Ezhou

Ezhou (Chinese: 鄂州; pinyin: Èzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hubei Province, China. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 1,048,668, of which 668,727 lived in the core Echeng District. The Ezhou - Huanggang built-up (or metro) area was home to 1,035,496 inhabitants from the Echeng and Huangzhou, Huanggang Districts.

Geography

Ezhou lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River east of the southern section of Wuchang, across the river from the city of Huanggang, to which it is connected by the Ehuang Bridge. Sandwiched between the cities of Wuhan and Huangshi, Ezhou has a relatively small area of 1,504 square kilometres (581 sq mi).

There are many lakes in Ezhou, including the Liangzi Lake and Yanglan Lake, along with more than 133 lakes and pools. The city is the origin of Wuchang Bream and as a result is nicknamed "City of one hundred lakes" and "The land of fish and rice".

History

The name "Ezhou" dates to the Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 220 CE) and derives from the nearby ancient Zhou Dynasty (1046–256 BCE) vassal State of E. Although the administrative seat of the city changed several times, the name remained unchanged until the Three Kingdoms era (220−280) at which time it became the capital of the state of Eastern Wu ruled by Sun Quan and was renamed "Wuchang". This name remained in use as late as 1915, which proved confusing to travellers as it was also applied to the much larger city of Wuchang, itself shortly to become part of Wuhan.