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The latitude line that lies at 30° North forms a mysterious belt around our planet along which are scattered the pyramids of ancient Egypt, the Bermuda Islands and the remains of the Mayan Civilization. When you cast your eyes toward the eastern part of Asian we find a land in the shape of a human silhouette. This is Hunan Province of China. Most of this land is located to the south of the Dongting Lake, hence its name Hunan which literally means lake south. It gets another name of Xiang from the Xiangjiang River that runs the largest in the province. Today there are 13 cities, one autonomous prefecture and 122 counties or districts covering a total area of 21,800 sq km for a population of 69.25 million.
Hunan has a host of charms to offer. The Xiangjiang River runs northward through Hunan and empties into the Dongting Lake, the second largest freshwater lake in China. As it passes by the Zhaoshan Mountain the river turns sharply at an angle of 60 degree, this is where the three cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan form an equilateral triangle. The geographical concurrence makes the three cities share a close relationship in politics, economy and culture. In December, 2007, the Changsha-Zhuzhou-Xiangtan city cluster was designed by the State Council as a “National Experiment Zone for building a Resource-conserving and Environment-Friendly Society”. The “two-oriented” experiment has its roots in Hunan people’s cherishing of greenery and coordinated development of Man and Nature. In comparison with other areas at the same latitude, Hunan has a forest coverage of 56.43% with amounts to 6.6% of the national total.
When these peaks are introduced to the world all are astounded by such a stunning geographical treasure. The place is Zhangjiajie which was designated by the UNESCO as a World Heritage site in 1992. The ideal world depicted by the ancient Chinese scholar Tao Yuanming can be found in a location some 100 km from Zhangjiajie. Fenghuang which is the Chinese name for “Phoenix” is a most beautiful town in South China. Nowadays large numbers of tourists are attracted to Fenghuang and the rest of western Hunan by its tranquil seclusion and colorful folk customs.
As many as 1,000 years ago, the waterside view of the Dongting Lake was already being regularly eulogized by poets and the beautiful Mount Hengshan is known as one of the Five Sacred Moutains of China. The 12th century poet Lu You claimed that he could find no poetic inspiration unless he came to Hunan. For the Yueyang Tower by the Dongting Lake, the 11th century poet Fan Zhongyan wrote a poem expressing his ideal of service to the country. Hunan culture has since been epitomized by a profound concern for the well-being of the people.
This is a peasant courtyard typical of South China. It is the birthplace of Wei Yuan, who was the first Chinese in modern times to take a new look at the world. Tracing back to earlier times we can see such scholars as Qu Yuan, Jia Yi, Du Fu, Liu Zongyuan, Fan Zhongyan, Zhou Dunyi, Zhu Xi, Zhang Shi and Wang Fuzhi. They had exerted a profound influence over the people of Hunan resulting in the striking phenomenon captured in the modern Chinese expression. Half of the talent in China comes from Hunan. In contemporary times Hunan natives represented by Mao Zedong, Liu Shaoqi, Renbisghi, Peng Deihuai, He Long, Luo Ronghuan, Hu Yaobang and Zhu Rongji have made historic contribution to the founding of the People’s Republic and to its socialist modernization drive.
The centuries-old Yuelu Academy was among the top four academies of classical learning in ancient China. Established at the foot of Yuelu Mountain in 976, it has nurtured and influenced generations of intellectuals and served as a spiritual refuge of Hunan people. Today a cluster of institution of higher learning has thrived at the foot of Yuelu Mountain. Changsha, the capital city of Hunan, is named after the celestial constellation. In traditional Chinese literature, Changsha constellation stands fro longevity. In the Provincial Museum, visitors may find the mummy of a lady from an ancient grave unearthed near Changsha in a place called Mawangdui, dating back more than 2,000 years ago. As the wife of the Prime Minister of the ancient Changsha State, she could never have anticipated that more than 2,200 years later she would become one of the most famous women in the world. Today, her hometown Changsha has become a center of fashion in addition to the label of one historical and cultural city. In 2009, Changsha for the third time was rated one of China’s happiest cities. It has grown into a most popular recreational destination. With an average life span of 75.98 years, its people have applied a unique brand of humor and optimism in fostering their urban culture. The talents on television, publishing, animated cartoon and sports have demonstrated the innovative spirit and extraordinary influence of Hunan culture.
Through every phase of history, Hunan wisdom radiates. The enterprising Hunan people have always being capable of miracles with their ingenious creativity. More than 2,000 years ago, Cai Lun a native of Leiyang invented the technique of papermaking which was key to the dissemination of human civilization. At the opening ceremonies of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games and Expo 2010 Shanghai, Liuyang’s amazing fireworks produced an astonishing spectacle for the watching crowds. And its exquisite craftsmanship has made Hunan Embroidery one of the four great embroideries of China.
The Chinese believe they are the descendents of Emperors Yandi and Huangdi. Yandi introduced agriculture to ancient China. His tomb is in Hunan’s Yanling County. Throughout history Hunan has been one of China’s principal agriculture provinces. A Chinese saying goes: “Whenever Hunan and Hubei has a bumper crop, the country will be free from hunger.” The earliest strain of rice cultivated more than 10,000 years ago was found at Yuchanyan Daoxian County in south Hunan while at Chengtoushan in Lixian County in north Hunan the remains of an early Chinese city with a 5,000-year-old rice field. This eighty-year-old working in the paddy field is Yuan Longping, a scientist known as Father of Hybrid Rice. The hybrid rice strain he developed is hailed as the Fifth Great Invention of China and has been introduced to 45 countries and regions to feed an additional population of 70 million each year. We continue to be dazzled by inventions from Hunan, Huang Boyun an expert in new materials and Lu Guangxiu the first Chinese geneticist to research in-vitro fertilization are renowned throughout the world. It is in Hunan that China’s first supercomputer, first intelligent robot, first airplane engine and first flash disk were produced. Hunan has more than one million scientists and researchers and 45 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering. They are building up the province’s strength in science and technology.
Rapid agricultural growth has been accompanied by new industrialization and an unprecedented rate. In 2006, the provincial Party committee and provincial government set the strategic goal for build up Hunan’s strengths in industry, culture and education. Today machinery and equipment manufacturing, petrochemicals, non-ferrous metals, foodstuffs, culture tourism and light industries have become the pillar of Hunan’s economy each with an output value exceeding 100 billion RMB. In 2009 paid-in foreign investment in Hunan reached 4,598 billion USD dollars, which was 14.8% up over the previous year. Forty-nine of the world top 500 companies including Wal-Mart and Coca Cola have built their Hunan bases. The province also leads China in terms of overseas investment with 270 Hunan enterprises investing abroad including Valin Iron & Steel Zoomlion and Sany Heavy Industry.
Hunan is a land where fantastic dreams come true. It has established cooperation with more than 170 countries and regions as well as 54 cities around the world. Every day from every corner of the world, Hunan welcomes guests keen to visit this beautiful southern province of China. The Changsha Huanghua International Airport now ranks among major global airports. As the bullet trains on the Wuhan-Guangzhou High Speed Railway speed past the Dongting Lake to the south at 350 km per hour they not only improve to the world rail speed record but also forcefully accelerate the pace of Hunan’s development. Joining this line will be planned Shanghai-Kunming High Speed Railway running east to west forming will soon an express intersection across South China.
In the fall of 1925, the young Mao Zedong returned to his home. He asked a passionate question in his poem written on the Orange Islet in Xiangjiang River: “who is the ruler of this boundless world?” The young man first left his hometown Shaoshan at the age of 17 to travel northward out of Hunan along the Xiangjiang River, and eventually he built a brand new China through his lifelong devotion and effort. The same green river that has nourished the land for ten thousand years still flows northward winding among the red leaves in this poetic landscape. A statue of Mao Zedong stands in the place where he asked the question his eye on some distant vision contemplating during an epic moment in the history of China and in the future of the nation.
With the economy on the fast-track already Hunan is more determined to further improve the efficiency of its economic growth, accelerate restructuring and promote the transformation of its pattern of development. Today, the province opens wider to the world than ever before to build a resource-conserving and environment-friendly society.
