Yicahng, located at the Xiling Pass on the Jiaozuo-Zhicheng Railway in western Hubei Province, is a transit hub on the Yangtze River. An important river port on the border of Sichuan and Hubei, it has always been a strategic point in history.
History of Yichang
Due to its strategic location on the main route to Sichuan Province from eastern China, Yichang was often disputed by warring factions during the times when China was politically divided. It took the name Yichang under the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), having been previously known as Yilingchun or Shanzhou (Shan Chou). Being made a treaty port in 1877 brought considerable foreign trade to Yichang. A railroad from Hankou to Chongqing via Yichang was begun in 1914, but was only partially completed before being abandoned in the political chaos of 1915. To this day, Yichang is only on a spur line of the railroad that runs from Xiangfan south to Hunan Province.
In 1940 Yichang was captured by the Japanese, which marked the furthest penetration of the invaders during the Sino-Japanese War. By the end of the Japanese occupation in 1945, Yichang's commerce was ruined, but shipping began to recover in the 1950s, and extensive industrialization has since taken place, with important food-processing and chemical industries now present. A huge boom is now taking place with the construction of the Three Gorges Dam only 40 km (25 miles) upstream at Sandouping.
About five kilometers west of the city, the gigantic Gezhouba Dam is a newly constructed water control project on the Yangtze River. The hydraulic power station is two hundred meters in length and seventy meter in height. The mist-covered waters of the reservoir, with the rolling mountains on it banks, form an unforgettable sight- a landscape painting comes to life.
China tours inclusive of visiting Yichang