Huarong County

Area: 1642 square kilometers
Population: 728,800 (2008)
Affiliated to: Yueyang, Hunan, China
Area Code: 0730
Administrative Divisions: 12 towns, 8 townships and 3 districts
Administrative Level: County
Famous Attractions: Taohua (peach blossom) Hill, Huarong River
Climate: moist
License Code: Xiang (Hunan) F
Zip Code: 414200
Administrative Code: 430623

Huarong County (Huáróng xiàn, 华容县) is a Chinese county under the administration of Yueyang, Hunan province, China. It is located in the west of Yueyang City on the north of the Dongting Lake and borders the prefecture-level cities of Jingzhou (Hubei) on the north and Yiyang to the southwest between 29°10'18"～29°48'27" N and 112°8'31"～113°1'32" E. The year 2014 saw 26.563 billion yuan of the county's GDP. Traditional agriculture is typically represented by rice cultivation while family farming by the pig-breeding industry. As one of the national production bases for grain, cotton, oil crops and fish, the county is historically hailed as "a land of fish and rice" and "home to cotton and linen". It is even included in the list of national "Top 100 Counties" in view of the total output value of cotton, oil crops, aquatic products and agriculture. The output of such products as grain, cotton, oil crops, aquatic products, vegetables, ramie, tea, citrus, lotus seeds, chili and domestic fowl ranked the top among the provinces. The county is also famous for ancient Huarong Dao. (It is still controversial among academic circles because some believed that Huarong Dao was located in present-day Jianli County of Hubei Province) Huarong Dao (alternatively named Huarong Path or Huarong Trail, Chinese name: 华容道) is the Chinese variation, based on a fictitious story in the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms about the warlord Cao Cao retreating through Huarong Trail after his defeat at the Battle of Red Cliffs in the winter of 208/209 CE during the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He encountered an enemy general, Guan Yu, who was guarding the path and waiting for him. Guan Yu spared Cao Cao and allowed the latter to pass through Huarong Trail on account of the generous treatment he received from Cao in the past.

Chinese source: yueyang.gov.cn