Hunan is a province of China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting. Hunan borders Hubei in the north, Jiangxi to the east, Guangdong to the south, Guangxi to the southwest, Guizhou to the west, and Chongqing to the northwest. The capital is Changsha. The province covers an area of over 160,000 square kilometers (about 62,000 square miles). It is populated by Han, Hui, Manchu, Mongolian and other ethnic groups totaling 92,560,000 people.
Hunan has a humid, subtropical climate. The monsoon rain falls mostly in April, May, and June. July and August are uncomfortably hot and humid. The best time to visit is in the fall, when temperatures are cooler and the rainfall lighter. For persons who live in cold northern climate, traveling to Hunan in the winter can be pleasant.
Highlight of Henan Province, Songshan Mountain lies southwest of Zhengzhou and it is one of the most famous mountains in China because of the rugged beauty of its peaks and the Bonsai-like appearance of its beautiful old trees. Shaolin Temple, the most famous Buddhist temple in China and the largest of the Songshan range, is located on Shaoshi Mountain. Shaolin Temple and Shaolin Gongfu (martial arts) have long taken on a legendry color and are famous both in and outside China.
Although mining and industry have been developed since 1949, Hunan's economy remains mostly agricultural. Hunan ranks first among China's provinces in rice production. Most of Hunan's arable land is farmed using modern techniques, including mechanized irrigation and chemical fertilizers. Most farms are small, however, and mechanization has been confined to the use of simple machines and tools, such as rice transplanters, foot-operated rice-threshing machines, and a tube water raiser that is replacing the old wooden trough and paddles. Hunan is still predominantly agricultural. Rice, including modern hybrid varieties, is by far the most important crop, and the province is China's leading producer; output has been greatly increased through the use of mechanized irrigation and chemical fertilizers. Tea is also widely grown on the lower hillslopes. Other important crops are cotton, tobacco, and hemp. Hunan is rich in minerals, particularly non-ferrous minerals; it is the leading province in China in the production of antimony and mercury. Manganese, lead, zinc, tungsten, and tin are also mined. The principal antimony-producing centre is at Xikuangshan.
The region along the Yuanjiang River is especially well known for its serene beauty. It takes its name, the Peach Blossom Fountainhead, from a work of Chinese literature from the Jin Dynasty (265-420). Tao Yuanming wrote about an isolated Utopia-like paradise where generations of people had escaped from the difficulties that others had experienced. The Yuanjiang River region has been a travel destination since ancient times.
Historic Changsha, one of China's famous cultural centers, is the capital of Hunan Province. It is also a tourism center, offering its visitors many historical sites and other places of interest.
Hunan's products include Xiang embroidery, one of China's four famous embroideries. It has high artistic value. With 200 years of history behind them, the chrysanthemum stone carvings of Liuyang are vivid and exquisite. Liuyang City is known for its firecrackers, which are popular all over China.
Hunan Province is famous for its picturesque scenery. There are places of historic interest and scenic beauty, such as Yuelu Mountain, Hengshan Mountain, Jiuyi Mountain, the Yueyang Tower, the Dongting Lake and Wulingyuan Scenic and Historic Interest Area.
There are a lot of celebrities in Hunan history, and the most famous are: Qu Yuan, a great poet and one of the four ancient cultural celebrities in the world; Cai Lun, who invented papermaking and made the first piece of fabric paper in the world; Qi Baishi, the most famous contemporary Chinese painter; Mao Zedong, the founder of the People's Republic of China; Yuan Longping, who is well known in the world for the rice-hybriding skill. The former residences of these celebrities and sites of some revolutionary events, as well as the distinctive ethical folk arts of Miao and Tu ethnic minorities in Hunan, are quite worth a visit.
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