# Xinhua County

Xinhua County (simplified Chinese: 新化县; traditional Chinese: 新化縣; pinyin: Xīnhuà Xiàn) is a county and the 4th most populous county-level division in the Province of Hunan, China; it is under the administration of Loudi City.
Located along the middle reaches of the Zi River, it covers 3,635 square kilometers and has a population of 1,196,538 (November 2020). Xinhua shares the border with Lengshuijiang, Lianyuan, Xinshao, Xupu and Longhui counties and cities. As a county, it was founded in 1072 (Northern Song dynasty) and now it is under jurisdiction of the Loudi City and subdivided into 7 townships and 19 towns, Shangmei is the county seat.
The economy of Xinhua County is largely agricultural, with 741 thousand of Xinhua County's population of 1.2 million working in agriculture. Other than agriculture, industries include machinery, electronics, ceramics, building materials, metallurgy, coal, chemical, food, paper, bamboo and wood processing. In recent years, Xinhua County's economy has grown quite a lot.
In 2011, media attention was attracted by a construction project started by the county's government. In the hope of attracting tourists, the officials wanted to build a lavish temple (Xiongshan Si - 熊山寺; 'Bear Mountain Temple'), diverting funds from more essential projects.

## Climate

Climate data for Xinhua, elevation 212 m (696 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010) :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 25.7 (78.3) | 30.1 (86.2) | 33.2 (91.8) | 35.9 (96.6) | 36.5 (97.7) | 37.5 (99.5) | 39.1 (102.4) | 39.8 (103.6) | 38.5 (101.3) | 35.7 (96.3) | 32.0 (89.6) | 24.1 (75.4) | 39.8 (103.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.0 (48.2) | 11.7 (53.1) | 16.2 (61.2) | 22.6 (72.7) | 26.9 (80.4) | 29.8 (85.6) | 33.0 (91.4) | 32.6 (90.7) | 28.7 (83.7) | 23.3 (73.9) | 17.9 (64.2) | 11.9 (53.4) | 22.0 (71.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 5.3 (41.5) | 7.7 (45.9) | 11.7 (53.1) | 17.6 (63.7) | 22.0 (71.6) | 25.3 (77.5) | 28.2 (82.8) | 27.4 (81.3) | 23.6 (74.5) | 18.4 (65.1) | 13.0 (55.4) | 7.6 (45.7) | 17.3 (63.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.8 (37.0) | 4.9 (40.8) | 8.6 (47.5) | 14.0 (57.2) | 18.4 (65.1) | 22.2 (72.0) | 24.7 (76.5) | 24.0 (75.2) | 20.1 (68.2) | 14.9 (58.8) | 9.6 (49.3) | 4.5 (40.1) | 14.1 (57.3) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −5.8 (21.6) | −3.9 (25.0) | −1.2 (29.8) | 3.1 (37.6) | 8.4 (47.1) | 13.5 (56.3) | 17.5 (63.5) | 16.8 (62.2) | 12.2 (54.0) | 3.7 (38.7) | −1.3 (29.7) | −8.5 (16.7) | −8.5 (16.7) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 69.8 (2.75) | 74.9 (2.95) | 132.0 (5.20) | 164.8 (6.49) | 203.5 (8.01) | 255.9 (10.07) | 197.9 (7.79) | 142.2 (5.60) | 81.2 (3.20) | 76.3 (3.00) | 73.4 (2.89) | 50.5 (1.99) | 1,522.4 (59.94) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm) | 13.8 | 14.2 | 17.7 | 17.3 | 16.4 | 16.7 | 12.8 | 12.6 | 9.8 | 10.4 | 10.7 | 11.2 | 163.6 |
| Average snowy days | 6.0 | 3.0 | 1.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 12.3 |
| Average relative humidity (%) | 77 | 77 | 78 | 78 | 78 | 81 | 76 | 77 | 77 | 76 | 76 | 74 | 77 |
| Mean monthly sunshine hours | 55.7 | 56.9 | 76.8 | 102.8 | 126.9 | 124.1 | 200.6 | 184.5 | 135.1 | 115.6 | 102.7 | 84.0 | 1,365.7 |
| Percent possible sunshine | 17 | 18 | 21 | 27 | 30 | 30 | 48 | 46 | 37 | 33 | 32 | 26 | 30 |
| Source: China Meteorological Administration ||||||||||||||

## Notable people

* He Jiankui, the key figure in the genetically-edited human embryo He Jiankui affair was born here.