Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture Overview — Transport, Post and Telecommunications (Part 3)
Section 3 Waterways. The region's main waterways are the Yuan River, which passes through, and its tributaries the You and Wu rivers. The You and Wu form the prefecture's two major river systems, and their main courses are the principal shipping routes. Both have been famed since ancient times for their many rapids and treacherous waves. The You River flows through Longshan, Huayuan, Baojing, Yongshun and Guzhang before joining the Yuan, and was one of the ancient "Five Streams."
This article has been compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · City Overview section). Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.
Section 3 Waterways
The waterways within the prefecture mainly consist of the Yuan River, which passes through the area, and its tributaries the You River and Wu River. The You River and Wu River form the two major water systems within the prefecture, and their main streams are the principal navigation channels for water transport in the prefecture.
The You River and Wu River have been known since ancient times for their many rapids and dangerous waves. Within the prefecture, the You River flows through Longshan, Huayuan, Baojing, Yongshun, and Guzhang before joining the Yuan River, and was one of the ancient "Five Streams." In the past, this river had as many as 46 rapids within Baojing County alone, averaging one every 1.7 kilometers, among which "Mao'er Rapids" was the most dangerous, called "Tiger Rapids" in the Qing Dynasty, and it was commonly said that "when a boat reaches Mao'er Rapids, a person reaches the gate of hell." The Wu River winds among the Miao mountains, with grotesque rocks arrayed along its route and scattered stones lined up. "For every person, the pole is worked up and down; if one is slightly off guard, then all aboard the boat are overturned."
The You River and Wu River have had great navigational value since ancient times. The You River was an important passage to the great southwest and a river channel contested by military strategists of successive dynasties. From Ma Yuan's "campaign against the barbarians" in the Eastern Han to the entry into Sichuan of the remnants of Li Zicheng's forces during the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom in the Qing Dynasty, none failed to contend for the You River; the Red Army led by He Long was often active on both banks of the You River... For thousands of years, the You River basin has staged scene after scene of profound and solemn historical drama. The Wu River, also known as the Dong River, penetrates deep into the Miao villages of western Hunan, and "from ancient times, those who spoke of Miao affairs always discussed Dong River transport."
Before the founding of New China, those sailing on the main stream of the Yuan River were called "Pushi boats," with flat and straight bow and stern, long bodies, and wide cabins; You River boats were called "Beihe boats," with round black awnings, hulls like nests, wide and flat in the middle, and not drawing much water; Wu River boats were called "Dong River boats," shuttle-shaped, small in hull, shallow in draft, stable when running before the wind, and easy to track, hence the folk rhymes: "Dong River boats, both ends turned up, can reach every water ditch," and "Boats of Gaoyan (located upstream on the Dong River, now belonging to Buchou Township, Huayuan County) have two pointed ends; as long as there is water, they can reach the sky."
The Yuan River, You River, and Wu River were navigable year-round, and there were many boatmen through the ages. When boats traveled downstream, they relied on the water momentum of the channel and human rowing and sculling. When going upstream, they relied on wind power, the pulling of trackers, and punting with poles. When going up rapids or crossing pools, boat owners and "monthly chanters" (that is, boatmen hired year-round) often shouted "unison chants" to coordinate action and amuse themselves. They sailed the rivers and lakes, rushing to Dongting, reaching Wuhan, Chongqing, and Yunnan, avoiding neither severe summer heat nor severe winter cold, wearing straw sandals while tracking, going barefoot on the boat, wearing no bamboo hat and no straw rain cape, their bodies dark all over, like men of iron, floating amid deep mountains and gorges.
After the founding of New China, the navigation channels of the Yuan River, You River, Wu River, and other tributaries were repeatedly cleared, dredged, and regulated: hidden reefs were blasted, dams were built in cascades, water levels were raised, motorized vessels were built, and ship structures were changed, bringing great changes to the shipping industry. From the mid-1950s, the prefecture and relevant counties successively formed river maintenance teams and navigation channel engineering teams, systematically regulating navigation channels, blasting reefs, and dredging. In the 1960s, the Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture established a management office specifically in charge of navigation channels, improving shipping conditions, carrying out extensive reef blasting and dredging, and constructing navigational structures. In the 1970s, by combining key regulation with comprehensive maintenance, professional maintenance with mass maintenance, and the form of "water transport cooperatives dredging while transporting and transporting while maintaining," navigation channel regulation was pushed to a new level. By 1988, a total of 29 main navigation channels had been regulated and maintained, totaling 1,850 kilometers. Among these, 330 large and small rapids (including 50 dangerous rapids) were regulated on the You River navigation channel, and 160 dangerous rapids on the Wu River navigation channel, investing 583,200 and 73,355 workdays respectively. From 1990 to 1991, 1.5 million yuan of work-relief funds were used to regulate 7 key dangerous rapids on the main navigation channel of the You River and to develop 11 kilometers of tourist navigation channel on the Mengdong River and Si River. Thereafter, navigation channel maintenance was continuously strengthened, with special regulation of navigation channels carried out year by year, navigation channel markers maintained, and shipping order kept in good order.
At important market towns along the Yuan River, You River, Wu River, and major tributaries within the prefecture, wharves of varying sizes were built beginning in the Han Dynasty. By the Qing Dynasty, Wuxi Town and Pushi Town in Luxi County each had more than 10 wharves; Wangcun in Yongshun County; Longtou, Liye, and Xiche in Longshan County; Qianling, Bamao, Longtou, Bi'er, and Qingshuiping in Baojing County; Huayuan, Chadong, and Daheping in Yongshui County (now Huayuan County); Baixikou and Hexi in Guzhang County; Suoli and Hexi in Qiancheng County (now Jishou City); and Shuimenkou and Changyishao in Fenghuang County all had wharves. These wharves mostly took the form of natural sloping banks, with only a few wharves supplemented by stone steps, and were operated by manpower, which was extremely difficult.
After the founding of New China, the construction of ports and wharves within the prefecture was implemented by the transportation administrative departments of governments at all levels and specialized navigation channel management agencies. By 1988, a total of 5.4456 million yuan had been invested, and 13 ports had been newly built and expanded. Among them, those with cargo throughput above 200,000 tons were Pushi and Luxi ports; those with 100,000-200,000 tons were Baojing and Luoyixi ports; and those below 100,000 tons included Wangcun, Longtou, Liye, Baisha, Bi'er, and Bamao ports. During the "Eighth Five-Year Plan" period, because of the construction of the Wuqiangxi Power Station, the water level of the Yuan River rose, so one port and wharf each were built at Shangbao, the old county seat of Luxi, and Baisha, the new county seat, among which Baisha Port was completed in 1993 and was a 200-ton passenger wharf. In the 1990s, the Wangcun tourist passenger wharf was rebuilt and expanded and could berth more than 40 vessels at the same time; after 1995, annual passenger throughput reached more than 1 million person-times. In September 1997, the second national port census was conducted. According to the census, Xiangxi Autonomous Prefecture had 6 ports, large and small: Luxi Port, Pushi Port, Wangcun Port, Baojing Port, Luoyixi Port, and Longtou Port. The port area shoreline was 52,000 meters, and the total length of wharves was 1,699 meters; there were 19 wharves and 34 berths, with a maximum berthing capacity of 200 tons; total warehouse area was 4,730 square meters, with a capacity of 7,150 tons; storage yard area was 19,500 square meters, with a capacity of 35,100 tons. The berth forms of ports and wharves throughout the prefecture were mainly vertical and sloping. In loading and unloading technology, bulk cargo mainly used the slide (hopper) fixed-machine moving-ship process, while miscellaneous cargo was mostly loaded and unloaded by manpower. By 2005, the prefecture's annual port passenger throughput was 1.21 million person-times, and cargo throughput was 337,000 tons.
In terms of shipping vessels, from the mid-1960s, transport cooperatives successively installed powered motorized sailboats. In the early 1970s, the prefectural shipbuilding factory was completed and began independently designing and manufacturing cement motorized vessels and barges for shipping. After 1979, it began manufacturing and developing steel motorized vessels. In 1988, the 10 shipping enterprises within the prefecture owned 128 steel vessels with 9,907 tonnage and 10 cement motorized vessels with 363 tonnage, accounting for 84.9% and 3.1% of total vessel tonnage respectively. By 1995, the prefecture's 7 shipping enterprises had 68 steel vessels with 4,153 tonnage, 16 passenger vessels with 893 seats, 5 tugboats with 1,103 horsepower, and 35 barges with 3,403 tonnage. In the 1990s, collective units and individual water transport businesses arose, and their vessel tonnage equaled that of public ownership, while seats exceeded it by 5 times. In 2005, the prefecture had 836 passenger and cargo transport vessels with 24,644 tonnage; among the passenger and cargo transport vessels, transportation and social specialized transport enterprises owned 294 vessels with 7,607 tonnage, and individual transport vessels numbered 461 with 17,037 tonnage. There were 189 ferry crossings and 188 ferry boats.
In terms of cargo transport, during the Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period, wooden sailboat transport in the region took 7 days from Songtao, Guizhou downstream to Changde, with each boat requiring 10 workers; going upstream took 22 days, with each boat requiring 22 workers. One voyage took about a month and a half, and excluding the cold winter dry season, three voyages could be made in a year. Cargo boats on the Wu River sailed only to Luxi, while large boats on the Yuan River could sail far. Before the 1970s, inbound and outbound cargo transport within the prefecture was mainly by water. In the early 1970s, industrial and agricultural production in the region improved somewhat, and after the "Third Front" construction began, cargo sources increased greatly, and shipping flourished for a time. In the late 1970s, automobile transport developed rapidly, the Jiaozuo-Liuzhou Railway was completed and put into operation, the flow of cargo sources within the region changed, and shipping business showed a trend of decline. By the "Tenth Five-Year Plan" period, with the rise of tourism in the prefecture, freight transport began to improve again.
In terms of passenger transport, in olden times there was quite a lot of short-distance small-boat passenger transport on rivers such as the You River within the region, while long-distance passenger transport was very rare. In the fourth year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1799), an 8-kilometer passenger service from Luoyixi to Wangcun began. In 1955, counties such as Baojing began using wooden sailboats to carry passengers. In 1959, a 35-kilometer passenger route from Luxi to Pushi began. Subsequently, transport cooperatives and shipping companies in Guzhang, Yongshun, Sangzhi, Huayuan, and other counties successively launched passenger transport services. In the 1980s, rural trade flourished, and river passenger transport grew. After the Fengtan Power Station dam raised the water level behind the dam, the 80-kilometer You River navigation section from Fengtan upstream to Baojing County became a "high gorge and calm lake," creating extremely favorable water transport conditions for tourism along the You River, and passengers increased year by year. Shipping companies in Yongshun, Guzhang, and other counties opened routes such as Guzhang Luoyixi to Yongshun Wangcun, and individual boat operators joined passenger transport. By the late 1980s, water transport began to emerge from years of stagnant low ebb, and transport volume showed a restorative and steady growth trend. In 2003, the prefecture had 235 waterway passenger transport operators with 711 employees; 78 freight transport operators with 812 employees. The whole society completed 423,900 person-times of waterway passenger transport, with passenger turnover of 14.87 million person-kilometers; freight volume was 103,300 tons, with freight turnover of 28.73 million ton-kilometers. In 2005, 569,000 person-times of passenger transport and 162,000 tons of freight were completed, increases of 37% and 49% respectively over the previous year. Water transport has already become a traditional industry in the prefecture developing in step with tourism.