Yongzhou, formerly known as Lingling, 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 Chi ...

in the south of

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, Jiangx ...

province, People's Republic of China, located on the southern bank of the

Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the 5th largest tribut ...

, which is formed by the confluence of the Xiao and Xiang Rivers, and bordering

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

to the southeast and

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam ...

to the southwest. With a history of 2000 years, Yongzhou is one of the four ancient counties in Hunan. Its total area is , and at the

2020 Chinese census The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh national census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Census w ...

it had a total population of 5,289,824, of whom 1,146,692 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of the 2 urban districts.

History

Du Halde - Description de la Chine - Autres villes de la province de Hou quang

During late imperial China, Yongzhou was also the seat of a

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

Geography and climate

Yongzhou is the southernmost prefecture-level division of Hunan, and is located at the confluence of the Xiao (Xiaoshui) and

s. Within its borders is the Nan Mountains (Nan Ling), which increases the complexity of climatic variation. It borders

Chenzhou Chenzhou () is a prefecture-level city located in the south of Hunan province, China, bordering the provinces of Jiangxi to the east and Guangdong to the south. Its administrative area covers , 9.2% of the provincial area, and its total populatio ...

to the east, Hezhou (

Guilin Guilin (Standard Zhuang: ''Gveilinz''; alternatively romanized as Kweilin) is a prefecture-level city in the northeast of China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. It is situated on the west bank of the Li River and borders Hunan to the nort ...

(Guangxi) and

Qingyuan Qingyuan, formerly romanized as Tsingyun, is a prefecture-level city in northern Guangdong province, China, on the banks of the Bei or North River. During the 2020 census, its total population was 3,969,473, out of whom 1,738,424 lived in the ...

(

) to the south, and

Hengyang Hengyang (; ) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, whom 1,290,715 l ...

and

Shaoyang Shaoyang (), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Hu ...

to the north. Its area spans around . Yongzhou has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a zone of climate characterized by hot and humid summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between latitudes 25° and 40° ...

( Köppen ''Cfa''), with a 1981–2010 annual mean temperature of , although within the prefecture-level city the range during 1971–2000 was . Winters are mild and brief, beginning somewhat dry and turning wet and gloomy as the season progresses. Spring is very rainy, especially in May, which is the wettest month. Summer is very hot and humid, with moderate levels of rain, and generous sunshine; on average, July and August are the only two months where the area receives more than half of possible sunshine. Autumn is the driest season. From January to May, on average, more than half of the days each month receive some precipitation. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from in January to in July. The annual precipitation is around . With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 15% in February and March to 58% in July, the city receives 1,491 hours of sunshine annually.

Administrative divisions

Lengshuitan District Lengshuitan District () is one of two urban districts of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, China. It is located on the north of the city proper, and lies to the eastern border of Guangxi. The district is bordered to the northwest and the north b ...

() *

Lingling District Lingling District () is one of two urban districts of Yongzhou City, Hunan Province, China. It is located on the south of the city proper, and lies to the eastern border of Guangxi. The district is bordered to the north by Dong'an County and Le ...

() * Qiyang City () *

Dong'an County Dong'an County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the south central margin of the province, it is adjacent to the eastern border of Guangxi. The county is bord ...

() * Dao County () *

Ningyuan County Ningyuan County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou prefecture-level City. also see Located on the southern part of the province, the county is bordered to the north by Qiyang County, to the north ...

() * Jiangyong County () *

Lanshan County Lanshan County () is a county of Hunan Province, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou prefecture-level City. Located on the south margin of the province, it is adjacent to the northern border of Guangdong. Lanshan covers . In 2015, i ...

() * Xintian County () * Shuangpai County () *

Jianghua Yao Autonomous County Jianghua ( "''Jianghua Yao Autonomous County''", ; usually referred to as "''Jianghua County''", ) is an autonomous county of Yao people in the Province of Hunan, China, it is under the administration of Yongzhou Prefecture-level City. Located ...

()

Government

The current CPC Party Secretary of Yongzhou is Li Hui and the current Mayor is Zhu Hongwu.

Transportation

Air

Yongzhou Lingling Airport Yongzhou Lingling Airport is an airport serving the city of Yongzhou in Hunan Province, China. It is located in Lengshuitan District, 8.8 kilometers from the city center. The airport was first built in 1938 for military use and expanded se ...

Rail

* Hunan–Guangxi Railway YongZhou Railway Station

Highway

China National Highway 207 China National Highway 207 (G207) runs from Ulanhot, Inner Mongolia to Hai'an, Guangdong. It is in length and runs south from Xilinhot through Inner Mongolia, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan, Hubei, Guangxi, and ends in Guangdong. Route and distan ...

Notable citizens

Yongzhou is the home of supermodel Liu Wen and political dissident

Tang Baiqiao Baiqiao Tang (; born 11 August 1967, Yongzhou; sometimes spelled ''Tang Boqiao'') is a Chinese political dissident from Hunan province who led student protests during the 1989 democracy movement. After the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and mas ...

Sister cities

Courthouse incident

Three judges were killed and three court staff were injured by submachine gun in the 2010

Yongzhou courthouse shooting The Yongzhou courthouse shooting () occurred on 1 June 2010 when 46-year-old Zhu Jun (), armed with a submachine gun and 2 other weapons, entered the Lingling District People's Court () in Yongzhou, Hunan and randomly killed 3 judicial workers ...

. The assailant was apparently angry at the Chinese justice system about the results of his

divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving th ...

settlement.

External links

Official website of Yongzhou Government

References

{{Authority control Prefecture-level divisions of Hunan Cities in Hunan