Why Hubei

Hubei (Chinese: 湖北; pinyin: Húběi) is a province of the People's Republic of China, located in the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake.[6] The provincial capital is Wuhan, a major transportation thoroughfare and the political, cultural, and economic hub of Central China.

Geography

Situated north the middle reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze)  River, Hubei, a province with numerous rivers and lakes, has been called the "land of thousand lakes". The Changjiang (Yangtze) River cuts through the Wushan Mountain as it flow eastwards, forming the famous gorges linking Hubei with the neighboring Sichuan. The Province has an area of 180 thousand square kilometers and a population of 60 million (by 2005) comprising the Han, Tujia, Hui, Manchu, Miao and Mongolian nationalities. The capital city is Wuhan.

Climate

Hubei has a sub-tropical, humid and monsoon climate. It has distinctive for seasons with a changeable spring, a humid and hot summer, a clear and peasant autumn and a dry and cold winter. Its annual mean temperature ranges from 13ºC to 18ºC (55.4 ºF to 64.4 ºF) with lowest monthly mean in January being 1C to 6C and highest monthly in July being 24ºC to 30ºC (75.2 ºF to 86 ºF). Its annual precipitation averages is between 750-1,500mm, which is concentrated in summer.

History

Hubei has a long history and magnificent culture. Painted pottery dating back to Neolithic period was excavated at Qujialing of Jingshan county in 1955, which was hence named th Qujialing culture. Five kilometers north of Jiangling County town lies the remains of Ji'nan, the capital of Chu in both the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods.
For almost four hundred years from 689 to 278 B.C, a total of twenty kings made Ji'nan their capital, which was not only the political, economic and cultural centre of the state of Chu but also the largest city in south of China. Sun Quan, King of the Kingdom of Wu in the three Kingdoms Period, built fortifications in Wuhan, then called Jiangxia. It was not until the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) that Hubei was made a province.
 

Population and Nationalities

Hubei had a total resident population of 57.58 million in 2011, in which male population were 29.56 million while female population were 27.02 million, representing 51.43 percent and 48.66 percent respectively. Among all the resident population, those between the age of 0-14 were 7.99 million, which account for 13.88 percent. There were 44.33 million population were between the age of 15-64, holding a big share of the population pool with 77 percent. The elder citizens, who were above the age of 65 were 5.25 million, representing 9.12 percent of the total resident population.
 
Hubei is a province with minority nationalities. Statistics from the sixth census in 2010 suggested that population of minority nationalities in Hubei province reached 2.46 million, representing a 4.31 percent of the total population.

Economy

Hubei is often called the "Land of Fish and Rice". Important agricultural products in Hubei include cotton, rice, wheat, and tea, while industries include automobiles, metallurgy, machinery, power generation, textiles, foodstuffs and high-tech commodities.
 
Mineral resources that can be found in Hubei in significant quantities include borax, hongshiite, wollastonite, garnet, marlstone, iron, phosphorus, copper, gypsum, rutile, rock salt, gold amalgam, manganese and vanadium. The province's recoverable reserves of coal stand at 548 million tons, which is modest compared to other Chinese provinces. Hubei is well known for its mines of fine turquoise and green faustite.