Loudi

Loudi Overview

Loudi City is a prefecture-level city located in central part of Hunan province. It is situated about 110 km (68 mi) southwest of Changsha and is considered a small to medium size city within the province.In 2007, Loudi City was named China's top ten livable cities by Chinese Cities Brand Value Report, which was released at 2007 Beijing Summit of China Cities Forum.
Facts of Loudi
Chinese Name: 娄底市 (lóu dǐ shì)
Population: 4,030,000  
Area: 8,107 square kilometers (3,130 square miles) 
Nationalities: Han 
Administrative Division: 1 district (Louxing); 2 counties (Shuangfeng, Xinhua); 2 county-level cities (Lengshuijiang, Lianyuan) 
Seat of the City Government: 13, Lengping Dong Jie, Louxing District

Geogaragy of Loudi
Loudi city is situated in the center of Hunan Province, neighboring six cities in the surrounding area: Xiangtan and Changsha in the northeast, Hengyang in the southeast, Yiyang in the northwest, Shaoyang in the southwest and Huaihua in the west.

The western region of the city borders the mountainous area in western Hunan, while the land in the central and east is hilly, with gently sloping topography.


Climate & Weanther
Loudi enjoys a subtropical continental monsoon climate, and the weather is humid, with moderate temperatures and four distinct seasons. Rainfall is most prevalent in the late spring and early summer. It is torrid in summer, sunny and warm in autumn. Winter months here are not severe, and the annual average temperature falls around 16-17.3℃ (60.8-62.6℉). 


History of Loudi
Before the Qin (221BC-206BC) Court established a county to administer this area, the Loudi region belonged to Chu, a vassal state of the eastern Zhou Dynasty. Currently it forms part of one district, which contains two counties and two county-level cities.    

Products & Economy
With an area of 8,117 square km ,Loudi City has 48 kinds of mineral resources, the reserves of all of which have been verified for production. Its antimony reserve ranks first in the world, and the reserves of coal ,dolomite, limestone and marble rank first in the province. A sizable raw materials processing industry has been built. The local Lianyuan Iron and Steel Company is a backbone enterprise in Hunan.

Transportation
The Hunan-Guizhou and Luoyang-Zhanjiang railways interconnect at the city. National highways Nos.320 and 207 run through the city area, and an expressway passes through it from east to west. Infrastructure facilities including telecommunications, energy supply and urban construction are being perfected. The city is expected to be a major transport hub and commercial product collection and distribution center in southern China in the not-too-distant future.


Loudi Tourism
Loudi is skirted by mountains and waters, presenting picturesque landscapes. Tourist attractions in Loudi include Dacheng Mountain, Boyue Cave Scenic Area, Meijiang River Scenic Area, Daxiong Mountain National Forest Park, and Longshan National Forest Park. In addition, Loudi has also preserved Ziquejie terraced fields in the high mountain with a history of over 1,000 years, which have been listed as a national cultural heritage, displaying the great strength of human beings in transforming nature.
The time-honored history and splendid Hunan culture and Meishan culture have given birth to Loudi's historic and cultural sites. The three main tourist attractions—the Meijiang River, Shuifu Temple and the former residence of Zeng Guofan—are quiet, secluded and elegant, adding radiance and beauty to each other. Today, Loudi, known as the "capital of antimony in the world", the "100-mile coal sea", and the "10-mile Iron City", is showing its brilliant glamour with the rising industrial tourism industry.