The Chinese character “郴” (chen) was first seen in the Qin Dynasty. Chenzhou has a written history of over two thousand years. It has been a provincial, city or county capital since the Qin Dynasty.

Chenzhou has unique geographical advantages. Chenzhou City is located in the southeast of Hunan Province, where the Nanling Mountains and Luoxiao Mountains intersect, and the Yangtze River and the Pearl River water systems diverge. It has been the stronghold from the Central Plains to the coast of South China since ancient times. It is commonly known as the South Gate of Hunan, bordering Ganzhou City of Jiangxi Province to the east, Shaoguan City of Guangdong Province to the south, Yongzhou City of Hunan Province to the west, and Hengyang and Zhuzhou cities of Hunan Province to the north.

Chenzhou now governs Beihu and Suxian Districts, Zixing City and eight counties including Guiyang, Yongxing, Yizhang, Jiahe, Linwu, Rucheng, Anren and Guidong, with a total area of 19,400 square kilometers. By the end of 2023, the permanent resident population of the city had reached 4.6005 million, a decrease of 36,300 from the previous year.

Among them, the urban population is 2.7801 million, and the rural population is 1.8204 million. The urbanization rate of the city is 60.43%, an increase of 0.9 percentage points from the previous year. The downtown is the political, economic, cultural and educational center of the city.

Chenzhou belongs to the subtropical monsoon humid climate zone. It has four distinct seasons, with variable early spring, long hot summer, sunny and dry autumn, and short cold winter. The average annual temperature is 17.4 ℃, and the average annual precipitation is 1,452.1 millimeters, which is 19.7 millimeters higher than the provincial average, 2.22 times the national average annual precipitation, and 1.3 times the average annual precipitation of the world’s continents. Thanks to the warm and humid climate, it’s known as a wonderful place surrounded by the most beautiful scenery in Hunan province.

Chenzhou has convenient transportation, with many railways and expressways running through it, such as the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway, Beijing-Guangzhou High-speed Railway, Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway, Xiamen-Chengdu Expressway, and National Highway 107, making it possible to arrive in Changsha or Guangzhou within only a few hours.

Chenzhou has also developed communication, with telecommunications networks covering urban and rural areas throughout the city, and radio waves transmitting communication domestically and internationally.

Chenzhou is the hometown of Deng Zhongxia, Huang Kecheng, and Zeng Zhongsheng (famous revolutionaries), a famous historical and cultural city in China, and where the Xiangnan Uprising took place. It has rich historical and cultural relics, as well as scenic spots such as Dongjiang Lake, Suxian Ridge, Wanhua Rock, and Mangshan Mountain National Forest Park, making it a popular tourist destination.

Chenzhou is known as the “hometown of bamboo and wood” and the “hometown of non-ferrous metals”. Its agricultural and sideline products like mushrooms, Lilo tea, Dongjiang Fish, Linwu Duck and fine grass matting are well-known throughout the country. Besides, it’s rich in mineral resources, with the reserves of tungsten alone exceeding those of the United States and Russia.