Ankang
Encyclopedia
Ankang is a city in Shaanxi
province, China
.
Ankang locates at the southeast of Shaanxi Province, south of Ba Mountain, north Qinling. Measuring 200 km from east to west and 240 km from north to south, it covers an area of 23,500 square kilometers. Han River cross it from west to east, forming a natural landform of "a plain between two mountains".
After the founding of the People's Republic of China (1949), the Ankang Office of the Shaanxi Province People's Government was set up in 1950, growing to become the Ankang Area Civic Administration in 1979. In 2001, Ankang Area became Ankang City with a city-level administration.
province, south of the Qinling Mountain range. The upper parts of the Han river
passes through Ankang.
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
province, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
.
Geography
Ankang is geographically considered to be part of southern China. However, on administrative terms, as Shaanxi is officially part of Northwestern China, it is considered to be part of the Northwest.Ankang locates at the southeast of Shaanxi Province, south of Ba Mountain, north Qinling. Measuring 200 km from east to west and 240 km from north to south, it covers an area of 23,500 square kilometers. Han River cross it from west to east, forming a natural landform of "a plain between two mountains".
History
Ankang has a long history, with a recorded history of more than 3,000 years and cultural history which can be traced back to the Stone Age. Ankang County was set up in the first year of Taikang in Western Jin Dynasty (A.D. 280); the name AnKang means "having abundant harvest and happy forever, being peaceful and healthy". In the third year of Feidi in Western Wei Dynasty (A.D. 554), it was changed to "Golden State" because the Yuehe Chuandao Area in Ankang produces flake gold. Control of the area was often contested.After the founding of the People's Republic of China (1949), the Ankang Office of the Shaanxi Province People's Government was set up in 1950, growing to become the Ankang Area Civic Administration in 1979. In 2001, Ankang Area became Ankang City with a city-level administration.
Culture
Ankang's history and culture is nearly the same as Chinese culture, but with distinctive characteristics and geographical features marked by its diversity, which integrates east and west, north and south. It is influenced by Shaanxi culture, Chinese culture and Diqiang culture, with elements Bashu and Jinchu culture to form the present-day Han River culture after thousands of years of assimilation and fusion. The operas of Ankang have a long history, with nearly ten varieties, of which Han Opera is the best and most mature. According to incomplete statistics (?), the operas of Ankang consist of more than a thousand traditional plays. It is said that the tone of Beijing Opera originates from Han Opera. Ankang is well-known as "the land for folk songs" and was named as "the land for folk songs in China" by the Ministry of Culture in 2003. Ziyang folk songs has became a cultural brand of Ankang. Ziyang folk songs and the Han tune "Erhuang" have been listed on the Intangible Cultural Heritage List by the State Council.Subdivision
Ankang includes Hanbin District and nine counties: Hanyin, Shiquan, Ningshan, Ziyang, Langao, Pingli, Zhenping, Xunyang and Baihe, totaling 109 towns, 88 townships and 3 sub-district offices.| Map | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| # | Name | Hanzi | Hanyu Pinyin | Population (2004 est.) | Area (km²) | Density (/km²) |
| 1 | Hanbin District Hanbin District Hanbin District is a district of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
汉滨区 | Hànbīn Qū | 950,000 | 3,652 | 260 |
| 2 | Hanyin County Hanyin County Hanyin County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
汉阴县 | Hànyīn Xiàn | 290,000 | 1,347 | 215 |
| 3 | Shiquan County Shiquan County Shiquan County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.-External links:*... |
石泉县 | Shíquán Xiàn | 180,000 | 1,525 | 118 |
| 4 | Ningshan County Ningshan County Ningshan County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
宁陕县 | Níngshǎn Xiàn | 70,000 | 3,678 | 19 |
| 5 | Ziyang County Ziyang County Ziyang County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
紫阳县 | Zǐyáng Xiàn | 340,000 | 2,204 | 154 |
| 6 | Langao County Langao County Langao County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
岚皋县 | Lángāo Xiàn | 170,000 | 1,851 | 92 |
| 7 | Pingli County Pingli County Pingli County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
平利县 | Pínglì Xiàn | 230,000 | 2,627 | 88 |
| 8 | Zhenping County | 镇坪县 | Zhènpíng Xiàn | 60,000 | 1,503 | 40 |
| 9 | Xunyang County Xunyang County Xunyang County is a county of Ankang, Shaanxi, China.... |
旬阳县 | Xúnyáng Xiàn | 450,000 | 3,554 | 127 |
| 10 | Baihe County Baihe County Baihe County is located in the southeastern portion of Shaanxi Province and is under the jurisdiction of Ankang City. It is by the eastern part of the Daba Mountains and approaches the Han River on the north... |
白河县 | Báihé Xiàn | 210,000 | 1,450 | 145 |
Tourism Resources
Locating at a rare zone abundant in subtropical resources in the northwest of China, Ankang is a intermediate zone between north and south of China and a transition zone of different climate whose unique geographical features makes it to own beautiful natural scenery and rich tourism resources, which gives a high value and a good prospect to develop it, such as developing the tourism of Qinba and Han River scenery and the tourism for holidays and leisure. It is a vivid description of Ankang's scenery that "Ankang contains the beautiful scenery in the south of China, as well as the magnificent view of Qinling and Ta-pa Mountains." Now Ankang has exploited 32 scenic areas and 78 scenic spots, among which 29 places have higher value to exploit, including some historic and scenic sites at the provincial level such as Nangong Mountain National Forest Park, Ying Lake and Xiangxi Hole, and lots of historic and scenic sites or tourism projects such as Qianjia Ping, the origin of Shen River, Pinghe Liang, rafting on the Lan River and so on. Ankang also has four national forest parks and seven forest parks at the provincial level.Biological Resources
Ankang is the subtropics continental monsoon climate with assembled biological resources. known as "the mountain of treasure in Qinba area", Ankang has more than 3300 kinds of biological species. There are 2157 kinds of trees, among which katsura tree, horse chestnut, Liriodendron, yew, ginkgo, Cephalotaxus, camphor, nanmu, wingceltis and so on are rare or unique in China, especially Davidia involucrata Baill (Also known as Chinese dove tree) growing in Zhenping County is called as living fossil 250 million years ago which is a rare species in the world. Ankang has a total of 430 kinds of wild animals, of which 34 were classified as national protective rare animals. Ankang is rich in Chinese herbal medicines, with more than 1290 kinds of species. The output of cocoon, Codonopsis pilosula, tea, raw Chinese lacquer, musk tops Shaanxi and the output of raw Chinese lacquer is well-known in China. The development of Chinese herbal medicines mainly on Gynostemma pentaphylla, saponin and puerarin has formed industrial groups with certain size. Ankang's tea has a long production history, which is one of seven major tea-planted areas in China. There are 9 counties or districts produce tea, among which Ziyang, Liping, Hanbin, Langao, Han Yin and Shiquan are the main tea-producing areas. In 2006, the tea garden covered an area of 34.52 million mu in Ankang, with a total output of 4735 tons. Ankang is also the largest silkworm and silk production base in Shaanxi, even in the northwest of China whose cocoon output accounts for more than 80% of Shaanxi Province. Ankang is an important base for forest and animal husbandry. The grassland covers an area of 3,130,000 mu and the theoretical animal number of the grasslands is 3,120,000. The forest area is 1,993 mu and the forest coverage of Ankang is 56.5%. The stumpage has reached 55,540,000 cubic meters, accounting for 20.6% of Shaanxi's.Water Power Resources
Ankang has many rivers and rich water resources. It takes up 59.5% of the total water resources in Shaanxi Province and the per-capita share of the water resources is 1.5 times as much as it in China, and 2.6 times in Shanxi. Han River, the biggest tributary of Yangtze River, is 340 kilometers long in Ankang. There are 11 rivers whose water area is above 1000 sq km, such as Han River, Ziwu River, Wenshui River and so on. The average annual runoff of these rivers in the city is 10,657,000,000 cubic meters and the per-capita share of water resources is 3700 cubic meters. The reserves of hydro energy is theoretically 4,690,000 kW, accounting for 36.8% of the total reserves of hydro energy in Shaanxi Province. Three hydropower stations (Ankang, Shiquan and Xihe) in Han River have been built with installation of 1,100,000kW. The water area for cultivation is 97000 mu taking up 25% of Ankang's total water cultivation area. The water area of Ankang hydropower station is the biggest man-made water area in Shaanxi Province, which is about 81400 mu. Han River, with crystal-clear and pollution-free water, is the important headwater in the midline of "South-to-North Water Diversion Project".Infrastructure
- There is an airport in Ankang (Ankang AirportAnkang AirportAnkang Wulipu Airport is an airport serving the city of Ankang in Shaanxi Province, China. It is located the town of Wuli in Hanbin District, 9 kilometers from the city center.-Facilities:...
), which opened in 1938. There are flights to and from Xi'an. The highways G316China National Highway 316China National Highway 316 runs from Fuzhou in Fujian to Lanzhou in Gansu, via Nanchang and Wuhan . It is 2915 kilometres in length...
and G210China National Highway 210China National Highway 210 runs from Baotou, Inner Mongolia to Nanning, Guangxi Province. It is 3,097 kilometres in length and runs south from Baotou towards Shaanxi Province, Sichuan Province, Chongqing, Guizhou Province, and ends in Guangxi Province.- Route and distance:-References:*...
pass through the town. - January 8, 2001 a new railway track between Ankang and Xi'an was opened, allowing for access from the province capital in a few hours.
Geography
Ankang is situated in the southern section of ShaanxiShaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
province, south of the Qinling Mountain range. The upper parts of the Han river
Han River (Hanshui)
The Han River is a left tributary of the Yangtze River with a length of 1532 km. Historically it was referred to as Hànshuǐ and the name is still occasionally used today....
passes through Ankang.