Zigui County
County in Hubei, People's Republic of China
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Zigui County (simplified Chinese: 秭归县; traditional Chinese: 秭歸縣; pinyin: Zǐguī Xiàn) is a county of western Hubei province, People's Republic of China. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Yichang and encompasses the easternmost portion of the Yangtze River Gorges, including the Xiling Gorge.
Zigui County
秭归县 Tzekwei | |
|---|---|
 Part of the town of Maoping, the county seat | |
  Zigui Location in Hubei | |
| Coordinates (Zigui government): 30°49′34″N 110°58′41″E | |
| Country | People's Republic of China |
| Province | Hubei |
| Prefecture-level city | Yichang |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,427 km2 (937 sq mi) |
| Population (2020)[2] | |
• Total | 299,642 |
| • Density | 123.5/km2 (319.8/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+8 (China Standard) |
| Website | www |
| Zigui County | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 秭歸縣 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 秭归县 | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 秭歸 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 秭归 | ||||||||
| Postal | Tzukwei | ||||||||
| |||||||||
The county seat of Zigui is now the town of Maoping (茅坪镇; Máopíng Zhèn), situated a few kilometers west of the Three Gorges Dam on the high southern shore of the river. The original Zigui town was upstream to the west and was abandoned and submerged under the rising waters of the reservoir in the early years of the 21st century. As it is common in China, Maoping is typically labelled as "Zigui County" (秭归县) or simply "Zigui" (秭归) on most maps.
Administrative divisions
Climate
| Climate data for Zigui, elevation 296 m (971 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1991–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 20.4 (68.7) |
25.8 (78.4) |
33.8 (92.8) |
36.2 (97.2) |
37.4 (99.3) |
39.6 (103.3) |
40.1 (104.2) |
41.7 (107.1) |
40.8 (105.4) |
33.5 (92.3) |
28.1 (82.6) |
22.1 (71.8) |
41.7 (107.1) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 8.7 (47.7) |
11.6 (52.9) |
17.3 (63.1) |
23.1 (73.6) |
26.7 (80.1) |
30.0 (86.0) |
32.3 (90.1) |
31.8 (89.2) |
27.5 (81.5) |
22.1 (71.8) |
16.6 (61.9) |
10.9 (51.6) |
21.5 (70.8) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.0 (41.0) |
7.4 (45.3) |
11.9 (53.4) |
17.3 (63.1) |
21.3 (70.3) |
24.9 (76.8) |
27.0 (80.6) |
26.5 (79.7) |
22.8 (73.0) |
17.6 (63.7) |
12.4 (54.3) |
7.1 (44.8) |
16.8 (62.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.5 (36.5) |
4.4 (39.9) |
8.2 (46.8) |
13.2 (55.8) |
17.4 (63.3) |
21.2 (70.2) |
23.6 (74.5) |
23.1 (73.6) |
19.5 (67.1) |
14.6 (58.3) |
9.5 (49.1) |
4.5 (40.1) |
13.5 (56.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −4.8 (23.4) |
−2.9 (26.8) |
−1.1 (30.0) |
2.1 (35.8) |
10.7 (51.3) |
16.1 (61.0) |
17.3 (63.1) |
16.4 (61.5) |
10.8 (51.4) |
5.9 (42.6) |
0.4 (32.7) |
−3.4 (25.9) |
−4.8 (23.4) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 24.5 (0.96) |
39.9 (1.57) |
57.8 (2.28) |
113.3 (4.46) |
143.7 (5.66) |
162.0 (6.38) |
238.9 (9.41) |
219.6 (8.65) |
123.5 (4.86) |
103.6 (4.08) |
50.2 (1.98) |
20.2 (0.80) |
1,297.2 (51.09) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 8.4 | 9.6 | 11.5 | 12.7 | 14.4 | 13.8 | 17.1 | 14.9 | 12.5 | 11.9 | 10.1 | 8.0 | 144.9 |
| Average snowy days | 4.0 | 2.3 | 0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 8.1 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 73 | 73 | 72 | 73 | 76 | 78 | 81 | 80 | 78 | 79 | 78 | 73 | 76 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 79.8 | 81.1 | 121.9 | 145.0 | 148.7 | 144.9 | 169.6 | 181.3 | 125.4 | 111.3 | 105.7 | 90.7 | 1,505.4 |
| Percentage possible sunshine | 25 | 26 | 33 | 37 | 35 | 34 | 40 | 45 | 34 | 32 | 34 | 29 | 34 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration[5][6] | |||||||||||||
Tourism
A good view of the Three Gorges Dam, and of an ancillary dam further south, can be had from Maoping's riverside parks.
Economy
Most of Zigui is hilly or mountainous with basic farming and tea production. There are many small coal mines in the mountains, with the coal trucked to the river then loaded onto barges for shipping downstream.
Transportation
Passenger boats and ferries travelling up and down the river can dock at the large passenger dock ("Zigui Harbor", 秭归港) at Maoping, or at Taipingxi Town on the north bank close to the Dam. Frequent bus service connects Maoping with the center city of Yichang to the east; there is also bus service to most towns in the county, as well as to the neighboring counties.
External links
- "131 ancient Chinese 'hanging' coffins found on side of 100m cliff near Three Gorges Dam". South China Morning Post. 15 December 2015. Archived from the original on December 16, 2015.