Zhijiang, Hubei

For the former county seat of Zhijiang, see Zhicheng.

Zhijiang (Chinese: 枝江; pinyin: Zhījiāng) is a county-level city of Yichang City, in the west of Hubei province, People's Republic of China. Until the 1990s Zhijiang was a county. It is located on the left (northern) shore of the Yangtze River, downstream from Yichang center city.

Zhijiang 枝江市 Chihkiang
County-level city
Zhijiang Transportation Bureau
Zhijiang Location in Hubei
Coordinates: 30°25′34″N 111°45′40″E
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Hubei
Prefecture-level city	Yichang
Area [1]
• County-level city	1,310 km2 (510 sq mi)
• Urban [2]	100.00 km2 (38.61 sq mi)
Population  (2020)[3]
• County-level city	408,487
• Density	310/km2 (810/sq mi)
• Urban	243,784
Time zone	UTC+8 (China Standard)

Zhijiang
Chinese	枝江
Postal	Chihkiang
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhījiāng Wade–Giles Chih1-chiang1

Administrative divisions

One subdistrict:^[1][4][5]

• Majiadian Subdistrict (马家店街道)

Eight towns:

• Anfusi (安福寺镇), Baiyang [zh] (白洋镇), Gujiadian (顾家店镇), Dongshi (董市镇), Xiannü (仙女镇), Wen'an (问安镇), Qixingtai (七星台镇), Bailizhou (百里洲镇)

Climate

Zhijiang has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen climate classification Cfa) with hot, rainy summers and cool winters. Rainfall occurs throughout the year but is significantly heavier between April and August.

Climate data for Zhijiang, elevation 66 m (217 ft), (1991–2020 normals)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	8.3 (46.9)	11.3 (52.3)	16.2 (61.2)	22.3 (72.1)	27.1 (80.8)	30.1 (86.2)	32.4 (90.3)	32.2 (90.0)	28.3 (82.9)	22.9 (73.2)	16.7 (62.1)	10.8 (51.4)	21.5 (70.8)
Daily mean °C (°F)	4.8 (40.6)	7.4 (45.3)	11.7 (53.1)	17.6 (63.7)	22.4 (72.3)	26.0 (78.8)	28.3 (82.9)	28.0 (82.4)	23.9 (75.0)	18.5 (65.3)	12.5 (54.5)	7.0 (44.6)	17.3 (63.2)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	2.1 (35.8)	4.2 (39.6)	8.3 (46.9)	13.9 (57.0)	18.8 (65.8)	22.7 (72.9)	25.2 (77.4)	24.9 (76.8)	20.7 (69.3)	15.3 (59.5)	9.4 (48.9)	4.0 (39.2)	14.1 (57.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	30.3 (1.19)	39.6 (1.56)	60.7 (2.39)	108.6 (4.28)	134.9 (5.31)	156.4 (6.16)	197.7 (7.78)	124.2 (4.89)	78.8 (3.10)	71.3 (2.81)	46.6 (1.83)	20.2 (0.80)	1,069.3 (42.1)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	8.0	8.9	11.7	12.4	12.9	12.5	12.0	10.1	8.9	9.8	9.4	7.0	123.6
Average snowy days	4.3	2.9	0.8	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	1.5	9.8
Average relative humidity (%)	74	73	75	76	74	78	80	78	74	74	75	72	75
Mean monthly sunshine hours	79.5	84.7	120.1	139.7	148.6	146.7	190.6	201.8	145.8	129.2	112.5	96.9	1,596.1
Percentage possible sunshine	25	27	32	36	35	35	45	50	40	37	36	31	36
Source: China Meteorological Administration[6][7]

Education

• Zhijiang High School

Transport

• China National Highway 318
• Yichang Sanxia Airport
• Jiaozuo–Liuzhou Railway

Economy

Zhijiang City has a significant cluster of Taobao villages, rural Chinese villages where the local economy has developed to focus extensively on e-commerce via the Taobao retail shopping platform.^[8]: 112 As of September 2019, there are more than 1,000 e-commerce enterprises in Zhijiang City, more than 8,000 e-commerce online stores, and more than 20,000 people working in e-commerce.^[9]: 279

Lü Banglie

In October 2005, Zhijiang was in the news because one of the delegates to its (county-level) People's Congress, Lu Banglie (吕邦列), a village-rights activist, was savagely beaten on October 8, 2005 in the village of Taishi (太石), in Yuwotou town, Panyu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong, by unknown persons. The beating was witnessed by Benjamin Joffe-Walt, correspondent for The Guardian newspaper of the UK, who was himself threatened and believed Lü had been killed.

Since 2004, Lü has been the popularly elected head of Baoyuesi village (宝月寺村; 30°20′31″N 111°41′01″E), in the town of Bailizhou [zh] (百里洲镇), situated on a peninsula in the Yangtze River and the only town in Zhijiang not on the river's left bank; there is no road connection between Bailizhou and the city's other towns. He is the first elected village head in the history of the People's Republic of China.

The beating may have been intended to prevent a similar popular election from taking place in Taishi.