Representative Region for Chinese Ancient City Culture

Xiangyang's Ancient City Culture is unique and representative among Chinese Ancient City Culture because of its deep cultural deposits, abundant contents, and distinct features, which are mainly reflected in: firstly, there are abundant ruins of ancient city with a long history. There are 3 sites of ancient city ruins within a downtown area of more than 130 km2. The site of Dengcheng of the Western Zhou Dynasty has a history of more than 3000 years, while both Fancheng and Xiangyang have a history of more than 2800 years. It is a rare phenomenon that there are 3 independently constructed ancient cities in one city with such a long history. Secondly, the military culture in the ancient city leaves a profound print and great reputation. Being the former ferry garrison of North Chu, Xiangyang is a large military ferry with a military culture sear since its foundation. According to the historical records, 172 famous wars took place in Xiangyang. Thirdly, with long and profound urban culture, Xiangyang was one of the few metropolises in ancient China. In the Yuanhe Period of the Tang Dynasty, Xiangyang was one of the four district governments with more than 100000 families. Fourthly, the ancient city learns from nature in determining its city layout and is a typical example of ancient landscape city in China. Built up along the river, Xiangyang and Fancheng faced one another across the river. Out of the ancient city, the southern region between Xianshan and Yicheng was Guangaili at that time, the gathering place of famous families and persons. The city was in the south and the market was in the north. The Xianshou Pavilion was on the top of Xianshan. The natural spatial layout along the rivers and mountains is rare in China, which is hailed as "Famous Landscape City in Interior China". Xiangyang Ancient City not only has a defense function, but also has water conservancy and ecological functions. The Han River was taken as the city moat of the ancient city, while Xiang River was imported (Nanqu) in the city, leading to a unique creativity and the Top 1 pool width. This fully reflected the harmony between the city and ecology and the harmony between nature and humanistic culture. The ecological intelligence and cultural value in the construction of Xiangyang Ancient City is praised by contemporary Chinese and foreign urban planning masters.