Sandouping (}) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in Yiling District of

Yichang Yichang ( zh, s= ), Postal Map Romanization, alternatively romanized as Ichang, is a prefecture-level city located in western Hubei province, China. Yichang had a population of 3.92 million people at the 2022 census, making it the third most pop ...

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

in the Chinese province of

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

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

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

River, next to Yiling District's border with Zigui County to the west. Sandouping is best known as the location of the

Three Gorges Dam The Three Gorges Dam (), officially known as Yangtze River Three Gorges Water Conservancy Project () is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near Sandouping in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downs ...

, 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), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, personal name Zhu Youcheng, was the tenth emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1487 to 1505. He succeeded his father, the Ch ...

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 county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

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, 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. 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 Zigui County. 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 human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban village ...

() 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, specializing in professional map publishing. Established in December 1954, it is the only national-level map publisher in China today. ...

'', 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 panorama, interactive panoramic views of streets (Google Street View, Street View ...

, 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 (; ), Siban () or Shayban (; ) was a prince of the early Golden Horde, a division of the Mongol Empire. He was a grandson of Genghis Khan, the fifth son of Jochi and a younger brother of Batu Khan who founded the Golden Horde. His des ...

(), 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 Yiling District. (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 trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as oranges, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, pomelos, and limes. ''Citrus'' is nativ ...

fruits (according to different governmental sources, 15,000 '' mu'' 1,000 hectaresref name=ycyl/> or 10535 mu 02 haref name=sdp/> under cultivation, with an annual harvest of 14,000 metric tons),

silkworm ''Bombyx mori'', commonly known as the domestic silk moth, is a moth species belonging to the family Bombycidae. It is the closest relative of '' Bombyx mandarina'', the wild silk moth. Silkworms are the larvae of silk moths. The silkworm is of ...

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 ( ; or pummelo, ''Citrus maxima''), also known as a shaddock, is the largest citrus fruit. It is an ancestor of several cultivated citrus species, including the bitter orange and the grapefruit. It is a natural, non-hybrid citrus fr ...

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 flesh of the fruit is segmented and varies in color from pale yellow to dark red. Grapefru ...

s in the neighboring town of Letianxi

References