script, writing system used for Miao languages * Miao (Unicode ...

nationalities. Enshi is the only autonomous prefecture in Hubei province. Enshi is also the only part of Hubei which has been included in the Chinese government's Western exploration programme and over the next 5–10 years they will put 50 billion RMB into its development.

Transportation

The prefecture has only a small amount of Yangtze River frontage, but Badong, in the prefecture's northeast, has a

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

River port. The

Qing River The Qing River () is a right (southern) tributary of the Yangtze River, Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) in Hubei province of south-central China., Geography Course The Qing River river source, Headwaters originate at Teng Long Dong, Tenglong Cave ( ...

in the central part of the prefecture, with its cascade of reservoirs, is an important waterway as well. Due to the mountainous terrain, until recently the prefecture had no railways, and even the highways were of doubtful quality. The Yichang−Wanzhou Railway, completed in December 2010, crosses the prefecture from east to west, providing a more direct connection between Hubei and

Sichuan Sichuan (; zh, c=, labels=no, ; zh, p=Sìchuān; alternatively romanized as Szechuan or Szechwan; formerly also referred to as "West China" or "Western China" by Protestant missions) is a province in Southwest China occupying most of the ...

than was previously available. In addition, the Chongqing−Lichuan Railway from the Lichuan Railway Station on the Yiwan line connects the cities. A single line now connects Enshi with Beijing and Wuhan as well as many additional cities. The train between Beijing and Enshi takes approximately 24 hours and includes many stops along the way. The

G42 Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway The Shanghai–Chengdu Expressway (), designated as G42 and commonly referred to as the Hurong Expressway () is an east–west bound expressway that connects the eastern metropolis of Shanghai to Chengdu, the capital city of Sichuan. The expresswa ...

, routed along the same Yichang-Wanzhou corridor, is under construction. The Sidu River Bridge on that road has become the world's highest bridge. Xujiaping Airport is the only airport in Enshi.

Economy

The soil in Enshi is rich in

selenium Selenium is a chemical element with the symbol Se and atomic number 34. It is a nonmetal (more rarely considered a metalloid) with properties that are intermediate between the elements above and below in the periodic table, sulfur and tellurium, ...

. Enshi is known as the "selenium capital of China" and is the world's sole independent selenium deposit. Selenium Square in the city is named after this rare element. The countryside has a diverse range of flora and fauna, including many Chinese herbs. Much of the mountain landscape is covered in virgin forest and is home to

pangolin Pangolins, sometimes known as scaly anteaters, are mammals of the order Pholidota (, from Ancient Greek ϕολιδωτός – "clad in scales"). The one extant family, the Manidae, has three genera: '' Manis'', '' Phataginus'', and '' Smut ...

s. Enshi locals are especially proud of their potato crops and consider the potato and tea crops to be the region's agricultural specialties. Enshi Prefecture possesses significant hydroelectric resources. Among major hydroelectric dams already completed, or under construction, within the prefecture are: *

Shuibuya Dam The Shuibuya Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill embankment dam on the Qingjiang River in Badong County, Enshi, Hubei Province, China. The purpose of the dam is mainly hydroelectricity but it also promotes flood control, navigation, tourism and ...

, on the

— the tallest concrete face rock-fill dam in the world. * Jiangpinghe Dam, on the Loushui River, near Jiangpingh Village, Zouma Town,

. *

Dongping Dam The Dongping Dam is an arch dam on the Zhongjian River (), a right tributary of the Qing River, in Xuan'en County, Hubei Province, China. The primary purpose of the dam is hydroelectric power generation and it supports a 110 MW power station cons ...

, in Wanjia Township (),

References

External links

Official website of Enshi government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Enshi Tujia And Miao Autonomous Prefecture Prefecture-level divisions of Hubei Miao autonomous prefectures Tujia autonomous prefectures