Shaoyang (simplified Chinese: 邵阳; traditional Chinese: 邵陽; pinyin: Shàoyáng), formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) (Chinese: 宝庆), is a prefecture-level city in southwestern Hunan province, China, bordering Guangxi to the south. It has a history of 2500 years and remains an important commercial and transportation city in Hunan. As of the 2020 Chinese census, its total population was 6,563,520 inhabitants, of whom 1,415,173 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of three urban districts and Xinshao County largely conurbated.
One of the major forest areas in Hunan, Shaoyang has a forest coverage of 42.7%. The 23,000,000-acre (93,000 km2) NanShan Pastures is one of the biggest in South Central China and provide dairy products and meat for Hunanese.
Shaoyang is home to Shaoyang University. The school is composed of the former Shaoyang Normal College and Shaoyang College.
The Shaoyang dialect of Lou Shao group of dialects of Xiang is generally spoken here.
History
During the later Spring and Autumn period, official Bai Shan (白善) of Chu used to construct a city named Baigong (白公城) in Shaoyang. After the First emperor of Qin reunited China, Shaoyang was under jurisdiction of Changsha Commandery, one of thirty-six Commandery in the empire. Under the Eastern Han dynasty, Shaoyang was administered by Linling Commandery. During the Three Kingdoms era, northern part of Linling including today Shaoyang city was divided from it and designated new Zhaoling commandery (昭陵). Following Western Jin reunited Wu in 280 (or first year of Taikang era), emperor Wu changed the Commandery's name Zhaoling to Shaoling (邵陵) to avoid taboo of his father (Sima Zhao, 司马昭). Under the Southern Song period, Shao Prefecture was renamed and promoted Baoqing-fu by Lizong, whom used to take charge of Shao Prefecture defender (邵州防御使) when he was prince. The term "Baoqing" was used until 17 years of Republic of China (1928), when it was renamed Shaoyang County. After communist won Chinese Civil War, Shaoyang city was established in 1950.[3]
Climate
Shaoyang has a monsoon-influenced, four-season humid subtropical climate (KöppenCfa), with cool, damp winters, and hot, humid summers. Winter begins relatively dry but not sunny and becomes progressively damper and cloudier; spring brings both the most frequent and heaviest rain of the year. Summer is comparatively sunny, while autumn is somewhat dry. The monthly 24-hour average temperatures ranges from 5.2 °C (41.4 °F) in January to 28.2 °C (82.8 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 17.05 °C (62.7 °F). The annual precipitation is about 1,340 mm (53 in).
Climate data for Shaoyang, elevation 311 m (1,020 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
According to the Sixth National Census in 2010, Shaoyang's permanent residence population of 7,071,741 ranked it 2nd out of 14 prefecture-level divisions of Hunan; the male-female ratio was 107.95 to 100. Educational attainment levels were as follows: 4.49% bachelor's or higher, 60.01% middle school (初中) or higher, and the illiteracy rate was 3.24%. There were 1,950,605 households in which 6,913,913 resided, forming 97.77% of the provincial population and resulting in an average of 3.54 persons/household. Age distribution was as follows: 1,512,664 (21.39%) ≤14 years, 4,862,468 (68.76%) 15−64 years, 696,609 (9.85%) 65+ years.
Shaoyang Wugang Airport was opened on 28 June 2017.[11] It is located 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) north of Wugang, a county-level city under the administration of Shaoyang, and 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the urban center of Shaoyang.[11]
The airport has a 2,600-meter runway and a 3,000-square-meter terminal building. It is projected to handle 250,000 passengers and 500 tons of cargo annually by 2020.[12]
Economy
2011 Shaoyang GDP figures[13] (GDP in millions CNY/USD; per capita GDP in CNY)
Division
RMB
USD
Purchasing power (USD)
Growth (%)
Percentage (%)
Per capita GDP
SHAOYANG CITY
90,723
14,046
21,740
13.2
100
12,797
City proper
18,308
2,835
4,387
20.18
Shuangqing District
8,175.09
1,265.73
1,959.00
12.6
9.01
Daxiang District
8,063.65
1,248.47
1,932.29
15.2
8.89
Beita District
2,069.27
320.38
495.86
15.1
2.28
19,698
Outlying
76,358
11,822
18,298
84.17
Shaodong County
20,220.00
3,130.61
4,845.32
14.4
22.29
22,299
Xinshao County
7,429.81
1,150.34
1,780.41
13.6
8.19
9,998
Shaoyang County
8,108.55
1,255.43
1,943.05
12.2
8.94
7,796
Longhui County
9,332.00
1,444.85
2,236.23
11.6
10.29
8,499
Dongkou County
9,012.00
1,395.31
2,159.55
12.6
9.93
11,784
Suining County
5,018.45
776.99
1,202.57
12.2
5.53
Xinning County
5,307.47
821.74
1,271.83
11.7
5.85
9,425
Chengbu County
2,320.63
359.30
556.09
11.5
2.56
9,238
Wugang City
7,932.57
1,228.18
1,900.88
13.8
8.74
10,746
Although it is, by 2010 Census permanent resident population, the second-largest prefecture-level division of Hunan, its GDP (4.62% of provincial output) places it ninth within the province, making it an archetypal example of a large-population, relatively backwards-economy city. The GDP per capita of 12,797 CNY is the lowest in the province, and is only 42.9% of the provincial average, 36.5% of the national average, and 78% of even Guizhou's corresponding figure.[13] Primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors respectively accounted for 23.9%, 38.2%, and 37.9% of the economy.
^ ab2011年度各区县市统计公报. Shaoyang Statistical Bureau. Archived 2009-01-06 at the Wayback Machine). 2011 conversion from CNY to USD according to the-then exchange rate of 6.4588 CNY/1 USD, purchasing power based on an April 2012 report that used an exchange rate of 4.1731 CNY/1Geary–Khamis dollar (Intl. $).
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