Zhengxiang District 蒸湘区

History

The district was created on 4 April 2001, when the State Council approved a redrawing of Hengyang's urban districts. It was assembled from Zhengxiang subdistrict of the former Chengbei District (城北区), Lianhe subdistrict of the former Chengnan District (城南区), parts of the old suburban district, Yumushan township (雨母山乡) from Hengnan County (衡南县) and Daiyingling town (呆鹰岭镇) from Hengyang County (衡阳县). The district government is on Chuanshan Road (船山路).

What to see

Lujia Xinwu (陆家新屋), the Lu family's 'new house', is a Hunan provincial protected site from the Qing dynasty. Lu Chengzu (陆成祖), born in Hengyang in 1838, served in Zeng Guofan's Xiang Army (湘军), was recommended for the titular rank of provincial military commander, and began building the house in 1881. During the 1944 Battle of Hengyang (衡阳保卫战) it was one of the positions fought over by Chinese and Japanese troops. Dozens of bullet marks remain on its south wall, and a shell hole about a metre across pierces a gable of the right wing.

The left wing holds the Battle of Hengyang Memorial Hall (衡阳保卫战纪念馆), named a Hunan patriotic education base in 2017. It has a sand-table model of Hengyang's terrain in 1944 and more than 100 wartime relics. The district also shares the provincial listing of Battle of Hengyang sites from 1944 to 1946 with Yanfeng District, and the Hengyang kiln sites (衡阳窑址) are on the provincial list. The early buildings of the University of South China (南华大学) and of Hengyang West railway station are municipal protected sites.

China National Radio names four main shopping areas in the district, where evening crowds move between food stalls: Wanda Plaza, Rongguan Lejie (融冠乐街), Jinzhong Dayancheng (金钟大雁城) and Hongyang Plaza (弘阳广场). In July 2023 the district began building Nanhuali (南华里) as a night-economy street running from Hongyang Plaza through Jinzhong Dayancheng to Rongguan Lejie; in 2024 the manager of the Jinzhong Dayancheng night market said the Jinzhong and Hongyang night markets had more than 200 stalls. Rongguan Lejie and Hongyang Plaza appear on the Hunan commerce department's proposed second list of night-time consumption demonstration areas.

Getting oriented

The district runs from Zhengxiang North and South roads (蒸湘南北路) in the east to the edges of Hengyang County and Hengnan County in the west. Yanfeng District and Hengnan County lie to the south, and the Zheng River and Shigu District (石鼓区) to the north.

Highlights

• Lujia Xinwu 陆家新屋: Qing mansion begun in 1881, fought over in 1944 and still marked by bullet holes; provincial protected site.
• Battle of Hengyang Memorial Hall 衡阳保卫战纪念馆: In the mansion's left wing, with a 1944 terrain model and more than 100 wartime relics.
• Nanhuali night-economy street 南华里: Built from July 2023 as a night-economy street linking Hongyang Plaza, Jinzhong Dayancheng and Rongguan Lejie.