Water, Land and Air Transport: Circulating Network (Part 2)
Section 2: Water Conservancy and Power; Logistics Ports. Hunan's First Large Hydropower Station — Zhexi Hydropower Station. Zhexi Hydropower Station (now Zhexi Hydropower Plant) is located in the Darongtang river valley of Anhua County, Hunan. Primarily for power generation, it also serves flood control, navigation and aquaculture. It was the first large hydropower station built in Hunan after the founding of New China.
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 Some administrative divisions, population, socioeconomic data, and policy information may be outdated and are for reference only; for the latest situation, please refer to official releases by the local government and scenic areas.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 II
Water Conservancy and Hydropower, Logistics Ports
Hunan's First Large-Scale Hydroelectric Power Station — Zhexi Hydropower Station
Zhexi Hydropower Station (now named Zhexi Hydropower Plant) is located in the Darongtang river valley of Anhua County, Hunan Province. It focuses on power generation while also taking into account comprehensive benefits such as flood control, shipping, and aquaculture. It is the first large-scale hydroelectric power station built in Hunan Province after the founding of New China, and has been praised by the people of Hunan as "Hunan's ruby" and "the night pearl on the Zi River." On January 28, 1962, the first generating unit was officially connected to the grid for power generation. The dam is a single-buttress wide-head dam and a wide-seam gravity dam, with a crest elevation of 174 meters, a maximum dam height of 104 meters, and a total reservoir capacity of 3.56 billion cubic meters. The new Zhexi 500,000-kilowatt (250,000 kilowatts × 2) units, constructed starting in February 2005, were connected to the grid and put into operation in 2008, and the current total installed capacity has reached 1 million kilowatts. The power station has successively won many honorary titles, including the National "May 1st" Labor Certificate, the National Advanced Collective for Rationalization Proposals and Technical Improvement, the Ministry of Electric Power's Enterprise Meeting Safety and Civilized Production Standards, the National Electric Power System Dual Civilization Unit, the National Model Workers' Home, and Hunan Provincial Civilized Unit.
Hunan's Largest Hydroelectric Power Station — Yuanling Wuqiangxi Hydropower Station
Wuqiangxi Hydropower Station, with an installed capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts, is the backbone power plant for cascade hydropower development in the Yuan River basin and a backbone peak-shaving and frequency-regulation power plant of the Central China Power Grid. It is the hydroelectric power station with the largest installed capacity in Hunan Province. The power plant focuses on power generation and also has comprehensive benefits such as flood control and shipping. Five 240,000-kilowatt generating units were completed and put into operation in 1994, 1995, and 1996 respectively. The first unit generated power in December 1994, and all units were put into operation by the end of 1996. With a total investment of 8.9 billion RMB, it was a key project of the national "Seventh Five-Year Plan" and "Eighth Five-Year Plan."
Hunan's Hydropower Station with the Largest Drop — Yanling Lishuzhou Power Station
Lishuzhou Power Station is located in Ceyuan Township, Yanling County, Hunan. With a drop of 610 meters and an installed capacity of 8,200 kilowatts, it integrates power generation, water storage, and peak regulation, and is the hydropower station with the largest drop in Hunan Province. Approved by the Ministry of Water Resources, Yanling was listed in 2001 as one of the 400 key national rural electrification counties built during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan." Taking this opportunity, Yanling County completely broke the bottleneck restricting the development of small hydropower, set off an upsurge of investment in power generation by the whole people, and achieved leapfrog development in small hydropower development.
Hunan's Largest Pumped-Storage Power Station — Changsha Heimifeng Power Station
Heimifeng Power Station is Hunan's largest pumped-storage power station, with four 300,000-kilowatt pump-turbine generating units installed, for a total capacity of 1.2 million kilowatts, comparable to Hunan's largest hydropower station, Wuqiangxi Hydropower Station. The maximum distributed outer diameter of the generator stator frame is Φ8.8 meters, the frame height is 4.65 meters, and the overall hoisting weight of the stator is about 320 tons. Heimifeng Pumped-Storage Power Station is the first pumped-storage power station for which the Eighth Hydropower Bureau undertook electromechanical installation work, and it is also the top priority in the Installation Branch of the Eighth Hydropower Bureau's annual goal of completing 3.47 million kilowatts of power generation.
Hunan's First Wind Farm — Chenzhou Yangtianhu Wind Farm
Yangtianhu Wind Farm is located in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province. It is Hunan's first wind farm, with an annual power generation capacity of up to 77.44 million kilowatt-hours, equivalent to saving about 27,878 tons of standard coal each year and greatly reducing carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, and dust emissions. The commissioning of the wind farm allows Chenzhou residents to use clean energy.
Hunan's First Power Plant for West-to-East Power Transmission — Liyujiang Power Plant
Liyujiang Power Plant is located in Liyujiang Town, Zixing City, Hunan Province. It is an important power source point at the southernmost end of the Central China Power Grid and Hunan's only power plant for west-to-east power transmission. In March 2001, the former State Development Planning Commission officially approved the project proposal for the 2×300 MW unit expansion project of Liyujiang Power Plant, and it was listed as part of the national "West-to-East Power Transmission" overall plan to transmit 10 million kilowatts to Guangdong during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan," the second batch of national "West-to-East Power Transmission" projects, and a key project in Hunan Province during the "Tenth Five-Year Plan." Liyujiang Power Plant has a prominent locational advantage of "linking east and west," and is of great significance for stabilizing the local 100,000 miners and 60,000 migrants from the Dongjiang reservoir area and driving Hunan's economic growth.
Hunan's Largest Thermal Power Enterprise — Datang Huayin Jinzhushan Thermal Power Branch
Datang Huayin Jinzhushan Thermal Power Branch (formerly Hunan Jinzhushan Power Plant) is located in the eastern suburbs of Lengshuijiang City. Production Area A began preparations in 1967, broke ground in May 1969, and the first unit was completed and put into operation in September 1972, with an installed capacity of 600,000 kilowatts. At the end of 2002, according to the power system reform plan, the company was placed under the jurisdiction of China Datang Corporation. In 2006, two 600,000-kilowatt subcritical units of the first phase of the Production Area B expansion project were successively put into operation. In June 2009, as Hunan Province's first power source construction project of the "build large and suppress small" type, one 600,000-kilowatt supercritical unit of the second phase of the Production Area B expansion project was completed and put into operation. At present, with a total installed capacity of 1.925 million kilowatts, the company has become Hunan's largest thermal power enterprise.
Hunan's Thermal Power Plant with the Largest Single-Unit Capacity — Yueyang Huaneng Power Plant
Huaneng Yueyang Branch (Power Plant) is affiliated with Huaneng International Power Development Corporation and is the thermal power plant with the largest single-unit capacity in Hunan Province. The two 362,500-kilowatt coal-fired units installed in the first phase were imported as complete sets from Britain's GEC, with a total investment of 2.8 billion RMB. Construction officially began in 1988, and power generation was put into operation in 1991. At the end of 1996, the power plant was awarded the title of "Enterprise Meeting Safety and Civilized Production Standards" by the former Ministry of Electric Power Industry. In June 2002, it was awarded the glorious title of "First-Class Thermal Power Plant" by the State Power Corporation. In February 2003, it won the title of national "Civilized Unit."
Asia's No. 1 Water Turbine Pump Station — Changde Qingshan Water Turbine Pump Station
Qingshan Water Turbine Pump Station is located 38 kilometers northwest of Changde County seat, spanning the middle and lower reaches of the Qingshui River, on Dongziping, long known as the "Pearl of the Li River," and is known as Asia's No. 1 water turbine pump station. Its concrete main dam is 257 meters long and 17.2 meters high, and the auxiliary dam is 384 meters long and 13.2 meters high. It controls a drainage area of 15,259 square kilometers in the Li River basin, has built 1,098 kilometers of main, trunk, branch, and field canals, and irrigates 530,000 mu. The 945-meter-long Ranpowan Tunnel is naturally smooth, and the 1,200-meter-long Qunying Aqueduct spanning the Dao River towers into the clouds like an inverted rainbow.
Hunan's Largest Water Conservancy Project in the Early Days of New China — Jingjiang South Sluice
The Jingjiang South Sluice on the Hudu River in Anxiang County, Hunan, was the largest water conservancy project in the early days of the founding of New China. It broke ground on April 5, 1952, and was successfully completed on June 25 of that year, taking only 75 days and nights. This huge project, which protected the Wuhan tri-cities upstream and the safety of Yueyang and Changsha downstream, was personally approved by Chairman Mao, designed by Soviet experts, and drew on 100,000 officers and soldiers from General Tang Tianji's units that had fought in the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea, 40,000 workers, and 160,000 civilian laborers, totaling 300,000 laborers. A total of 32,500 cubic meters of reinforced concrete and 59,000 cubic meters of bricks, pads, and crushed stone were completed. The South Sluice has a total length of 360 meters, with 32 openings, each with a clear width of 9 meters. The sluice is 8.5 meters high, with a bottom elevation of 32 meters and a top elevation of 43 meters. It uses a reinforced concrete base slab, hollow buttress walls, dam-type bank piers, curved steel plate gates, and electric winch opening and closing.
Hunan's Ship Lock with the Highest Degree of Automation Control — Zhuzhou Navigation-Power Hub Ship Lock
The Zhuzhou Navigation-Power Hub Ship Lock Project has a navigable lock chamber 180 meters long and 23 meters wide, with a sill water depth of 3.5 meters and a total length of 4.2 kilometers. It can pass four 1,000-ton barges at one time and is the largest and most automated ship lock in Hunan Province. This navigation opening marks the full completion of the 439-kilometer 1,000-ton waterway of the Xiang River from Hengyang to Chenglingji in Yueyang, and the completion of a main water transport corridor in Hunan directly connecting trunk and branch lines and reaching the sea through rivers.
China's Largest Inland River Main Hub Port — Changsha Xianing New Port
The Xianing Port Area of the Changsha Port Main Hub was approved for project establishment by the Provincial Planning Commission in 1998, and its "Feasibility Study Report" was approved in August 2001. It is the largest inland river main hub port in the country. Its overall scale is as follows: build 14 freight berths, including 11 1,000-ton berths and 3 other berths, with a wharf shoreline of 615 meters and an annual port throughput capacity of 200,000 TEUs of containers and 5 million tons of heavy and miscellaneous cargo. The port railway special line will be built in the second phase of the project, with planned land use of 2,000 mu and port land use of 732 mu. The estimated total investment in the port area project is 600 million RMB. With the completion of the second and third phases of the port area project, Changsha New Port will basically have seven major functions: transport management, transfer and transshipment, loading and unloading storage, multimodal transport, international freight, information services, and customs clearance and commodity inspection. It will become an important inland river hub port radiating to Hunan and even China's central and western regions.
Hunan's Largest Water Transport Port — Yueyang Chenglingji Port
Chenglingji Port is located on the south bank of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River, at the outlet of Dongting Lake. It is the largest water transport port in Hunan Province, the only port in Hunan bordering the Yangtze River, a national first-class water port, and a waterway connecting the river to the sea. The port serves as Hunan's northern gateway for foreign trade and an important logistics platform for industrial enterprises, playing a significant role in building Hunan's multi-dimensional transportation network for opening up. As early as 1899, Chenglingji was already an open trading port. In 1980, it was designated a national riverside port open to the outside world. In 1997, it was established as Hunan Province's only national first-class water port and successfully welcomed its first foreign vessel. In 2004, it was listed as one of China's 53 main hub ports, and in 2007, it was approved by the Ministry of Railways as one of the strategic loading points of the Guangzhou Railway Group. At present, Chenglingji Port has developed into an important transit hub port in central China. The Songyang Lake port area currently under construction involves a total investment of 1.6 billion RMB. When completed, Chenglingji Port's annual throughput will reach 12 million tons, making it the fifth largest port along the Yangtze River.
Hunan's Earliest Port Open to the Outside World — Changsha Tongguan Kiln Port
Changsha Tongguan Kiln Port was the earliest port in Changsha open to the outside world. As early as the Tang Dynasty, Changsha Tongguan Kiln ceramics were exported to 29 countries and regions. Via water transport, from the Xiang River into the Yangtze River, passing through the ports of Yangzhou, Ningbo, and Guangzhou, a "Maritime Silk Road" leading to South Asia and North Africa was opened up. In the history of cultural exchange with foreign countries, it exerted an important influence on world culture.
The Largest Logistics Park in Central-South China — Yili Logistics Park
Yili Logistics Park is located in the core area of the integration of Changsha, Zhuzhou, and Xiangtan. With a total investment of 1 billion RMB, it is the first large-scale spot trading market for means of production in the province, approved by the Changsha Municipal People's Government and jointly built by the Tianxin District People's Government of Changsha and Hunan Yili Industrial Co., Ltd. The park covers an area of 2,000 mu and is a modern logistics park with relatively large scale and advanced facilities in Central-South China and even the whole country. Yili Logistics Park is a key project of Hunan Province, and the Changsha Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have designated it as one of Changsha's four major logistics parks.
Hunan's Largest Industrial Logistics Center — Enrui International Logistics Center
Enrui International Logistics Center covers an area of 1,100 mu, with a total construction area of 700,000 square meters and a first-phase investment of 1.2 billion RMB. It borders Furong North Road to the west and is 300 meters from Xianing New Port; it borders Changsha New North Railway Station and Jinpen Avenue to the east; it leans against the Ring Expressway to the south and is only 20 kilometers from Huanghua Airport. Water transport, highways, railways, and aviation are all very convenient, enabling "domestic distribution and intra-provincial delivery" at the most economical cost and creating Hunan's "two-hour logistics circle." After full completion, it will achieve an annual cargo throughput of 3 million tons and a transaction volume of 15 billion RMB, and can provide employment for more than 10,000 people. According to estimates, Enrui International Logistics Center can help enterprises effectively save nearly 1 billion RMB in logistics costs each year, making it Hunan's largest industrial logistics project.
The Largest Cotton Logistics Center in Central-South China — Hunan Yinhua Modern Agriculture (Cotton) Logistics Center
Hunan Yinhua Modern Agriculture (Cotton) Logistics Center is located in the Deshan Industrial Zone of Changde City. Its annual cotton logistics volume can reach 250,000 tons, with an annual transaction volume of up to 3.5 billion RMB, making it the largest cotton logistics center and trading distribution center in Central-South China with a leading domestic level. As a major cotton-producing area in the Yangtze River Basin, Hunan Province produces about 220,000 tons of cotton annually. In 2008, the total cotton planting area was 2.56 million mu, an increase of 224,000 mu over 2007, making it China's 8th largest cotton-producing province and also the southernmost province for large-scale commercial cotton production.
The First Type B Bonded Logistics Center in Central-South China — Changsha Jinxia Customs Bonded Logistics Center
Changsha Jinxia Customs Bonded Logistics Center is located in the Jinxia Logistics Park of Changsha Economic Development Zone, bordering Furong North Road to the east, Xingang Avenue to the west, Jingang Avenue to the south, and Xianglao Road to the north. It connects with the Beijing-Zhuhai Expressway and National Highways 107 and 319, is adjacent to Xianing Deep-Water Port, and relies on the Changsha New Freight Marshalling Station of the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and Huanghua International Airport. It can successfully combine water, land, and air into a multi-dimensional logistics network, becoming an important international logistics transit station positioned for Changsha, radiating to Central-South China, and influencing the whole country. It can realize six major functions: bonded warehousing, international logistics distribution, simple processing and value-added services, import-export and transit trade, port services and tax refunds, and logistics information processing. Integrating customs, inspection and quarantine, logistics base, and financial services, it is the first Type B bonded logistics center in Central-South China and the only one in Hunan Province.
The Largest Pharmaceutical and Food Logistics Center in Central-South China — Quanzhou Pharmaceutical and Food Logistics Port
Quanzhou Pharmaceutical and Food Logistics Port is the largest pharmaceutical and food logistics center in Central-South China. It has been officially included in the "Doubling Plan" of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Information Industry, making it the first enterprise in Hunan's pharmaceutical logistics industry to enter this plan. With the strong support of the national "Doubling Plan," Quanzhou Pharmaceutical and Food Logistics Port gives full play to the driving role of modern pharmaceutical logistics producer services in the construction of new industrialization, and has made major contributions to Hunan Province's "enriching the people and strengthening the province" and "sound and rapid" development.
Hunan's First Pharmaceutical Logistics Center — Hunan Sanhe Pharmaceutical Logistics Center
Hunan Sanhe Pharmaceutical Logistics Center is located in Xiangtan City, covering an area of 135.68 mu, with a total construction area of 300,000 square meters and a total investment of 600 million RMB. It has comprehensive service functions including pharmaceutical trading, warehousing, quality inspection, distribution, processing of traditional Chinese medicine decoction pieces, business negotiations, information display, e-commerce, and hotel and catering services. Compared with traditional pharmaceutical logistics industries, Sanhe Pharmaceutical Logistics Center has greater advantages in policies, professionalism, market, the enterprise itself, hardware facilities, and supporting services. It is the first pharmaceutical logistics center in the province approved by the Hunan Provincial Food and Drug Administration, listed as one of the key logistics engineering projects of Hunan Province and Xiangtan City, laying a solid foundation for the strategy of strengthening the city through logistics.
Hunan's First Hunan-Shanghai-Macau Joint Venture Port Enterprise — Changsha Jixing Container Terminal Co., Ltd.
In 2006, Hunan Changsha New Port Co., Ltd., Shanghai Container Co., Ltd., and Shanggang Container (Macau) Co., Ltd. jointly invested 204 million RMB to establish the "Golden Terminal" — Changsha Jixing Container Terminal Co., Ltd., the first Hunan-Shanghai-Macau joint venture port enterprise in the province. The operation of Changsha Jixing Container Terminal Co., Ltd. not only makes the export transportation of Hunan's foreign trade materials more smooth, but also channels the logistics of Shanghai Port toward Changsha Port. The cooperation between the two ports not only laid a solid foundation for Changsha to establish its position as a waterway hub, but also created extremely favorable conditions for establishing Hunan Province's first Class II port.
Related Records
The Most Tragic and Heroic Wonder of Aizhai Highway
The Aizhai section of the Xiangchuan Highway (National Highway 319), not far from Jishou, is known as a "Highway Wonder."
This section of highway is about 7 kilometers long, yet it was built on a slope with a horizontal distance of less than 100 meters, a vertical height of 440 meters, and a gradient of 70 to 90 degrees. This specific space forced the highway to move left and right, turning through thirteen sharp-angle hairpin bends and forming twenty-six sections of nearly parallel, overlapping road surfaces. Figuratively speaking, the appearance of this highway is like a compressed spring. In fact, it is said that during construction, long strip "steps" were first cut vertically into the mountain slope, and then the two ends of the "steps" were connected. Where connection was truly impossible, "sky bridges" were erected or a circular turntable was suspended and stacked, allowing cars to make a "∞"-shaped turn. The highway was built during the War of Resistance Against Japan. In 1935, during the Japanese invasion of China, Chiang Kai-shek personally oversaw the route selection and construction of the Xiangchuan Highway in order to facilitate the retreat and transport of military supplies and troops. It was completed along its entire length on September 9, 1936.
If you are riding up this section of the Aizhai highway for the first time, you will certainly have a very strange feeling. You seem to have left the earth and are roaming in the sky, not knowing where the destination is. At every turn you will think you are plunging into hell and prepare yourself for "eternal damnation." When the bend is negotiated, you will let out a long, secret sigh of relief and thank God for deliverance from death. White clouds often drift by the car window, and rock eagles beat against the window glass with loud slaps. If it is a convoy proceeding one after another, the feeling is even more marvelous. Looking down, the vehicles following behind are right beneath your feet; looking up, the wheels of the vehicles ahead roll right over your head. At times you will feel that many cars are coming toward you, when in fact they are all going in the same direction. After taking more than half an hour to cover six kilometers, you will truly understand the meaning of the two idioms "thrilling" and "hair-raising."
To build this six-kilometer stretch of highway, more than 2,000 person-times of laborers fought through wind and rain for a full seven months. More than 200 people died, and there were countless minor injuries and disabilities. To commemorate the achievements of the fallen, a bronze statue of a "Pioneer Road Builder" was erected near the sky bridge in the middle of the road as a memorial. Later, the bronze statue was destroyed in the chaos of war. In 1987, the Hunan Provincial Government allocated funds to recast the bronze statue according to the original design and relocate it on the cliff above the Aizhai Sky Bridge. At the same time, at the end of the "Highway Wonder" at the top of the mountain, a "Xiangchuan Highway Fallen Workers Memorial Tower" was built, facing the "Pioneer Road Builder" bronze statue from afar. Their glory shines like the sun and moon, illuminating all ages.
The "Pioneer Road Builder" bronze statue bears an inscription by former Hunan Governor Xiong Qingquan. Erected in 1987, it is 5.7 meters tall and weighs 0.9 tons. Standing atop the misty mountain peak, it recreates the indomitable spirit and bearing of the many workers who built the Xiangchuan Highway in those years.
Shoulong Bridge in Yongzhou
Outside Shanggantang Village in Jiangyong County, Yongzhou, Hunan, there is an ancient stone slab bridge called Shoulong Bridge. According to local gazetteers, there was once a pond beneath the bridge. As time passed, the pond was silted up by soil and water and became a ditch beside the road, so Shoulong Bridge now looks like a stone slab path.
What makes this bridge unique is that it uses the mortise-and-tenon structure commonly found in wooden structures. The stone marks on the bridge deck slabs have not only been worn smooth but also worn into depressions. In ancient times, this was caused by nothing but feet, proving that the bridge is very old — at least over 600 years — meaning it was built during the Northern Song Dynasty. It can also be said to be the earliest Song Dynasty ancient bridge discovered so far in Hunan Province. Shoulong Bridge has been built with ultra-supercritical coal-fired units, with a dynamic investment of 5 billion RMB and an annual designed power generation of 6 billion kWh. Following the official operation of Unit 1, Unit 2 will also be connected to the grid. The second phase involves an investment of 10 billion RMB and will put into operation two 1-million-kilowatt coal-fired units.
After the power plant is fully completed and put into operation, it will become the largest thermal power plant in Hunan Province. It is of great significance for ensuring power supply to the province's power load centers, improving Hunan's power source structure, and especially safeguarding the electricity demand of the "Chang-Zhu-Tan" economic circle.
The Growth History of Changsha Huanghua Airport
Changsha Huanghua International Airport broke ground on June 25, 1986, and made its maiden flight on August 29, 1989. Since 2003, Huanghua Airport's annual passenger throughput has grown at an average rate of over 20% per year. By September 2009, passenger throughput reached 8,216,900 person-times, an increase of 35.8% over the same period of the previous year, ranking 11th among airports nationwide, ahead of Xiamen, Chongqing, Nanjing, Qingdao, Dalian, Haikou, and Shenyang, and third in Central-South China, second only to Guangzhou and Shenzhen airports. It is predicted that Huanghua Airport's annual passenger throughput in 2009 is expected to exceed 10 million person-times, joining the ranks of China's ten-million-level airports. At present, the airport has opened 86 scheduled routes to 62 cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Urumqi, Hong Kong, Taipei, Seoul, and Osaka. A total of 26 airlines operate at Huanghua Airport, with more than 2,000 weekly flights taking off and landing, initially forming an air transport network covering major large and medium-sized cities across the country. It can be called Central-South China's third largest air harbor.
The current airport flight area is rated 4E, with a new terminal building of 34,000 square meters and a parking lot of 22,000 square meters. The airport currently has a runway 2,600 meters long and a parallel taxiway of equal length. In early 2008, a second runway was built, and the first runway was extended to 3,200 meters. Four rapid exit taxiways were added, the apron was expanded by 213,000 square meters, a new international hall of 9,892 square meters was built, and the original international hall of 3,500 square meters was renovated. The design plan for the new terminal building of Changsha Huanghua International Airport was recently finalized. The new terminal building has a construction area of 163,000 square meters, nearly five times that of the existing terminal, with a total investment of approximately 1.5 billion RMB. Construction is planned to start at the end of 2009 and be completed and put into use in the first half of 2010.
The peninsula-style new terminal building has a concise, compact, and practical configuration, saves land, and has a construction area of 107,000 square meters above ground, plus an additional 56,000 square meters of underground garage and equipment and commercial space on two floors, in line with the actual situation of Changsha Airport. With 75% of gates being close-in, the maximum walking distance for passengers is less than 300 meters, conforming to the people-oriented design principle. Taking its inspiration from "the rising sun, a thousand sails racing, a hundred boats contending," it well reflects regional characteristics and presents the image of a modern, international aviation harbor.
The new terminal building has a reasonable functional layout, faces the newly built airport expressway, and, with well-developed landside traffic organization, can showcase the gateway image of the provincial capital Changsha and indeed all of Hunan. The arrival and departure processes are concise and clear, and the moderately pleasant spatial scale not only conforms to the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization but also leaves appropriate room for development, embodying the humanized design concept of comfort, speed, and convenience. 300 Most Beautiful Buildings in 60 Years Nationwide
As a landmark building of Hunan's provincial capital, Changsha Railway Station has remained full of charm and enduringly popular after 33 years in operation. In September 2009, this building — which at the time of completion was second only to Beijing Railway Station in scale and more advanced in equipment than Beijing Railway Station at that time — won China's highest honor in the architectural field: the Architectural Creation Award for the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC. A total of 500 architectural projects from various different periods since the founding of New China were selected nationwide for the "Architectural Creation Award for the 60th Anniversary of the Founding of the PRC." Changsha Railway Station, the Hunan University Law School and Architecture School building complex, and the Hunan University Business Administration School building were among those honored.
The Architectural Creation Award of the Architectural Society of China was established by the Standing Council of the Architectural Society of China on the basis of the Architectural Creation Award of the Architectural Society of China. All participating buildings this time were completed after October 1, 1949, and were required to have been in use for more than one year with the architectural works basically well preserved. A total of 300 award-winning works were selected nationwide, all of them representative architectural works from different historical periods over the 60 years since the founding of New China.
Changsha Railway Station is located at the eastern end of Wuyi Avenue, with a total construction area of 42,000 square meters and a total investment of more than 24 million RMB. The design plan began in July 1974, and the station was completed in October 1977. The project design plan was summarized and synthesized multiple times by the Provincial Architectural Design Institute from 60 plan schemes and 70 elevation schemes provided by design institutes and colleges and universities in 16 provinces and cities across the country. Wan Li, then Minister of Railways, and famous domestic experts all participated in the review. In terms of scale, Changsha Railway Station was second only to Beijing Railway Station at that time; in terms of modernization, it was more advanced than Beijing Railway Station at that time. The escalator in the station hall was the first ever used in Hunan Province and even in surrounding provinces. The site of the railway station was then rice fields, and 9-11 meters of river sand was laid first for the foundation. The 7.1-meter-high torch was discussed many times by all sectors of society.
The biggest feature of the design of Changsha Railway Station is "split-level front and rear, station entry via underpass, and decentralized space for waiting." Its overall layout responds to the characteristics of the Changsha area — abundant rainfall, a long rainy season, and hot summer climate — by treating the station main building, ticket office, luggage office, and exit as separate units, and then connecting them with the telecommunications building on the west side of the station via a covered corridor, making them closely linked and better solving the problem of passenger flow at the station. Bus stops are placed on both sides of the square, achieving the separation of people and vehicles, with clear and smooth vehicle flow lines.
In the design of the main building, the second-floor elevation was raised to 4.5 meters, the two floor plans were partially split-level front and rear, and station entry via underpass, zoned waiting, and a garden-style layout were adopted. The main building space is centered on the grand hall, with waiting divided into north and south lines, concentrated into four ordinary waiting rooms. Passenger flow entering the station is gradually dispersed from the front hall and grand hall in different directions to each waiting room. The north and south directions each use two underpasses and two trestles for station entry, making the flow lines of entering passengers very simple and direct.
The station facade is handled with simplicity, dignity, elegance, and novelty. On the west facade, the spaces of the front hall and the north and south waiting rooms are aligned at the 18-meter elevation to form a large overhanging eave more than 150 meters long. A clock tower is placed in the middle, minimizing the stepped, descending treatment centered on the clock tower. The top of the clock tower features a triple-layered glazed tile eave in traditional architectural style, and the tapering outline of the clock tower is made into a slightly outward-bulging curve, giving the clock tower a graceful silhouette.