Shaoyang (simplified Chinese: 邵阳; traditional Chinese: 邵陽; pinyin: Shàoyáng), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (Chinese: 宝庆), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Hunan. As of the 2020 Chinese census, its total population was 6,563,520 inhabitants, of whom 1,415,173 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of three urban districts and Xinshao County largely conurbated.

Shaoyang
邵阳
World Heritage Mount Langshan(崀山)
Shuifu Temple(水府庙)
Wangxi Falls(旺溪瀑布)
Wei Yuan Statue(魏源铜像)
Nanshan National Park(南山国家公园)
Baoqing Wall(宝庆府城墙)
Location of Shaoyang City jurisdiction in Hunan
Location of Shaoyang City jurisdiction in Hunan
Shaoyang is located in Hunan
Shaoyang
Shaoyang
Location of the city centre in Hunan
Coordinates (Shaoyang municipal government): 27°14′22″N 111°28′04″E / 27.2395°N 111.4679°E / 27.2395; 111.4679
CountryPeople's Republic of China
ProvinceHunan
County-level divisions
  • 3 districts
  • 1 county-level city
  • 7 counties
  • 1 autonomous county
Township-level divisions
  • 21 subdistricts
  • 97 towns
  • 78 townships
  • 21 ethnic townships
Village-level divisions
  • 335 residential communities
  • 5,551 villages
Municipal seatDaxiang District
Area
 • Prefecture-level city20,829.63 km2 (8,042.37 sq mi)
 • Urban
436.0 km2 (168.3 sq mi)
 • Metro
2,199 km2 (849 sq mi)
Population
 (2020 census)[1]
 • Prefecture-level city6,563,520
 • Density320/km2 (820/sq mi)
 • Urban
802,230
 • Urban density1,800/km2 (4,800/sq mi)
 • Metro
1,415,173
 • Metro density640/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
GDP[2]
 • Prefecture-level cityCN¥ 259.9 trillion
US$ 38.6 billion
 • Per capitaCN¥ 31,816
US$ 4,731
Time zoneUTC+8 (China Standard)
Postal code
422000
Area code0739
ISO 3166 codeCN-HN-05
Licence plate prefixes湘E
Administrative division code430500

One of the major forest areas in Hunan, Shaoyang has a forest coverage of 42.7%. The 23,000,000-acre (93,000 km2) NanShan Pastures is one of the biggest in South Central China and provide dairy products and meat for Hunanese.

Shaoyang is home to Shaoyang University. The school is composed of the former Shaoyang Normal College and Shaoyang College.

The Shaoyang dialect of Lou Shao group of dialects of Xiang is generally spoken here.

History

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During the later Spring and Autumn period, official Bai Shan (白善) of Chu used to construct a city named Baigong (白公城) in Shaoyang. After the First emperor of Qin reunited China, Shaoyang was under jurisdiction of Changsha Commandery, one of thirty-six Commandery in the empire. Under the Eastern Han dynasty, Shaoyang was administered by Linling Commandery. During the Three Kingdoms era, northern part of Linling including today Shaoyang city was divided from it and designated new Zhaoling commandery (昭陵). Following Western Jin reunited Wu in 280 (or first year of Taikang era), emperor Wu changed the Commandery's name Zhaoling to Shaoling (邵陵) to avoid taboo of his father (Sima Zhao, 司马昭). Under the Southern Song period, Shao Prefecture was renamed and promoted Baoqing-fu by Lizong, whom used to take charge of Shao Prefecture defender (邵州防御使) when he was prince. The term "Baoqing" was used until 17 years of Republic of China (1928), when it was renamed Shaoyang County. After communist won Chinese Civil War, Shaoyang city was established in 1950.[3]

Climate

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Shaoyang has a monsoon-influenced, four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with cool, damp winters, and hot, humid summers. Winter begins relatively dry but not sunny and becomes progressively damper and cloudier; spring brings both the most frequent and heaviest rain of the year. Summer is comparatively sunny, while autumn is somewhat dry. The monthly 24-hour average temperatures ranges from 5.2 °C (41.4 °F) in January to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 17.05 °C (62.7 °F). The annual precipitation is about 1,340 mm (53 in).

Climate data for Shaoyang (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
MonthJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecYear
Record high °C (°F)24.3
(75.7)
28.9
(84.0)
35.9
(96.6)
34.5
(94.1)
36.2
(97.2)
37.4
(99.3)
39.5
(103.1)
38.6
(101.5)
37.1
(98.8)
35.3
(95.5)
33.0
(91.4)
24.6
(76.3)
39.5
(103.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)9.0
(48.2)
11.7
(53.1)
16.0
(60.8)
22.4
(72.3)
26.7
(80.1)
29.6
(85.3)
32.8
(91.0)
32.5
(90.5)
28.8
(83.8)
23.3
(73.9)
17.8
(64.0)
11.7
(53.1)
21.9
(71.3)
Daily mean °C (°F)5.6
(42.1)
7.9
(46.2)
11.8
(53.2)
17.7
(63.9)
22.2
(72.0)
25.5
(77.9)
28.2
(82.8)
27.6
(81.7)
24.0
(75.2)
18.7
(65.7)
13.2
(55.8)
7.7
(45.9)
17.5
(63.5)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)3.1
(37.6)
5.2
(41.4)
8.8
(47.8)
14.3
(57.7)
18.7
(65.7)
22.4
(72.3)
24.6
(76.3)
24.1
(75.4)
20.6
(69.1)
15.3
(59.5)
9.8
(49.6)
4.7
(40.5)
14.3
(57.7)
Record low °C (°F)−10.5
(13.1)
−6.0
(21.2)
−0.6
(30.9)
2.2
(36.0)
9.6
(49.3)
14.1
(57.4)
18.1
(64.6)
18.5
(65.3)
12.2
(54.0)
3.2
(37.8)
−1.6
(29.1)
−6.9
(19.6)
−10.5
(13.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)67.7
(2.67)
70.7
(2.78)
132.7
(5.22)
136.2
(5.36)
181.9
(7.16)
203.8
(8.02)
147.4
(5.80)
124.1
(4.89)
63.3
(2.49)
68.2
(2.69)
70.2
(2.76)
51.7
(2.04)
1,317.9
(51.88)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)14.514.117.916.315.914.811.011.88.210.110.911.0156.5
Average snowy days4.93.20.6000000001.510.2
Average relative humidity (%)78798079798276767575767477
Mean monthly sunshine hours60.461.379.7111.4135.8139.5224.5204.8149.2124.5114.893.41,499.3
Percent possible sunshine18192129323453514135362933
Source 1: China Meteorological Administration[4][5]
Source 2: Weather China[6]

Administrative divisions

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Map including Shaoyang (labeled as SHAO-YANG (PAOKING) (Walled) 邵陽) (AMS, 1954)

Shaoyang administers three districts, two county-level cities, six counties, and one autonomous county.

Districts:

County-level City:

Counties:

Autonomous county:

Map

Demographics

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According to the Sixth National Census in 2010, Shaoyang's permanent residence population of 7,071,741 ranked it 2nd out of 14 prefecture-level divisions of Hunan; the male-female ratio was 107.95 to 100. Educational attainment levels were as follows: 4.49% bachelor's or higher, 60.01% middle school (初中) or higher, and the illiteracy rate was 3.24%. There were 1,950,605 households in which 6,913,913 resided, forming 97.77% of the provincial population and resulting in an average of 3.54 persons/household. Age distribution was as follows: 1,512,664 (21.39%) ≤14 years, 4,862,468 (68.76%) 15−64 years, 696,609 (9.85%) 65+ years.

Shaoyang administrative and population data
DivisionArea[7]
(km2)
Permanent residents[8]
(2010 Census)
Hukou permits[9]
(late 2009)
Divisions[10]
SubdistrictsTownsTownshipsIncluding
ethnic
townships
Residential
communities
Villages
SHAOYANG CITY20,829.637,071,7417,705,957219799213355551
Shuangqing District137.08307,980270,4586245463
Daxiang District214.66340,605309,7526244481
Beita District84.39104,60987,714231440
Shaodong city1,776.38896,6251,260,966316933977
Xinshao County1,762.97743,073764,90511428652
Shaoyang County1,996.88915,600999,148121023633
Longhui County2,871.161,095,3921,156,9171511241964
Dongkou County2184.01770,473833,0031012323566
Suining County2,898.89351,139363,7406191414348
Xinning County2,751.31560,742607,05599215474
Chengbu Miao Autonomous County2,619.76250,633267,9216521271
Wugang City1,532.15734,870784,37848925482

Government

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The current CPC Party Secretary of Shaoyang is Gong Congmi and the current Mayor is Liu Shiqing.

Transportation

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Railway

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Shaoyang has four main railway station: Shaoyang Railway Station (邵阳火车站) (Fast Train, K and Highspeed train, G), Shaoyang Railway Station (邵阳北老火车站) (Old, North, Freight), Shaodong railway station [zh] (Fast Train, K and Highspeed train, G) and Shaoyang North railway station, in Xinshao County (Highspeed train, G and D). The Loudi–Shaoyang railway [zh] and Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway pass through Shaoyang.

Airport

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Shaoyang Wugang Airport was opened on 28 June 2017.[11] It is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north of Wugang, a county-level city under the administration of Shaoyang, and 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the urban center of Shaoyang.[11]

The airport has a 2,600-meter runway and a 3,000-square-meter terminal building. It is projected to handle 250,000 passengers and 500 tons of cargo annually by 2020.[12]

Economy

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2011 Shaoyang GDP figures[13]
(GDP in millions CNY/USD; per capita GDP in CNY)
DivisionRMBUSDPurchasing power
(USD)
Growth (%)Percentage (%)Per capita GDP
SHAOYANG CITY90,72314,04621,74013.210012,797
City proper18,3082,8354,38720.18
Shuangqing District8,175.091,265.731,959.0012.69.01
Daxiang District8,063.651,248.471,932.2915.28.89
Beita District2,069.27320.38495.8615.12.2819,698
Outlying76,35811,82218,29884.17
Shaodong County20,220.003,130.614,845.3214.422.2922,299
Xinshao County7,429.811,150.341,780.4113.68.199,998
Shaoyang County8,108.551,255.431,943.0512.28.947,796
Longhui County9,332.001,444.852,236.2311.610.298,499
Dongkou County9,012.001,395.312,159.5512.69.9311,784
Suining County5,018.45776.991,202.5712.25.53
Xinning County5,307.47821.741,271.8311.75.859,425
Chengbu County2,320.63359.30556.0911.52.569,238
Wugang City7,932.571,228.181,900.8813.88.7410,746

Although it is, by 2010 Census permanent resident population, the second-largest prefecture-level division of Hunan, its GDP (4.62% of provincial output) places it ninth within the province, making it an archetypal example of a large-population, relatively backwards-economy city. The GDP per capita of 12,797 CNY is the lowest in the province, and is only 42.9% of the provincial average, 36.5% of the national average, and 78% of even Guizhou's corresponding figure.[13] Primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors respectively accounted for 23.9%, 38.2%, and 37.9% of the economy.

Noted residents

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Twin cities

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References

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