Jingzhou () is a prefecture-level city in southern Hubei province, China, located on the banks of the Yangtze River. Its total residential population was 5,231,180 based on the 2020 census, 1,068,291 of whom resided in the built-up (or metro) area comprising two urban districts.

Jingzhou's central urban area has grown out of Shashi City and Jingzhou Town (historically also known as Jiangling); their names were preserved in the names of Shashi District and Jingzhou District, which include the city's historical center, as well as Jiangling County, which administers the suburban areas of the larger historical area of Jiangling. The name "Shashi" also remains in the names of a number of local facilities, such as Jingzhou Shashi Airport and a railway freight station.

Toponymy 
The contemporary city of Jingzhou is named after ancient province of the same name, which was one of the nine provinces of ancient China. Said province was named after the nearby Jing Mountains.

Geography and climate
Jingzhou occupies an area of  with a topography rising from east to west. It is covered by a dense network of waterways, as well as lakes, and is located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River on the Jianghan Plain. Downstream to its east lies Wuhan, the provincial capital, and to the west lies the city of Yichang, the Three Gorges, and Chongqing Municipality. Jingmen City, also in Hubei, lies to the north; to its south are Yueyang and Changde, both in Hunan Province. 12.42% of the city's area is forested.

Jingzhou has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), with  hot, humid summers, and damp, chilly, but drier winters. Monthly daily average temperatures range from  in January to  in July. The area receives 1,800 to 2,000 hours of sunshine per year and has a frost-free period of 242−263 days annually.

Demographics
According to the 2010 census, the prefecture-level city of Jingzhou has 5,691,707 inhabitants and a population density of 405 inhabitants per km2.

As of the 7th census of Jingzhou done by the municipal government, Jingzhou's population shrunk slightly to an estimated 5,231,180 inhabitants, residing in about 1,833,292 households. Of Jingzhou's residential population, 2,664,658 or 50.94 percent were males while 2,566,522 of 49.06 percent were females. The sex ratio was 103.82 (female=100, male to female). There were 534,914 persons with university education. Compared with 2010, the number of people with university education went up from 6,828 persons to 10,225 persons per 100,000 persons, the average years of schooling for people aged 15 and above increased from 8.81 years to 9.29 years, and the illiteracy rate dropped from 4.41 percent (251.1thousand) to 2.79 (145.9thousand) percent. Additionally, Shashi and Jingzhou districts' the average years of schooling for people aged 15 were longer than 10 years.

Administration
The prefecture-level city of Jingzhou has jurisdiction over two districts, three county-level cities, three counties and one economic and technological development zone. The information here presented uses the metric system and data from the 2010 census.

Economy 
As of 2019, Jingzhou has a GDP of ¥251.648 billion, which grew at an annual rate of 7.5%. 17.3% of the city's GDP came from its primary sector, 37.1% came from its secondary sector, and 45.6% came from its tertiary sector. As of 2019, most of the city's economic growth is derived from its secondary and tertiary sectors, which grew at an annual rate of 8.1% and 8.8%, respectively. The city's residents had a per capita disposable income of ¥26,543, a 9.8% annual increase. Urban residents had a per capita disposable income of ¥35,910, while rural residents averaged ¥18,893 in disposable income. Jingzhou's per capita disposable income grew 10.2% for urban areas, and 9.2% for rural areas.

Agriculture 
The size of Jingzhou's agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry, and aquaculture sector in 2019 totaled ¥76.645 billion. The city produced 4.5117 million tons of grain, 433 thousand tons of vegetable oil, 38,000 tons of cotton, and 3.1332 million tons of vegetables. In 2019, 2.9777 million heads of swine, and 63.9012 million heads of poultry were slaughtered in Jingzhou. 1.1195 million tons of aquaculture products were produced, with 45.77% (512.4 thousand tons) of this comprising shrimp and crabs.

Industry 
In 2019, Jingzhou saw a 2.3% decline in light industry output, and a 17.0% rise in heavy industry output. The size of the city's state-owned economy shrunk 3.4%, its collectively-owned economy grew 2.4%, and its privately owned economy grew 7.2%.

One of Jingzhou's most prominent industries is its construction industry, which earned ¥29.877 billion in 2019. As of 2019, the city has 385 construction firms.

Retail 
In 2019, Jingzhou's consumer retail sales totaled ¥144.735 billion. Consumer retail sales grew at an annual rate of 11.5%.

Insurance 
In 2019, the city's insurance industry made ¥16.293 billion in revenue off of premiums, a 15.0% increase from the previous year. Of this, ¥12.213 billion came from personal insurance, and ¥4.08 billion came from property insurance, an increase of 12.7% and 22.3% from 2018, respectively. Jingzhou's insurance industry paid 5.171 billion in compensation, a 1.8% increase from the previous year.

Foreign trade 
In 2019, Jingzhou conducted 1.697 billion USD in foreign trade, a 6.8% decline from the previous year. Of this, imports accounted for 0.335 billion USD, and exports accounted for 1.363 billion USD.

History

Jingzhou has been inhabited for approximately 5,000 to 6,000 years, with the historic Daxi culture residing in present-day Jingzhou. Situated in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, the area has been a strategic location of military importance since ancient times.

The area of present-day Jingzhou was where the State of Chu was founded. Ying, an ancient city within the borders of present-day Jingzhou, became the capital of the State of Chu in 689 BCE, and remained as such for over 400 years, including during the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods of the Zhou dynasty.

During the Han dynasty and Three Kingdoms era, Jingzhou was known as Nanjun due to it being the seat of Nanjun district.

The city was lost to Eastern Wu by Guan Yu during the Three Kingdoms period leading to the modern phrase "dàyì shī Jīngzhōu" (), .

Under the Tang dynasty, it served as the southern capital and was known as Nandu ().

Later on, Jiangling  was the capital of the Southern Qi and Liang dynasties. It was the capital of the small Jingnan Kingdom (also known as Nanping) that existed from 924 to 963 during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Jingzhou was the site of one of the last major battles between Republican and Qing forces during the Xinhai Revolution in 1911. At the end of the Qing dynasty, Jingzhou had one of the largest Manchu populations, around half of the city, anywhere outside Beijing.

In July 1949, the area was taken by the People's Liberation Army.

On September 29, 1994, Jiangling County and Shashi City were merged to create the prefecture-level city of Jingsha. On November 20, 1996, Jingsha was renamed to Jingzhou.

Sights

Numerous sites have been preserved from the Chu State period, including the ruins of five Chu cities, 73 sites featuring Chu Culture and more than 800 ancient tombs, including those of 18 Chu kings.

There are also historical sites dating to the Three Kingdoms period, such as the Wulin Battlefield (where the Battle of Red Cliffs took place) and the Huarong Path.

The city walls were rebuilt in 1646 and measure  high and  thick. The perimeter of the wall extends for . The city walls, city gates, watchtowers, and battlements have all been well maintained. Many of the towers on top of the majestic city gates have been damaged or rebuilt, leaving only the Chaozong Tower which was rebuilt in 1838 on the Gongji Gate.

The Jingzhou Museum has on display a well-preserved 2,000-year-old male corpse, as well as silk and lacquerware from the Warring States period.

The Statue of Guan Yu was completed in 2016.

Cuisine 

Jingzhou is home to unique breakfast items. The city has a unique style of guokui, a Chinese flatbread, as well as a unique style of rice noodles.

Education 
There are 1,243 schools in Jingzhou, attended by about 707,300 students, as of 2019. Of this, there are 15 secondary vocational schools attended by 28,600 students, 53 general secondary schools attended by 82,800 students, 123 general junior high schools attended by 146,000 students, 396 primary schools attended by 308,500 students, 8 special education schools attended by 1,151 students, and 587 kindergartens attended by 140,300 students. The city's education system is staffed by about 53,400 faculty.

In addition to schools, Jingzhou has 176 cultural institutions staffed by 1,168 employees, and 8 public libraries which house 1.382 million books.

Healthcare 
As of the end of 2019, Jingzhou has 3,155 medical institutions, staffed by 42,422 employees, and 32,686 hospital beds.

Transportation 
G50 Shanghai–Chongqing Expressway
G55 Erenhot–Guangzhou Expressway
China National Highway 207
 China National Highway 318
 Jingzhou Railway Station on the Wuhan-Yichang Railway, with frequent passenger service to Yichang and Wuhan
 Jingmen-Shashi Railway (freight only)
 Jingzhou Shashi Airport in Shashi district

Sister cities 
 Yanggu County, Gangwon, South Korea
 Port Chester, New York, United States

See also
1954 Yangtze River Floods

References

External links

Official Jingzhou City Website

 
Cities in Hubei
Populated places on the Yangtze River
Prefecture-level divisions of Hubei
Former prefectures in Hubei
Prefectures of the Sui dynasty
Prefectures of the Tang dynasty
Prefectures of the Ming dynasty
Prefectures of the Qing dynasty
Port cities and towns in China
Jianghan Plain