Qianjiang, Hubei

Qianjiang (simplified Chinese: 潜江; traditional Chinese: 潛江; pinyin: Qiánjiāng) is a sub-prefecture-level city of south-central Hubei province, People's Republic of China.

Geography and climate

Qianjiang is located in south-central Hubei province in the Jianghan Plain. Its area is 2,004 square kilometres (774 sq mi)

Qianjiang's climate is temperate. Average annual temperature is 17 °C (63 °F).

There were many small lakes, ponds, and rivers scattered around the Qianjiang area. However, starting in the early 80's most of them disappeared due to urbanization and industrialization.

Transport

History

Qianjiang became a county in 965 during the Song dynasty. It was the early center of the Chu State.

Qianjiang was occupied by the Japanese during the Sino-Japan War. The Japanese primarily used prominent local Chinese to run the "puppet" government, notably many members of the Zhang family.

The communists from 1949 to early 1980s constructed a pharmaceutical plant, a textile factory, a book-printing factory, a large oil-and-gas drilling field, and other industrial installations in the Qianjiang area. As the national economic reform took force beginning in the late 1970s many of these state-run businesses went under.

Hubei

Hubei (Chinese: 湖北; pinyin:  Húběi; Wade–Giles: Hu-pei) is a province of China, located in the easternmost part of Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The provincial capital is Wuhan, a major transportation thoroughfare and the political, cultural, and economic hub of Central China.

Hubei is officially abbreviated to "鄂" (È), an ancient name associated with the eastern part of the province since the Qin dynasty, while a popular name for Hubei is "楚" (Chǔ), after the powerful State of Chu that existed here during the Eastern Zhou dynasty. It borders Henan to the north, Anhui to the east, Jiangxi to the southeast, Hunan to the south, Chongqing to the west, and Shaanxi to the northwest. The high-profile Three Gorges Dam is located at Yichang, in the west of the province.

History

The Hubei region was home to sophisticated Neolithic cultures. By the Spring and Autumn Period (770–476 BC), the territory of today's Hubei was part of the powerful State of Chu. Chu was nominally a tributary state of the Zhou dynasty, and it was itself an extension of the Chinese civilization that had emerged some centuries before in the north; but it was also a culturally unique blend of northern and southern culture, and was a powerful state that held onto much of the middle and lower Yangtze River, with power extending northwards into the North China Plain.

List of minor planets: 2001–3000