Shizhu

Tujia Tujia may refer to: *the Tujia people *the Tujia language The Tujia language (Northern Tujia: Bifzivsar, ; Southern Tujia: Mongrzzirhof, ; ) is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken natively by the Tujia people in Hunan Province, China. It is unclassif ...

Autonomous County Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China Chinese autonomous administrative divisions are associated with one or more ethnic minorities that are designated as autonomous w ...

(), or Shizhu County for short, is located in southeastern

Chongqing Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Cou ...

, China. It is south of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flow ...

, and borders the Chongqing divisions of Pengshui County to the south,

Fengdu County Fengdu County (; formerly ) is a county located in Chongqing Municipality, People's Republic of China. The county was established as Fengdu County () during the Sui Dynasty. The name was changed to Fengdu County () during the Ming Dynasty. In 19 ...

to the southwest,

Zhong County Zhong County or Zhongxian () is a county of Chongqing Municipality, China. The Shibaozhai Temple, which is endangered by the rising waters caused by the Three Gorges Dam, is located there. Zhong County has two Yangtze River crossings: the Zhon ...

to the northwest and

Wanzhou District Wanzhou District () is Chongqing's second most populated urban core area on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River in China. It is currently governed as a district of Chongqing Municipality, bordering Sichuan to the northwest ...

to the north; to the east, it borders the

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The pr ...

county-level city A county-level municipality (), county-level city or county city, formerly known as prefecture-controlled city (1949–1970: ; 1970–1983: ), is a county-level administrative division of the People's Republic of China. County-level ...

of Lichuan. It's in the center zone of

Three Gorges Reservoir Region Three Gorges Reservoir Region, including 25 county-level divisions of Chongqing municipality and Hubei province, is the region directly or indirectly involved in the submersion of the water storage of the reservoir region of the Three Gorges Dam. ...

, and the only

autonomous county Autonomous counties () and autonomous banners () are county-level autonomous administrative divisions of China Chinese autonomous administrative divisions are associated with one or more ethnic minorities that are designated as autonomous w ...

which designated for only one of

ethnic minorities The term 'minority group' has different usages depending on the context. According to its common usage, a minority group can simply be understood in terms of demographic sizes within a population: i.e. a group in society with the least number o ...

in this region. (

Chongqing Municipality Chongqing ( or ; ; Sichuanese pronunciation: , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Chungking (), is a municipality in Southwest China. The official abbreviation of the city, "" (), was approved by the State Counc ...

has four counties that designated for

but because the other three counties are designated for more than one of

, this autonomous county is only one which is designated for only one of

)

Name

Shizhu literally means "''Stone Pillars''", which is named after two big human-like natural stone pillars standing on Wanshou Mountain. The two stone pillars were once a loving couple in a native ''"

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with ''Ham ...

''" style love story. To fight against feudal oppression of free love, they died together tragically, and turned into two stone pillars standing face-to-face on Wanshou Mountain, never to be apart again.

Geography

Area: Population: 510,000 County seat: Nanbin Town() Geographic coordinates: 29°39′-30°32′ North, 107°59′-108°34′, East Shizhu County covers with 856,200 mu park and farm land. By the end of 1992, the population of Shizhu County had increased up to 462,100, of whom 424,900 are the rural residents of Shizhu County. The existing capital of the County is Nanbin Town which will not be involved in the submersion of the water storage of the reservoir region of the

Three Gorges Project The Three Gorges Dam is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River by the town of Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The Three Gorges Dam has been the w ...

. Shizhu County is located in the subtropical

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal osci ...

zone with the clear seasons. It is warm and wet with enough rain.

Climate

Resources

The forests cover 10.97% of the total area of Shizhu County. There are many precious varieties of trees in the forests, such as

metasequoia ''Metasequoia'', or dawn redwoods, is a genus of fast-growing deciduous trees, one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. The living species ''Metasequoia glyptostroboides'' is native to Lichuan county in Hubei province, China. Altho ...

tricuspid tree The tricuspid valve, or right atrioventricular valve, is on the right dorsal side of the mammalian heart, at the superior portion of the right ventricle. The function of the valve is to allow blood to flow from the right atrium to the right vent ...

ormosia fir ''Ormosia'' is a genus of legumes (family Fabaceae). The more than 100 living species, mostly trees or large shrubs, are distributed throughout the tropical regions of the world, some extending into temperate zones, especially in East Asia. A ...

s and

ginkgos ''Ginkgo'' is a genus of non-flowering seed plants. The scientific name is also used as the English name. The order to which it belongs, Ginkgoales, first appeared in the Permian, 270 million years ago, and is now the only living genus within t ...

. There are also more than 50 varieties of trees in the territories of the county for production purposes, such as

tung tree ''Vernicia fordii'', usually known as the tung tree (, ''tóng'') is a species of flowering plant in the spurge family native to southern China, Myanmar, and northern Vietnam. It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 20 m tal ...

s and

mulberries ''Morus'', a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, consists of diverse species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. Generally, the genus has 64 identif ...

. In addition, there are more than 170 varieties of wild animals in the forests of the county such as

tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on ...

leopard The leopard (''Panthera pardus'') is one of the five extant species in the genus '' Panthera'', a member of the cat family, Felidae. It occurs in a wide range in sub-Saharan Africa, in some parts of Western and Central Asia, Southern Russia ...

s, otters and

wild boar The wild boar (''Sus scrofa''), also known as the wild swine, common wild pig, Eurasian wild pig, or simply wild pig, is a suid native to much of Eurasia and North Africa, and has been introduced to the Americas and Oceania. The species is ...

s. One can also see more than 10 varieties of

edible mushroom Edible mushrooms are the fleshy and edible fruit bodies of several species of macrofungi (fungi which bear fruiting structures that are large enough to be seen with the naked eye). They can appear either below ground (hypogeous) or above ground ...

s, such as xianggu mushrooms, edible

fungus A fungus (plural, : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of Eukaryote, eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and Mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified ...

and zhusun mushrooms. In addition, there are various Chinese medical herbs such as ''

Coptis chinensis ''Coptis chinensis'', the Chinese goldthread, is a species of goldthread flowering plant native to China. Etymology *''Coptis chinensis'' Franch. var. ''chinensis''

'' and ''

Gastrodia elata ''Gastrodia elata'' is a saprophytic perennial herb in the family Orchidaceae. It is found in Nepal, Bhutan, India, Japan, North Korea, Siberia, Taiwan, and China. Description The orchid has an 8–12 centimeters long elliptical underground rh ...

''. Shizhu County is particularly famous for ''Coptis chinensis'' and the Chinese people usually call it the home town of ''Coptis chinensis''. More than 20 varieties of

ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 April ...

s have been found in Shizhu County, such as

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as stratum, rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen ...

natural gas Natural gas (also called fossil gas or simply gas) is a naturally occurring mixture of gaseous hydrocarbons consisting primarily of methane in addition to various smaller amounts of other higher alkanes. Low levels of trace gases like carbon ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkish ...

iron Iron () is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from la, ferrum) and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, right in ...

silver Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...

cadmium Cadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. This soft, silvery-white metal is chemically similar to the two other stable metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Like zinc, it demonstrates oxidation state +2 in most of ...

lead Lead is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metals, heavy metal that is density, denser than most common materials. Lead is Mohs scale of mineral hardness#Intermediate ...

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

and

barite Baryte, barite or barytes ( or ) is a mineral consisting of barium sulfate ( Ba S O4). Baryte is generally white or colorless, and is the main source of the element barium. The ''baryte group'' consists of baryte, celestine (strontium sulfate), ...

Three Gorges Reservoir Region

townships A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

, 26 villages and 16 fabrication/ ore-mining enterprises have been/ will have been involved in the submersion of the reservoir water storage of the

. Shizhu County is involved in the submersion of the reservoir water storage of the

as follows. · The emigrants living below the water level of the reservoir storage of the Three Gorges Project are 8,400 in Shizhu County; · The houses/ buildings with the total construction area of 329,700 m² have been/ will have been submerged; · 6900 mu citrus and farm land has been/ will have been submerged, representing 4.59% of the total area of citrus and farm land in Shizhu County; · highways have been/ will have been submerged; · The relocation compensation investment is 272 million

RMB The renminbi (; symbol: ¥; ISO code: CNY; abbreviation: RMB) is the official currency of the People's Republic of China and one of the world's most traded currencies, ranking as the fifth most traded currency in the world as of April 2022 ...

yuan.

References

External links

The official website of Shizhu Tujia Autonomous County
(in Chinese) {{authority control County-level divisions of Chongqing Tujia autonomous counties