Shiyan () 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 northwestern
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 ...
, China, bordering
Henan
Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...
to the northeast,
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 ...
to the southwest, and
Shaanxi
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see #Name, § Name) is a landlocked Provinces of China, province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichu ...
to the north and west. At the 2020 census, its population was 3,209,004 of whom 1,033,407 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 2 urban districts of Maojian and Zhangwan on as Yunyang is not conurbated. In 2007, the city was 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
Shiyan was first mentioned by its current name in 1484. After the establishment of the PRC, Shiyan was part of Yun County (nowadays
Yunyang District).
During the 1960s,
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...
and other government officials, fearing upheaval and invasion, sought to establish industry in more remote locations.
Shiyan, located in a portion of northwest Hubei then known for its poverty, was then a small village comprising a few hundred households.
In 1967, teams of workers and engineers were first sent to Shiyan to survey sites for automotive plants and factories (Second Automobile Works, predecessor of
Dongfeng Motor Corporation
Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, F ...
) as part of the
Third Front Construction plan. In 1969, Shiyan City was established. By order of Mao in 1969, truck production in Shiyan commenced.
Approximately 25,000 construction workers were sent to Shiyan during this time to equip the city with the infrastructure necessary for such project.
In subsequent decades, the city experienced great economic growth due to these facilities, which employed nearly 200,000 workers.
However, by the early 1990s, Shiyan was increasingly bypassed for new automotive ventures, which were increasingly located in larger cities with better transport links, although it remained the most prosporous city of Hubei.
In 2003,
Dongfeng Motors
Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FA ...
relocated its main passenger car plant to
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
, resulting in population decline within Shiyan.
Geography
The
Wudang Mountains
The Wudang Mountains () consist of a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China, just south of Shiyan. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The ...
run east-west through Shiyan.
The peak commonly referred to as "Wudang Mountain", or in Mandarin Wudangshan, is one of the most important cultural centres of the
Taoist faith. The surrounding areas are dotted with up to 200 Taoist monastic temples and religious sites. The main attraction in this area, and also one of the most sacred Taoist sites, which forms an important stop for mainly Chinese tourists bound there, with up to twenty bus loads of visitors per day at peak times is Wudangshan ''
Jiedao
A subdistrict ()' is one of the smaller administrative divisions of China. It is a form of township-level division which is typically part of a larger urban area, as opposed to a discrete town (zhèn, 镇) surrounded by rural areas, or a rural ...
'' of the
Danjiangkou
Danjiangkou () is a county-level city in northwestern Hubei, China, bordering Henan province to the northeast. The city spans an area of 3,121 square kilometers, and has a population of approximately 478,000 as of 2017.
Etymology
Danjiangkou tr ...
county-level city
A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a Administrative divisions of China#County level (3rd), county-level administrative divi ...
.
Major rivers in Shiyan include the
Du River
The Du is a river mainly in northwestern Hubei Province, China with sources in Shaanxi Province
Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level ...
and the
Han River.
Shiyan's total area is subject to major change as part of the
South to North water diversion project of the Han River. Certain areas will see an increase of up to in water level to create a new reservoir to serve Beijing and
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
as a part of this major water diversion project.
Climate
Administration
The
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' ...
of Shiyan administers 8
county-level division
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
s, comprising 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 ...
, one
county-level city
A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a Administrative divisions of China#County level (3rd), county-level administrative divi ...
and four
counties
A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
:
These eight county-level divisions then administer three different types of
township-level divisions
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
: 13
subdistricts A subdistrict or sub-district is an administrative division that is generally smaller than a district.
Equivalents
* Administrative posts of East Timor, formerly Portuguese-language
* Kelurahan, in Indonesia
* Mukim, a township in Brunei, Indon ...
, 72
towns
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 ...
, and 34
townships
A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries.
Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...
.
Finally, these township-level divisions then administer two types of
village-level division
The administrative divisions of China have consisted of several levels since ancient times, due to China's large population and geographical area. The constitution of China provides for three levels of government. However in practice, there a ...
s: 164
residential communities and 1,807
administrative villages.
Demographics
As of 2020, Shiyan's permanent population totals approximately 3,209,000 people.
Throughout 2014 to 2019, the city's registered
hukou
''Hukou'' () is a system of household registration used in mainland China. The system itself is more properly called "''huji''" (), and has origins in ancient China; ''hukou'' is the registration of an individual in the system (''kou'' lit ...
population exceeded the permanent population by a few dozen thousand.
This disparity likely represents
migrants who left Shiyan, working in larger cities with higher wages, a common trend throughout China. During this span, Shiyan's hukou population decreased by approximately 8,100, but the city's permanent population increased by about 25,300.
Vital statistics
In 2019, Shiyan saw a
birth rate
The birth rate for a given period is the total number of live human births per 1,000 population divided by the length of the period in years. The number of live births is normally taken from a universal registration system for births; populati ...
of 11.47‰ (per thousand), and a
Death Rate
Mortality rate, or death rate, is a measure of the number of deaths (in general, or due to a specific cause) in a particular population, scaled to the size of that population, per unit of time. Mortality rate is typically expressed in units of de ...
of 7.02‰, giving the city a rate of natural increase of 4.45‰.
52.5% of Shiyan's population is male, and 47.5% is female as of 2019.
Urbanization
The main urban area of the
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' ...
of Shiyan is in
Maojian District
Maojian District () is a District (China), district in the prefecture-level city of Shiyan, Hubei, China. Maojian District spans an area of 578 square kilometers, and is home to 410,100 permanent residents (Hukou, ''huji'' population). The distric ...
, which is typically labeled on maps simply as "Shiyan". As of 2019, 56.5% of Shiyan's population lived in urban areas, up from 46.3% in 2010.
Income
In 2019, Shiyan's urban households earned an average of 33,577
renminbi
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
(RMB) in disposable income,
a 9.1% increase from 2018.
Rural households earned a much lower average disposable income of 11,378 RMB,
a 10.5% increase from 2018.
Religion
Shiyan's city government recognizes 19 religious organizations within the city, which represent 4 religions:
Buddhism
Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and gra ...
,
Taoism
Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
,
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, and Christianity.
Of these organizations, the following 5 serve the entire city: the Shiyan City Buddhist Association (), the Shiyan City Islamic Association (), the Shiyan City Protestant "
Three-Self" Patriotic Movement Committee (), the Shiyan City Protestant Association (), and the Shiyan City Taoist Association ().
The remaining 14 serve regions within the city.
Economy
![陆家沟水库 - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/%E9%99%86%E5%AE%B6%E6%B2%9F%E6%B0%B4%E5%BA%93_-_panoramio.jpg)
Like China as a whole, Shiyan's economy has experienced rapid substantial growth in the 21st century. The city's gross domestic product (GDP) stood at 201.272 billion
renminbi
The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022. ...
(RMB) in 2019, which is approximately two-thirds larger than the city's GDP just five years earlier.
The city's economy consists almost entirely of its
secondary
Secondary may refer to: Science and nature
* Secondary emission, of particles
** Secondary electrons, electrons generated as ionization products
* The secondary winding, or the electrical or electronic circuit connected to the secondary winding i ...
and
tertiary sectors, which constitute 43.93% and 47.55% of its GDP, respectively.
However, as of 2019, 40.2% of Shiyan's population works in the
primary sector
The primary sector of the economy includes any industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining.
The primary sector tends to make up a larger portion of the economy in de ...
, whereas just 18.0% works in the secondary sector, and 41.9% work in the tertiary sector.
The city generated 8.119 billion
kWh in electricity in 2019, of which, 5.248 kWh was generated in the form of
hydropower
Hydropower (from el, ὕδωρ, "water"), also known as water power, is the use of falling or fast-running water to Electricity generation, produce electricity or to power machines. This is achieved by energy transformation, converting the Pot ...
.
Major
heavy industries
Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); or ...
in Shiyan include cement, which the city producing about 4.13 million tons of in 2019,
and steel, which the city produced about 978 thousand tons of in 2019.
The production output of both of these industries declined slightly from 2014 to 2019.
Shiyan handed 83.15 million tons of freight in 2019, the vast majority of which was transferred by road.
Automotive industry
Shiyan is a major center of the
automobile industry in China
The automotive industry in China has been the largest in the world measured by automobile unit production since 2008. Since 2009, annual production of automobiles in China accounted for more than 32% of worldwide vehicle production, exceeding b ...
since being chosen as the site of
Dongfeng Motors
Dongfeng Motor Corporation Ltd. is a Chinese state-owned automobile manufacturer headquartered in Wuhan, Hubei. Founded in 1969, it is currently the third largest of the " Big Four" state-owned car manufacturers of China, namely: SAIC Motor, FA ...
predecessor Second Auto. In
Mao’s industrial plan, the Wudang mountains offered the city protection from possible enemy attacks. Starting in the 1960s, the small town grew to a major city as Dongfeng employed up to 200,000 locals and operated almost all major amenities in the city.
It previously served as the headquarters of Dongfeng Motors, a major Chinese truck, bus, and heavy goods vehicle company.
Some news outlets have labeled the city as the "Detroit of China",
although the nickname has been applied to other Chinese cities, such as
Changchun
Changchun (, ; ), also romanized as Ch'angch'un, is the capital and largest city of Jilin Province, People's Republic of China. Lying in the center of the Songliao Plain, Changchun is administered as a , comprising 7 districts, 1 county and 3 c ...
,
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 ...
, and nearby
Wuhan
Wuhan (, ; ; ) is the capital of Hubei, Hubei Province in the China, People's Republic of China. It is the largest city in Hubei and the most populous city in Central China, with a population of over eleven million, the List of cities in China ...
.
In recent decades, the automotive industry in Shiyan has shrunk, largely due to increasing production in larger cities with better transit links.
"Since Dongfeng relocated its main passenger car plant to Wuhan in 2003," the population of Shiyan has been decreasing. The city's production of
tire
A tire (American English) or tyre (British English) is a ring-shaped component that surrounds a Rim (wheel), wheel's rim to transfer a vehicle's load from the axle through the wheel to the ground and to provide Traction (engineering), t ...
s, for instance, has fallen by 48.10% from 2014 to 2019.
Car production in the city rose 6.67% during that time, but this number has been volatile depending on the year.
In response to the threat of the industry's decline, Shiyan's government has sought to diversify the city's economy, and provide more space for other industrial facilities.
Dongfeng and its partner
Renault–Nissan–Mitsubishi Alliance are nowadays producing
electric vehicle
An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...
s in Shiyan, including the
Renault KZE and
Dacia Spring.
Culture
There are five magazines and seven newspapers in distribution in the city as of 2019.
99.9% of Shiyan's population lives in areas which receive radio and television coverage, and 73.4% of households in Shiyan have a cable television subscription as of 2019.
People from Shiyan traditionally speak in Henan's Nanyang dialect, however due to the large number of migrants,
Standard Chinese
Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern Standar ...
is commonly spoken.
Education
As of 2019, Shiyan's educational institutions are staffed by 29,644 full-time teachers, serving approximately 474,200 students.
The city is home to 8
public libraries
A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also civil servants.
There are five fundamenta ...
, which, as of 2019, possess 1,624,090 books, and have distributed 114,622
library card
A library card can refer to several cards traditionally used for the management of books and patrons in a library. In its most common use, a library card serves similar functions as a corporate membership card. A person who holds a library card ...
s.
Healthcare
Shiyan has 2,772 health institutions as of 2019, which includes 59 hospitals.
These institutions host a total of 30,634 medical beds.
Transportation
Railway
Shiyan is located on the
Xiangyu Railway between
Xiangyang
Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Hubei province, China and the second largest city in Hubei by population. It was known as Xiangfan from 1950 to 2010. The Han River runs through Xiangyang's centre and divides the city no ...
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 ...
. Construction on a railway between Shiyan and
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 ...
is scheduled to begin construction in 2009.
The
Wuhan–Shiyan high-speed railway
The Wuhan–Shiyan high-speed railway is a high-speed passenger-dedicated line (PDL) in Hubei, China. It opened on 29 November 2019, connecting the city of Wuhan with the major automotive manufacturing centre of Shiyan in the northwest of the pro ...
completed track laying in June 2019 and opened to passengers on 29 November 2019.
Highway
*
G59 Hohhot–Beihai Expressway
*
G70 Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway
The Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway (), designated as G70 and commonly referred to as the Fuyin Expressway () is an expressway that connects the cities of Fuzhou, Fujian, China, and Yinchuan, Ningxia. It is in length.
The expressway was completed ...
*
G7011 Shiyan–Tianshui Expressway
The Shiyan–Tianshui Expressway (), designated as G7011 and commonly referred to as the Shitian Expressway () is an expressway that connects Shiyan, Hubei, China and Tianshui, Gansu. It is a spur of G70 Fuzhou–Yinchuan Expressway.
Overview Hube ...
*
China National Highway 209
China National Highway 209 (G209) runs from Sonid Left Banner, Inner Mongolia to Beihai, Guangxi province. It is
3,435 kilometres in length and runs south from Huhhot towards Shanxi province, Henan province, Hubei province, Hunan province, and ...
Air
Shiyan Wudangshan Airport
Shiyan Wudangshan Airport is an airport serving the city of Shiyan in northwestern Hubei Province, China. It is located from the city center and from Wudangshan, the World Heritage Site after which it is named. The airport cost 1.635 billion ...
(IATA: WDS, ICAO: ZHSY) is the airport serving the city of Shiyan, located from the city center and from
Wudangshan
The Wudang Mountains () consist of a mountain range in the northwestern part of Hubei, China, just south of Shiyan. They are home to a famous complex of Taoist temples and monasteries associated with the Lord of the North, Xuantian Shangdi. The ...
, the World Heritage Site after which it is named. A total area of 16400 square meters; a total of one runway with a length of 2600 meters; 7 stops (2 helicopters); and an annual passenger throughput of 1.2 million passengers
Shiyan Wudangshan Airport starts to work in February 2016. Until April 2019, there are total 17 fixed routes, navigating to 26 cities.
Sister city
Shiyan has been a
sister city
A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.
While there are early examples of inter ...
of
Craiova
Craiova (, also , ), is Romania's 6th Cities in Romania, largest city and capital of Dolj County, and situated near the east bank of the river Jiu River, Jiu in central Oltenia. It is a longstanding political center, and is located at approximatel ...
, Romania, since December 1999.
References
External links
Government website of Shiyan(available in Chinese and English)
{{Authority control
Cities in Hubei
Prefecture-level divisions of Hubei