A snapshot of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County

Changyang Tujia Autonomous County is at the basin of the Qingjiang River, a tributary of the Yangtze River, in southwest Hubei province. It is home to the Tujia and other minority groups, who constitute 65 percent of the total 380,000 population.

Changyang has a long history and rich cultural heritage. As the birthplace of the Tujia nationality in China, it boasts archaeological findings including the Qingjiang biota from 518 million years ago and ruins of the "Changyang people" from 195,000 years ago.

The folk culture of Changyang County is rich and vivid. Among them, Changyang folk songs, Nanqu folk songs, and Bashan dance are known as the three "treasures" of Changyang culture. Funeral dance, Changyang folk songs, the Duzhenwan stories (a series of folktales) and weeding drums have been included in the national intangible cultural heritage protection list.

The county has beautiful natural scenery and an excellent ecological environment with a forest coverage rate of over 73 percent. The water quality of the Qingjiang River in Changyang has been maintained at Class II (which meets the standard for consumption) for a long time. In 2022, Qingjiang was listed among "China's 11 most beautiful hometown rivers" by the Ministry of Water Resources.

Changyang has jurisdiction over eight towns and three townships, covering a land area of more than 3,420 square kilometers. Its GDP in 2021 was more than 18.3 billion yuan (US$2.6 billion), a year-on-year increase of 17.6 percent.