Huangshi

Huangshi, Wade-Giles romanization Huang-shih, city, southeastern Hubei sheng (province), China. It is situated on the south bank of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) about 60 miles (100 km) southeast of Wuhan, the provincial capital.

The nucleus of the present city was a small market town called Shihuiyao; Huangshi was the name of the landing on the Yangtze serving the town. When the nearby Daye iron mines began to be exploited at the end of the 19th century, a railway line was constructed to link the mining town of Daye to the river at Shihuiyao (Huangshi), whence the ore was shipped by river to the ironworks at Hanyang (now Wuhan). When the ironworks went out of production in the 1920s, much of this iron ore was shipped instead to Japan. Huangshi was also the seat of a large cement-manufacturing industry, as well as a centre for coal mining. During World War II, however, most of the area’s industrial equipment was either dismantled and shipped to the southwest or destroyed, as also were the port installations. After the beginning of communist rule in 1949, the ports were repaired, and the coal mines and cement works were restored and enlarged. In addition, Huangshi has itself become an iron- and steel-producing centre, specializing in the manufacture of high-grade steel. In the 1990s the garment industry rapidly developed in Huangshi. The city is connected by railway with Wuhan to its west and to Jiujiang to its east. A highway bridge spanning the Yangtze there greatly facilitates traffic in the area. Pop. (2002 est.) 598,822.