Overview

Shiyan City is an important base for automobile production and scientific research. It’s an important center of economy, politics, culture, science and technology in the northwest of Hubei Province. It covers a total area of 1,190 square kilometers, of which city proper occupies 203 square kilometers. Shiyan is a city open to the outside world with a total population of 406,900, among whom 293,300 are in the urban area. It’s located on the border of Hubei Province, Henan Province, Sichuan Province, and Shaanxi Province. Shiyan City is a well-known automobile city. Both Dongfeng Truck Company and Dongfeng Tyre Company are established here. The former is one of the three biggest truck companies in the world and the latter is one of the four biggest tyre companies in China. A pilot area for the development of Automobile Industry is open to the outside world.

In the middle period of Qing Dynasty, people built dams and dykes on both Bai’erhe River and Jianghe River to retain water for irrigation. Dams are also called weirs. There are altogether ten dams built on these two rivers, hence it got the name Shiyan (a place with ten weirs).

Shiyan City is one of the central tourist centers in the northwest of Hubei Province. In the east lies Wudang Mountain, Taoist holy place, famous at home and abroad, for its “fairy mountains and marbled towers”; In the south lies Shennongjia Mountain, a natural zoo and botanical garden full of mystery. In the west are the relics of the Great Wall built in Chu Kingdom (in Spring and Autumn Period) in Zhuxi County. To the north lies the Hanjiang River, a vast expanse of misty, rolling waters. In the city, Saiwudang natural scenery reserve amuses its tourists by its immense forests, a sea of clouds, ridges and peaks, waterfalls on the one hand and by famous religious temples such as White Horse Temple, Huilong Temple etc. on the other hand.