Xinyang |
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Located in the far southern Henan and at the junction of the three provinces of Hubei, Anhui and Henan, Xinyang has long been regarded as a "thoroughfare of three  provinces". She covers an area of 19,000 square kilometers and has a population of 7.8 million with 1 city, 8 counties and 2 districts under its jurisdiction.
Xinyang is in the transitional zone between the subtropical and the warm temperate zones. The city has long been known as "a land of fish and rice", yielding large amount of rice, wheat, rape and sesame. The annual output of jute and bluish dogbane, chestnut, ginkgo and tea ranks first in Henan. The Maojian Tea of Xinyang, one of the "Top Ten Famous Teas" in China, has won national gold medals and gained fame all over the world. The annual China Xinyang Tea Festival held in late April attracts great numbers of domestic and foreign tourists and businessmen.
The total annual average volume of water is more than 8.8 billion cubic meters, which is 2.6 times as high as the average level in Henan. Over 280 kinds of minerals have been identified here, 17 of which are of exploitation value, such as gold, silver, aluminum and rutile. Shangtianti non-mental mine is the largest one of its kind in Asia. Reserves of perlite in Xinyang reach 127 million tons, accounting for 50% of the identified reserves in China.
The Jigong Mountain, one of the top four summer resorts in China, is both a national  scenic spot and a national nature reserve and is widely known as the "Park in Clouds". There are other celebrated scenic areas in Xinyang, such as the 1000-year-old Lingshan Temple for both monks and nuns, Nanwan Lake which is regarded as the pearl of southern Henan Province, Nanwan National Forest Park, Tangquan Pool, a famous health resort, Jingju Temple, the birthplace of the Tiantai school of Buddhism, the Dabie Mountain, an old revolutionary base area, Xinxian County, once served as the capital of the Hebei-Henan-Anhui Soviet Region, Donzhai National Nature Reserve for Birds, etc. The city has been granted the title of National Model City of Ecological Environment Construction.
Xinyang enjoys a convenient transportation. Three main railways pass through the city, namely the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and the Beijing-Kowloon Railway running from the north to the south, and the Nangning-Xi'an Railway running from the west to the east. The Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, Shanghai-Shannxi Expressway, No.106, No.107, and No.312 National Highways together with the existing county and town roads have formed a rather complete network of transportation. Huaibin Port is the only port in Henan with a direct navigation service to Shanghai. The city is 180 kilometers away from the Wuhan Tianhe International Airport and 250 kilometers way from the Zhengzhou International Airport.
Xinyang has witnessed remarkable improvement in industrial and agricultural production. The annual aquatic production accounted for half of the total output in Henan. Animal husbandry has become the backbone industry in rural economy. Special brands of Huaying duck, Gushi chicken, Gushi goose, Xinyang black pig, and Huainan Maya duck are taking more and more shares of the market. In 2005, the city's GDP reached RMB£¤50.34 billion, an increase of 13% over the previous year. The per-capita disposable income of urban residents was RMB£¤6,784, up by 7.9%, while the per-capita net income of rural residents was RMB£¤2,708, increasing by 11.8%.
Xinyang has established friendly relationship with Niimi, Japan and Asshkelon, Israel. |
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