Hongjiang City is located in the west of Hunan Province, in the middle of the Xuefeng Mountain and on the upstream of the Yuanshui river. It has jurisdiction over 20 townships (including 2 ethnic minority townships, namely Shendu Miao Township and Longchuantang Yao Township) and 194 villages, with a total land area of 2,174 square kilometers and a total population of 430,000 (including 319,000 agricultural population). It is home to 20 ethnic minorities, such as Dong, Miao, Yao, Hui, and Tujia, etc. The minority population accounts for 10.67% of its total population. Qiancheng, the seat of Hongjiang Municipality, enjoys an advantageous position and convenient transportation, for it is only 35 kilometers away from the downtown of Huaihua City and 40 kilometers away from Zhijiang Airport, with Zhi-Liu Railway, National Road 209 and 320, Shanghai-Kunming Expressway, Bao-Mao Expressway and Huai-Shao-Heng Railway passing through it, which makes it a key part of building Huaihua City a strategic gateway of the new land-sea passage in the west of China and a central city of ecological civilization on the border area of five provinces.

Hongjiang City is new but has a long history. Since the establishment of counties in the fifth year (202 BC) of Emperor Liu Bang, the founder of the Han Dynasty, Hongjiang has successively been over the past two thousand years the seat of Tancheng, Longbiao and Qianyang Counties, as well as of the former Huaihua Prefectural Committee and Administrative Office. In 1997, the original Hongjiang City and Qianyang County were merged to a new Hongjiang City. In 2005, the municipal government was moved from Anjiang Town to Qiancheng Town, so Hongjiang City is now the only county consisting of three parts in Huaihua prefecture. The ancient town of Qianyang, a famous historical and cultural city, is still full of vigor even with more than two thousand years of vicissitudes. In the ancient city stands Lotus Tower, known as “the most famous scenic spot in the upper reaches of Yuanshui river” in the history. Men of letters before used to have scholarly pastimes here, chanting poetry and painting pictures. A case in point was Wang Changling (698-756), a talented poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), who composed the classic poem “A Farewell to Xin Jian at Lotus Tower” here after he was relegated to Longbiao County (now Hongjiang City). In addition, the Gaomiao Cultural Site, dating back more than 7,800 years ago, unearthed the oldest white pottery decorated with phoenix and bird in China and the oldest remains of rice planting in the Yuanshui Basin, so it was listed to be one of the top ten archaeological discoveries in China in 2005. What’s more, there is a famous Hybrid Rice Memorial Park of Anjiang Agricultural School in Anjiang Town, where Academician Yuan Longping, “Father of Hybrid Rice”, once worked for 37 years and successfully bred the first hybrid rice of the world. Then hybrid rice spread to the world from here.

   Hongjiang City is rich in producing medicinal materials. Located in the core area of Xuefeng Mountains which are full of high peaks, deep valleys, dense forests, abundant water, and unique climate, Hongjiang deserves to be a huge and natural treasure house of Chinese medicinal materials with more than 1,500 kinds of wild medicinal plants such as Huangjing, Tianma, Dendrobium, and Chonglou, etc. With 110,000 mu (around 7,334 hectares) of planting area of Chinese medicinal materials across the city, Hongjiang becomes one of the First Model Counties of Chinese Medicinal Materials Planting Bases on Hunan Province. Hongjiang is also a livable city with a forest coverage rate of 68.5%. It has won the titles of “National Key Ecological Function Area”, “China’s Natural Oxygen Bar”, “National Green Model City” and “Garden City of Hunan Province”. And it is honored by UNESCO as “a magical land without pollution”. In addition, there are a number of scenic spots across this city, such as Qianyang Ancient Town, Xuefeng National Forest Park, and Qingjiang Lake (a national wetland park), etc. With national and international sports competitions held here, including National Outdoor Challenge and International Half Marathon, Qianyang Ancient Town has been rated as “one of the most popular tourist destinations in China”.

Hongjiang City is rich in producing fruits. It is known as a “Town of Fruits”, and a “Town of Chinese Sugar Oranges”. There are 7 national products of geographical indication protection, such as Qianyang Bingtang Orange, Qianyang Red Sweet Orange, Qianyang Navel Orange, Qianyang Golden Autumn Pear, Qianyang Gastrodia Elata, Qianyang Polygonatum Canaliculatum, and Tuokou Ginger, etc., and 40 more famous and high-quality special products, including Qianyang-Anjiang Fragrant Pomelo, Qianyang Golden Tribute Pomelo, Qianyang Ugly Pomelo, Qianyang-Xuefeng Black-bone Chicken, Blueberry, Xuefeng Fermented Bean Curd, Xima Dried Sweet Potato, and Golden Chrysanthemum, etc. The planting area of special fruits reaches 458,000 mu (around 30,000 hectares). Shawan Fragrant Pomelo has been approved as a National Geographical Indication Certification Mark, and the brand “Qianyang” has been a well-known trademark in China, with a brand evaluation value of 2.156 billion yuan. Now, development patterns based on both traditional industries of agricultural products processing and building materials and emerging industries of electronic information, biomedicine, and prefabricated buildings have been established in Hongjiang City, with well-known enterprises of Siwei Housing Industry, Linquan Pharmaceutical, Wostar Electronics and so on. In recent years, Hongjiang has successively won honorary titles of a “Model County of Economic Development of Hunan Province” and “Model Town for Developing Open Economy of Hunan Province”, and “Pilot City of National Development and Reform ”.

（Translated by Chen Min）