A blessed land

Huaihua has witnessed such major historical events as the troop transfer in Tongdao, Zhijiang surrender and birth of hybrid rice. It is reputed as a blessed land of the Chinese revolution, Chinese nation and people all over the world.

 

A pacesetter for opening up

Huaihua is the only intersection of the new western land-sea corridor and the great international land-sea trade corridor that connects the Indian Ocean in central China. Its international land port maintains smooth internal connection and externally connects to various countries and regions, including ASEAN, Europe and America. It is one of the strategic pivots for Hunan Province to build a hub for reform and opening up in the inland region.

A transportation hub

Huaihua has been the first destination for southwestern China to go global and the gateway that connects central and eastern China with southwestern China since ancient times. It serves as a gateway to Yunnan and Guizhou Provinces and has connections to various major Chinese cities. The city is now a national comprehensive transportation hub, a national logistics hub for commercial and trade services, and a national multi-functional node city.

A tourist hotspot

Huaihua boasts abundant resources in terms of green tourism, red tourism and cultural tourism. It is one of the nine areas with good ecological conditions in China. The entire city is categorized as a revolutionary base area. It is the birthplace of revolutionary forefathers such as Xiang Jingyu, Su Yu and Teng Daiyuan. The city ranks first in Hunan Province in terms of the number of traditional Chinese villages. The Zhonghuashu Mountain, site of the troop transfer conference in Tongdao, Zhijiang Surrender Memorial Hall, Hongjiang Ancient Commercial City and Gaomiao Ruins in Huaihua are well-known both at home and abroad. The city boasts beautiful scenery, dense folkway and splendid cultural heritage.

 

    Five new missions and four orientations

    Vigorously implementing the “five new missions and four orientations” strategy to accelerate the building of a new, modern Huaihua City

A city with an international land port

Making all-round efforts in building the Huaihua International Land Port

To build a new hub for reform and opening up in the inland region

 

An ecological and green city

Prioritizing ecological conservation and boosting green development

To push forward transformation of the development pattern

A city for innovators and startups

Developing characteristic advantageous industries

To build a modern industrial system

 

A livable and smart city

Expediting the integrated development of Hecheng District and Zhongfang County

To foster new engines for economic growth

 

    Comprehensively promoting rural revitalization

    To bring about remarkable changes in mountainous areas

Huaihua Sea Voyage Map	Yekaterinburg
Novosibirsk	Ust-Kut
Bodaybo	Aldan
Magadan	Sea of Okhotsk
Ural River	Kazakhstan
Silk Road Economic Belt	Alataw Pass
Mongolia	Manzhouli
Amur River	Erenhot
Horgos	Urumqi
Guiyang	Liuzhou
Beibu Gulf Port	Huaihua
Nanning	Kunming
Beijing	North Korea
Sea of Japan	Japan
South Korea	Iran
Uzbekistan	Afghanistan
Pakistan	India
Indus River	Ganges
Bhutan	Nepal
Bangladesh	Vientiane
Bangkok	Malaysia
Yellow Sea	East China Sea
Myanmar	Thailand
Bay of Bengal	Arabian Sea
Nujiang River	Jinsha River
Sulawesi Sea	Mekong River
South China Sea	Caspian Sea
Sri Lanka	Singapore
Philippines	Laos
Cambodia	Maldives
Indonesia	Papua New Guinea
Major channel for intermodal transport of international cross-border trains: Huaihua-Chongqing-Alataw Pass/Horgos-Europe	Major channel for sea-rail intermodal transport: Huaihua-Beibu Gulf Port/Zhanjiang Port-ASEAN countries-Africa
Major channel for railway and road transport: Huaihua-Hengyang-Guangzhou	Major channel for intermodal transport of cross-border trains: Huaihua-Pingxiang Port-Vietnam (Hanoi)
Major channel for intermodal transport of international cross-border trains: Huaihua-Ruili/Lincang-Myanmar	Major channel for intermodal transport of international cross-border trains: Huaihua-Mohan-Vientiane
Huaihua-Tehran (China-Central Asia trains)	Huaihua-Hamburg (China-Europe trains)
To America	To Oceania
To Africa	Turkmenistan
21st Century Maritime Silk Road	Tajikistan

    Unveiling Huaihua                  

Ø Area 27,600 square kilometers

Ø Total population 5.25 million

Ø Administrative division 12 counties, cities and districts as well as 1 administrative district within jurisdiction

Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei city cluster	Yangtze River Delta region
Chengdu-Chongqing economic zone	Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
ASEAN economic zone	Yuanjiang River
Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua High-speed Railway	Shanghai-Kunming High-speed Railway
Huaihua-Hengyang High-speed Railway	Guizhou
Hunan-Guizhou Railway	Chongqing-Huaihua Railway
Second Chongqing-Huaihua Railway	Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway
Baotou-Maoming Expressway	Changchun-Jilin Expressway
Loudi-Huaihua Expressway	Shanghai-Kunming Expressway
Zhangjiajie	Changde
Chongqing	Yiyang
Loudi	Hongjiang
Hongjiang Administrative District
Shaoyang	Huaihua
Huaihua Customs District	Huaihua Zhijiang Airport
Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region	Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Xinhuang Dong Autonomous County	Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County
Tongdao Dong Autonomous County	Tongdao Industrial Park
Zhijiang Dong Autonomous County	Xupu County
Yuanling County	Chenxi County
Huitong County	Huitong Lianshan Industrial Park
Huaihua Economic Development Zone	Huaihua Industrial Park
Hubei	Chongqing
Guizhou	Hunan
Guiyang	Changsha
Guangxi	Guilin
Yichang	Yangtze River

 

Geographical Location

Located in southwest Hunan Province, Huaihua is known as the “gateway to Guizhou and Yunnan” and has connections to various major Chinese cities. Covering an area of 27,600 square kilometers, it is the largest prefecture-level city in Hunan Province as well as the central city of the border areas of Hunan, Hubei, Chongqing, Guizhou and Guangxi. Huaihua has jurisdiction over 12 counties, cities and districts, one administrative district, one national high-tech industrial development zone, and one provincial economic development zone, with a total population of 5.25 million.

 

Three-dimensional Transportation   

Ø Railway A snowflake-shaped railway network consisting of 3 high-speed railways and 3 ordinary railways

Ø Aviation Huaihua Zhijiang Airport operates 6 routes to 10 cities in China (data as of April 2024)

Ø Expressway Traffic mileage of 717 kilometers, ranking first in Hunan Province

Ø Water transportation Navigation mileage of 1,404 kilometers, connecting rivers and seas

    In the 1970s, the Hunan-Guizhou Railway and Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway were constructed, which gave birth to Huaihua City. At present, the three ordinary railway lines of the Shanghai-Kunming line, Jiaozuo-Liuzhou line and Chongqing-Huaihua line, as well as the three high-speed railway lines of the Shanghai-Kunming line, Huaihua-Hengyang line and Zhangjiajie-Jishou-Huaihua line intersect in the urban area of Huaihua City in a snowflake shape. The Huaihuaxi Marshalling Station emerges as the largest of its kind in southwest China. Huaihua Zhijiang Airport has flights to 10 cities, including Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou and Kunming.

Xinhua-Xupu Expressway in Sanjiang Town, Xupu County

Huaihuaxi Marshalling Station

Natural Landscape

Ø Forest coverage rate 71.04%

Ø Average annual temperature 16.4°C

Ø Average annual sunshine hours 962-1,452 hours

Ø Average annual rainfall About 1,600 millimeters

Ø Tourist demonstration sites 27

    Huaihua has a forest coverage rate of 71.04%, ranking first in Hunan Province. Boasting numerous natural oxygen zones, the city is one of the nine areas with good ecological conditions in China. It was once described as “a place of stunning beauty” by the prestigious writer Shen Congwen.

Xuefeng Mountain

       

Youshui Gallery in Yuanling 

Chuanyan Mountain in Xupu

                                                                                                                              

    Culture & History

    On December 12, 1934, the person in charge of the CPC Central Committee held an emergency meeting in Tongdao, deciding that the Chinese Central Red Army would march westward to Guizhou. This event is known to history as “troop transfer in Tongdao”. General Secretary Xi Jinping, during his inspection tour in Hunan Province in September 2020, particularly mentioned that the “troop transfer in Tongdao” is a major historical event of the Party that took place in Hunan, the birthplace of a number of revolutionary forefathers with remarkable contributions, including Xiang Jingyu, Su Yu and Teng Daiyuan.

 

Xiang Jingyu                         Su Yu                       Teng Daiyuan 

    

Tongdao Troop Transfer Memorial

      On August 21, 1945, following the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, a surrender ceremony was held in Zhijiang of Huaihua, an event known to history as the “Zhijiang surrender”. The Zhijiang Surrender Memorial Hall is the only building in China commemorating the victory of the Anti-Japanese War. It is a testimony to and an important symbol of the victory of the war.                        

Zhijiang Surrender Memorial Hall

    Yuan Longping, known as “father of hybrid rice”, worked and lived in Anjiang of Huaihua for 37 years. He successfully cultivated hybrid rice there, changing the world with one seed. The city is therefore called the “birthplace of hybrid rice”.

Site of the old Anjiang Agricultural School

    The Gaomiao Ruins in Huaihua boasts a history of 7,800 years. The idioms “having five cartloads of books” and “storing books in the Eryou Mountain” find their origin there. Scholars such as Qu Yuan, Li Bai, Wang Changling and Wang Yangming wrote articles and poems there, which have been handed down from age to age. There are 50 ethnic minorities in Huaihua, including Dong, Miao, Tujia and Yao. With profound cultural heritage and ethnic custom, Huaihua is hailed as “a museum of ancient Chinese architecture” and “a cultural village of multiple ethnic groups”.

Zhonghuashu Mountain

 (Translated by Professor Yu Jie)