Shaoyang

Shaoyang, formerly named Baoqing (Paoking) , 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 23000000 acre 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.

Climate
Shaoyang has a monsoon-influenced, four-season humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa), 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 in January to 28.2 °C in July, while the annual mean is 17.05 °C. The annual precipitation is about 1340 mm.

Administrative divisions
Shaoyang administers three districts, two county-level cities, six counties, and one autonomous county.

Districts:
 * Shuangqing District (双清区)
 * Daxiang District (大祥区)
 * Beita District (北塔区)

County-level City:
 * Wugang City (武冈市)
 * Shaodong city (邵东市)

Counties: Autonomous county:
 * Shaoyang County (邵阳县)
 * Xinshao County (新邵县)
 * Longhui County (隆回县)
 * Dongkou County (洞口县)
 * Suining County (绥宁县)
 * Xinning County (新宁县)
 * Chengbu Miao Autonomous County (城步苗族自治县)

Demographics
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.

Government
The current CPC Party Secretary of Shaoyang is Gong Congmi and the current Mayor is Liu Shiqing.

Railway
Shaoyang has four main railway station: Shaoyang Railway Station (邵阳火车站) (Fast Train, K and Highspeed train, G), Shaoyang Railway Station (邵阳北老火车站) (Old, North, Freight), Shaodong railway station (Fast Train, K and Highspeed train, G) and Shaoyang North railway station, in Xinshao County (Highspeed train, G and D). The Loudi–Shaoyang railway and Shanghai–Kunming high-speed railway pass through Shaoyang.

Airport
Shaoyang Wugang Airport was opened on 28 June 2017. It is located 9 km north of Wugang, a county-level city under the administration of Shaoyang, and 100 km from the urban center of Shaoyang.

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.

Economy
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. Primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors respectively accounted for 23.9%, 38.2%, and 37.9% of the economy.

Noted residents

 * Tsiang Tingfu, historian and diplomat
 * Wei Yuan, late Qing scholar
 * He Luting, composer
 * Cai E, revolutionary leader
 * Liao Yaoxiang, high-ranking Kuomintang general in World War II
 * Li Wangyang, labour rights activist whose "suicide" was allegedly staged by the local police
 * Zhou Shen, singer-songwriter
 * Tang Kai, first ever male Chinese world champion in mixed martial arts history
 * George H. Pearson, founder and manager of Shaoyang Hospital from 1920 to 1951
 * Justin Hill, English author whose novel The Drink and Dream Teahouse was set in Shaoyang, and subsequently banned in China
 * Zhang Jingyi, actress and model
 * Shen Yue, actress-singer and model
 * Fu Jing, actress-singer and former member of Rocket Girls 101

Twin cities

 * 🇷🇺 Saratov, Russia