Xuchang |
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Situated in central Henan, the city of Xuchang has under its jurisdiction 2 boroughs, 3 counties and 1 district. She covers an area of 4,996 square kilometers with a population  of 4.5 million. The GDP of Xuchang in 2005 was RMB£¤60.297 billion, the per capita income of farmers was RMB£¤3,643, and the per capita disposable income of urban dwellers was RMB£¤7,769, increasing respectively by 13%, 12.2% and 11.6% as against the previous year.
Xuchang has an admirable location. It is only 80 kilometers away from the provincial capital city of Zhengzhou and 50 kilometers away from the Xinzheng International Airport. An expressway connects Xuchang with Zhengzhou and the airport. The Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, No.107 and No. 311 state highways and Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway run through the city. Some other expressways are either under construction or to be built in the future. When they are open to traffic, Xuchang will become a hub of the fluxion of personnel, materials, capitals and information in the Central Plains. In addition, the courses of the two major national strategic projects, i.e., those of diverting water from the south to the north and transmitting the natural gas from the west to the east, pass through the area around the city.
Xuchang has a long history, profound cultural tradition and rich resources for tourism. It is known as the "Capital of Wei Kingdom", "City of Flowers" and "City of Junci Porcelain". There is many a famous place of historic interest in Xuchang, including former cities of the Han and Wei dynasties, the Baling Bridge, where, as the legend goes, the famous general Guan Yu of the Three Kingdoms Period bid Cao Cao a farewell and accepted Cao¡¯s gift of campaign gown with his broadsword, the Spring and Autumn Building where General Guan Yu was believed to read Confucius¡¯ book The Spring and Autumn Annals by candle light, and the Tomb of Hua Tuo, a famous doctor of the Three Kingdoms Period. Besides, Xuchang is also one of the major cradles of Chinese family names like Xu, Chen, Zhong, Fang, etc., thus serving as an emotional bond to link the Chinese nation at home and abroad.
Agriculture in Xuchang bears unique characteristics. Xuchang has become a noticeable base of flowers, traditional Chinese medicinal herbs, vegetables, high-quality wheat, tobacco and soybeans. At present, 30,000 hectares of land have been set aside as nurseries for planting flowers and trees of more than 2,300 varieties. In recent years Xuchang persists in developing its agriculture by way of modernization and intensification. Scientific and technological gardens of agriculture at the state level have been set up, which have not only set examples for others to follow, but also promoted agriculture¡¯s economic benefits and ecological benefits.
As a rising industrial city, Xuchang has already established its industrial structure with electrical equipment, materials of super hardness, hair products, shoe making, textile, foodstuff processing and energy as the mainstay. Large-sized enterprises like Xuji Group Corporation, Huanghe Group, Xuchang Cigarette Factory, Rebecca Hair Products Co., Ltd. take the leading position in similar lines in the country. In particular, Xuji Group Corporation has already carried out substantial cooperation with some of the top 500 enterprises in the world, such as Microsoft, Hitachi, Siemens. Thus, Xuchang has already been closely related to the global economy. |
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