Shashi introduction

  Shashi is situated on the north bank of the Yangtze, and its cotton mills are supplied with raw cotton from the rich Jianghan Plain on which it stands. Shashi's population of 240,000 is principally employed in its many light-industrial enterprises--machinery, durable consumer goods, printing, dyeing and textiles. Tourist boats frequently stop in Shashi for a visit to the ancient walled city of Jingzhou nearby.

  The city was the port for the ancient city of Jiangling and a distribution centre for produce from surrounding towns and Dongting Lake, which was trans-shipped mostly to Wuhan. This trade was in cotton, beans, grain and aquatic products. in the Tang dynasty (618-907) it already enjoyed a reputation as a prosperous city, but it speak was reached during the years of the Taiping Rebellion, in the mid-- 19th century. After the rebels captured Nanjing in 1853, river trade on the Yangtze between Shashi and Shanghai more or Iess came to a standstill, so Shashi became vital to the distribution of products coming downriver from Sichuan.

  The Sino-Japanese Treaty of 1895 opened the city to foreign trade, Japanese engaged in the cotton-seed trade formed the majority of the resident foreigners, though this community was never large.

  There is a story that the army of Communist General He Long captured Swedish missionaries here in 1931. The women were released following negotiations with the Swedish Consul General, but the release of a doctor was delayed until a ransom was paid. The ransom demanded was: four dozen Parker fountain pens, four dozen watches and 60 or 70 cases of medical drugs!
  West of the city, the seven-storeyed Wanshoubao Pagoda, built in the Mingdy--nasty (1368--1644), stands directly on the waterfront. Bas-relief figures of Buddha, set into niches, and inscriptions by the donors adorn its brick facade. A temple once adjoined it.

  Below Shashi the river winds tortuously towards Dongting Lake for about 320kilometres (200 miles). Villages dot the south bank of the river and water buffalo graze in the paddy fields. The north embankment is often too high for a view of the surrounding country.

• Shashi

• DongTing Lake

• Three Kingdom's Red Cliff

• Han River