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- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Yichang
- Chinese name
- 宜都市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,357.00 km²
- Population · 2020
- 347,388
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The land falls from southwest to northeast. The highest point, Maozijian (帽子尖, 1,064.6 m), is on the border with Wufeng (五峰), and the ground flattens along the Yangtze and the mouth of the Qing River. Zhijiang (枝江市) faces the city across the Yangtze to the northeast; Songzi (松滋市) lies to the southeast, and Wufeng and Changyang (长阳) to the southwest and west.
History
The Chengbeixi site (城背溪遗址) at Honghuatao (红花套) shows people farming, herding, fishing and hunting here more than 7,000 years ago. Under the Western Han the area became Yidao County (夷道). In 210 Liu Bei (刘备) renamed the local commandery Yidu, and in 219 the Wu general Lu Xun (陆逊) took it and walled the county seat. From then on the seat was known as Lucheng (陆城), and the city government sits today in Lucheng subdistrict. Chinese Wikipedia places the Battle of Yiling (夷陵之战) within the present city.
Yidu County became Zhicheng City (枝城市) on 30 November 1987 and took back the name Yidu in June 1998. The late-Qing scholar Yang Shoujing (杨守敬), known for historical geography and calligraphy, came from Yidu, and a memorial hall to him stands beside the Qing River.
What to see
Qinglinsi Village (青林寺村) in Gaobazhou (高坝洲) is known for its riddles. Its riddle tradition went onto the first national intangible-heritage list in 2006, and the China Folk Literature and Art Association named it "China's Riddle Village" in 2003. Villagers make up and trade riddles at any time. The Gaobazhou hydropower project on the Qing River made the area one of its main flooded zones, and 40 percent of residents were resettled. Chinese Wikipedia also lists the Three Gorges Jiufeng Valley (三峡九凤谷) as a national AAAA scenic area in the city.
Highlights
- Qinglinsi riddles 青林寺谜语: National intangible heritage (2006); a village where riddle-making is an everyday pastime.
- Yang Shoujing Memorial Hall 杨守敬纪念馆: Memorial to the late-Qing scholar, beside the Qing River.
- Three Gorges Jiufeng Valley 三峡九凤谷: National AAAA scenic area.
Sources for this guide
宜都市 - 重点产业园区 - 宜昌市人民政府 · Yichang Municipal People's Government (Investment Promotion Bureau)
青林寺谜语 - 中国非物质文化遗产网·中国非物质文化遗产数字博物馆 · China Intangible Cultural Heritage Network (Ministry of Culture and Tourism)
宜都市 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Chinese Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 4.0
Original English written from the listed sources and checked sentence by sentence against quoted extracts by a separate reviewer. Updated 2026-09-24.
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Getting there
Yidu is about 40 km in a straight line from central Yichang. Search for 宜都市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →More in Yichang
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 宜都市 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.