Macheng () is a city in northeastern

Hubei Hubei is a province of China, province in Central China. It has the List of Chinese provincial-level divisions by GDP, seventh-largest economy among Chinese provinces, the second-largest within Central China, and the third-largest among inland ...

province, People's Republic of China, bordering the provinces of

Henan Henan; alternatively Honan is a province in Central China. Henan is home to many heritage sites, including Yinxu, the ruins of the final capital of the Shang dynasty () and the Shaolin Temple. Four of the historical capitals of China, Lu ...

to the north and

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

to the northeast. It is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

under the administration of

Huanggang Huanggang is a prefecture-level city in easternmost Hubei, Hubei Province, China. It is situated to the north of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and is bounded in the north by the Dabie Mountains and is named after Mount Huanggang, Huang ...

City and abuts the south side of the

Dabie Mountains The Dabie Mountains () are a major mountain range located in central China. Running northwest-to-southeast, they form the main watershed between the Huai River, Huai and Yangtze rivers. The range also marks the boundary between Hubei Province (n ...

. The city's administrative area covers about , and includes some 704 villages and small towns. Total population was 893,654 at the 2020 census.

History

Macheng has a long history, dating back to the

Spring and Autumn period The Spring and Autumn period () was a period in History of China, Chinese history corresponding roughly to the first half of the Eastern Zhou (256 BCE), characterized by the gradual erosion of royal power as local lords nominally subject t ...

as part of the state of Chu, and was the site of the historic

Battle of Boju The Battle of Boju () was the decisive battle of the war fought in 506 BC between Wu and Chu, two major kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn period of ancient China. The Wu forces were led by King Helü, his brother Fugai, and Chu exile Wu Z ...

fought between Chu and Wu in 506 BC. It was named Macheng in 598 AD. In 1927, a major peasant revolt erupted in Macheng, creating a strong base for the ensuing Communist revolution in 1949. More than 100,000 people joined Mao's Red Army under local Generals, Wang Shusheng and Chen Zaidao. A guerilla base in Macheng was eliminated in the

Campaign to Suppress Bandits in Dabieshan Campaign or The Campaign may refer to: Types of campaigns * Campaign, in agriculture, the period during which sugar beets are harvested and processed *Advertising campaign, a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme * Bl ...

. Macheng played a key role during the

Great Leap Forward The Great Leap Forward was an industrialization campaign within China from 1958 to 1962, led by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Party Chairman Mao Zedong launched the campaign to transform the country from an agrarian society into an indu ...

. In an effort to increase crop yields, the local communist cadres began demolishing walls of old buildings, abandoned huts and farm stables where animals had urinated to provide nutrients for the soil. In January 1958, Macheng County was exalted by the provincial party secretary, Wang Renzhong. for reaching a rice yield of six tonnes per hectare. The

People's Daily The ''People's Daily'' ( zh, s=人民日报, p=Rénmín Rìbào) is the official newspaper of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). It provides direct information on the policies and viewpoints of the CCP in multiple lan ...

applauded the efforts in an op-ed and labelled it as a 'model commune' which attracted more than half a million cadres in 1958, including

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai ( zh, s=周恩来, p=Zhōu Ēnlái, w=Chou1 Ên1-lai2; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman, diplomat, and revolutionary who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China from September 1954 unti ...

, Chen Yi and

Li Xiannian Li Xiannian (; 23 June 1909 – 21 June 1992) was a Chinese Chinese Communist Party, Communist military and political leader, president of China from 1983 to 1988 under paramount leader Deng Xiaoping and then chairman of the Chinese People's Politi ...

. Spurred on by the positive coverage, overzealous local officials destroyed more than 50,000 houses in an effort to make more manure which spurred other neighboring counties and provinces to follow. As many as 30–40% of all houses in China were destroyed following this incident during the Great Leap Forward.

Geography

Administrative Divisions

Macheng administers:

Geography of city

The county-level city of Macheng has a total land area of 3,600 km² (1,400 sq mi). It is located in the northeastern portions of

. Most of the higher elevation portions of the

is on the northern portions of the city. It is bordered by

to the northwest and

to the northeast respectively. The region where Macheng is located is considered as a subtropical area and the Dabie mountainous terrain is mainly to the north and northeast.

Climate

Macheng has a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''Cfa'') with very hot summers and relatively cold winters.

Hydrology

Two major rivers, Jushui and Bashui, flow through Macheng. Both of them originate in

, and flow into the

Yangtze The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

Economy

Macheng is rich in resources, with about under agricultural cultivation. Forests cover about and water covers about . The main mineral reserves are basalt, marble, and silicon, with large deposits of jade, gold, silver (large deposits of gold and silver are not verified) and copper, among others. The main plant crops are Chinese chestnuts, chrysanthemums, and persimmon fruit. The area is also famous for mulberry bushes and related silkworm production.

Transportation

There are two railway stations in Macheng. Macheng railway station is on the Beijing–Kowloon railway between Beijing and Hong Kong. Macheng North railway station is on the Hefei–Wuhan railway.

Education

Macheng NO.1 high school

Villages

* Xiangqishan Village

References

Google Maps Mangcheng
* Willam T. Rowe, ''Crimson Rain: Seven Centuries of Violence in a Chinese County'' (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2007), {{Authority control Cities in Hubei Huanggang County-level divisions of Hubei