Sandouping (}) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Yiling District Yiling District () is a district of the prefecture-level city of Yichang, Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Created on July 30, 2001, the district includes most of the former Yichang County, with the exception of Yichang center city (whi ...

Yichang Yichang (), alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. It is the third largest city in the province after the capital, Wuhan and the prefecture-level city Xiangyang, by urban populati ...

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 the Chinese province 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 ...

. It is located on the right (southern) bank of the

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, next to Yiling District's border with

Zigui County Zigui County () is a county of western Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yichang and encompasses the easternmost portion of the Yangtze River Gorges, including the Xiling ...

to the west. Sandouping is best known as the location of the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the world ...

, which is the world's largest electricity-generating plant of any kind.

History

The predecessor of today's Sandouping, the village of Huangniupu (黄牛铺, "Yellow Cow Post Station") was established during the reign of the

Hongzhi Emperor The Hongzhi Emperor () (30 July 1470 – 9 June 1505) was the tenth Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1487 to 1505. Born Zhu Youcheng, he was the eldest surviving son of the Chenghua Emperor and his reign as emperor of China is called ...

in 1496. Sandouping

District 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 ...

was created in March 1949 and transformed into Sandouping Town in February 1984.三峡工程所在地三斗坪镇将建国际旅游明星镇
(Sandouping Town - home to the Three Gorges Project - will transform itself into an international tourist destination) Sandouping used to be a small fishing village until it was selected to be the site of the Three Gorges Dam. In 1999, at the peak of the construction, over 40,000 workers lived in Sandouping. At the time, special permits were required to enter the town. Six out of nineteen Sandouping's villages are populated by families that have been resettled from the areas flooded by the waters of the

Three Gorges Reservoir 3 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 3, three, or III may also refer to: * AD 3, the third year of the AD era * 3 BC, the third year before the AD era * March, the third month Books * ''Three of Them'' (Russian: ', literally, "three"), a 1901 no ...

, or, earlier, the Gezhouba Reservoir.

Geography

The Town of Sandouping occupies 178 km² on the right (southern) bank of the

River, opposite the town of Letianxi (), to which it is connected by

Xiling Bridge The Xiling Yangtze River Bridge (), is a suspension bridge over the Yangtze River, just a few kilometers downstream from the Three Gorges Dam. The bridge is located within Yiling District of the prefecture-level city of Yichang (Hubei Province of ...

. Sandouping is the only town in Yiling District that is located south of the river.Schematic map showing the division of Yiling District into counties a
夷陵概况
(Overview of Yiling District), compared to the county map in the provincial atlas Sandouping's western neighbor is the town of Maoping, the county seat of the nearby

. Although it is only a kilometer or two west of the dam (straight-line distance), it is actually several kilometers drive on Hubei Provincial Route 134, because of the terrain. Administratively, the Town of Sandouping is divided into 19

villages A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

() and 1 neighborhood committee ().各村概况
(Summary of andouping'sindividual villages) Sandouping's central urban area, where the town government and most services are located, is technically known as Yuanyi Village (). It is situated some 5 km east of the southern end of the Three Gorges Dam. The neighborhood just to the east, known as Huanglingmiao Village (), is named after Huangling Temple () located there near the Yangtze River waterfront. It is being developed as a tourism area, centered around the riverboat dock.Road Atlas of Hubei (湖北省公路里程地图册; ''Hubei Sheng Gonglu Licheng Dituce''), published by 中国地图出版社 ''

SinoMaps Press SinoMaps Press (), previously known as China Cartographic Publishing House, is a publisher in Beijing, China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with ...

'', 2007, . Pages 26-27 (Yichang Prefecture-level City), or any other comparable atlas. Similar geographic info can be seen with

Google Maps Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...

, at the coordinates in the infobox, or upon entering "Letianxi, Hubei. China" in the search box.宜昌市夷陵区三斗坪行政区划图
Sandouping Town (Yiling District, Yichang City) area planning map] - detailed map of the town (the entire administrative area) at the town government's official site A secondary center of economic activity in the town is located in its western part, within walking distance from the service entrance to the Three Gorges Dam (Gaojiachong Village () and Sandouping residential community).

Administrative Divisions

One residential community: * Sandouping, Sandouping, Sandouping () Nineteen villages: * Huanglingmiao (), Huangniuyan (), Nantuo (), Yuanyi (), Qipanshan (), Zhongbao/bu/pu (), Gaojiachong (),

Shiban Shiban (Sheiban) or Shayban ( mn, Шибан, ''Shiban'', also spelled ''Siban''; uz, Shaybon / Шайбон) was a prince of the early Golden Horde. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, the fifth son of Jochi and a younger brother of Batu Khan w ...

(), Qiuqianping (), Huajipo (), Dongyuemiao (), Xinsheng (), Shipai (), Tianqiao (), Zhemuping (), Wuhe (), Toudingshi (), Muyang (), Baiguotang ()

Economy

The town's economy is closely connected to the Yangtze River. Besides the

, major local enterprises include Hailun Shipyard () and Fazhong Vessel Servicing Company ().三斗坪镇
(Sandouping Town), at the official site of

. (The article does not specify the year when the population was estimated; but other statistics, as well as population counts for other towns in the district, are dated 2007) The three main agricultural products of Sandouping are

citrus ''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the rue family, Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Lemon, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and lim ...

fruits (according to different governmental sources, 15,000 '' mu''

1,000 hectares Onekama ( ) is a village in Manistee County, Michigan, Manistee County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 411 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. The village is located on the shores of Portage Lake (Michigan), Portage Lak ...

ref name=ycyl/> or 10535 mu 02 haref name=sdp/> under cultivation, with an annual harvest of 14,000 metric tons),

silkworm The domestic silk moth (''Bombyx mori''), is an insect from the moth family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of ''Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. The silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of a silk moth. It is an economically imp ...

s (14400 ''mu''/ 960 ha of mulberry plantations), and tea (3316 ''mu''/ 221 ha). The town's authorities are working on expanding tourism in the area.

Gallery

File:Sandouping-southern-entry-to-Three-Gorges-Dam-4912.jpg, Dam facility's service entry, near Sandouping's western neighborhood. Part of the dam can be seen in the background File:Sandouping-homes-near-the-dam-4908.jpg, Workers' neighborhood in Sandouping near the southern entrance to the Three Gorges Dam File:Sandouping-Huangling-Miao-4893.jpg, Huangling Temple File:Yiling-District-Grapefruits-4880.jpg,

Pomelo The pomelo ( ), ''Citrus maxima'', is the largest citrus fruit from the family Rutaceae and the principal ancestor of the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid, citrus fruit, native to Southeast Asia. Similar in taste to a sweet grapefr ...

s or

grapefruit The grapefruit (''Citrus'' × ''paradisi'') is a subtropical citrus tree known for its relatively large, sour to semi-sweet, somewhat bitter fruit. The interior flesh is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark pink. Grapefruit is ...

s in the neighboring town of Letianxi

References