Established as a county in 1736, the first year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty, and designated as Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County in 1983, Xiushan serves as the southeastern gateway to Chongqing and the geographical centre of the Chongqing-Hubei-Hunan-Guizhou border region. It is widely known as the "Lock and Key of Hunan and Guizhou" and the "Pearl of the Wuling Mountains".
As a key location on the eastern route of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor and one of Chongqing's six regional comprehensive transport hubs, Xiushan is accelerating its development into a modern city with a distinctive identity in the Wuling Mountains region.
Covering an area of 2,462 square kilometres and home to a registered population of 674,000, Xiushan has a rich ethnic heritage, with ethnic minorities accounting for more than 60 per cent of its population. Its terrain is evenly divided between plains, hills and mountains.
Renowned for its ecological environment, Xiushan enjoys more than 350 days of excellent air quality each year. The Meijiang River, recognised as Chongqing's most beautiful river, winds through the urban area. The county also boasts the largest per capita park green space in southeastern Chongqing, offering residents a setting where scenic views and seasonal flowers are never far away.
A Cultural and Intellectual Hub
Hong'an Town in Xiushan is widely regarded as the real-life inspiration for Shen Congwen's literary classic Border Town. It is home to Jufeng Weir, the only World Heritage Irrigation Structures in Chongqing.
The county is home to three national-level intangible cultural heritage items and has been recognised as a Hometown of Chinese Folk Culture and Art, a County of Couplet Culture, a Birthplace of Flower-Lantern Song and Dance, and a Hometown of Calligraphy. Xiushan currently has 30 members of the China Calligraphers Association, ranking second among county-level jurisdictions nationwide.
Land of Plenty
Xiushan has the largest cultivation area of mountain honeysuckle in China, producing approximately one-third of the country's total output. It ranks first in Chongqing for tea production and is known as the "Hometown of Polygonatum" in China.
Its traditional Chinese medicinal herbs and rapeseed industries have both been included in national characteristic industrial clusters. One in every five free-range chickens in Chongqing comes from Xiushan.
The county is also home to Asia's largest magnesium-bearing dolomite deposit. In addition, Xiushan was the site of the discovery of a complete fossil assemblage of Polybranchiaspis dating back 436 million years to the early Silurian period. This forms the "Chongqing Biota", recognised as the world's earliest complete fossil repository of jawed vertebrates. The discovery was selected as one of China's Top Ten Science and Technology News stories and featured on the cover of Nature.
Openness and Connectivity
Strategically located at the intersection of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area-Chengdu-Chongqing development axis and the Shanghai-Kunming Corridor, Xiushan is set to enter a new stage of growth with the forthcoming construction of the Qianji High-Speed Railway.
The county has a comprehensive range of open-platform infrastructure, including customs facilities, bonded warehouses and railway container yards. It is home to the only strategic loading and unloading point on the Yuhuai Railway with an annual capacity of 3 million tonnes and served as the departure point for the first freight train of the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor.
Xiushan ranks among Chongqing's leading districts and counties in both freight volume growth and cargo value growth under the corridor initiative. It is one of China's first national backbone cold-chain logistics bases for agricultural products and a National Demonstration County for the Coordinated Development of Rural E-commerce and Express Delivery Services. Goods from 20 surrounding districts and counties are consolidated and distributed here, while its logistics network extends across the Wuling Mountains region, reaches ASEAN markets and connects with destinations worldwide.
Thriving Industries
Xiushan has ranked first in GDP among southeastern Chongqing districts and counties for five consecutive years and currently ranks third among the 71 districts and counties across the Wuling Mountains region.
Xiushan High-Tech Zone is the only municipal-level high-tech zone in the surrounding area located within the urban core. It is home to 84 high-tech enterprises and 694 technology-based companies, both ranking first in southeastern Chongqing.
More than 50 per cent of transactions in Xiushan's ten specialised markets, including fresh produce and building materials, come from outside the county. The county has been recognised as a National Leading County for County-Level Commerce.
Xiushan is also the only place in China to host both a national logistics demonstration park and a national e-commerce demonstration park. Cross-border e-commerce has helped products manufactured in the Wuling Mountains region reach 68 countries around the world.
Source: Publicity Department of the CPC Xiushan Tujia and Miao Autonomous County Committee