Get to know Jishou
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- Administrative area
- County-level city · 县级市
- Part of
- Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
- Chinese name
- 吉首市
- Local areas
- County-level city guide
Area & population
- Area in the source
- 1,062.46 km²
- Population · 2020 census
- 408,812
- Administrative seat
- Qianzhou Subdistrict
Source: cited geographic source, as of the dates shown.
Setting and landscape
The city lies in the middle Yuan River (沅水) basin, on the eastern foot of the Wuling range, an outlier of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau (云贵高原). It is mostly low mountains and hills with rivers and karst caves; the west is steep and yields various kinds of stone. The Dong River (峒河) runs through town.
History
In 1070 the Song set up the Zhenxi stockade (镇溪寨), a military post on the site of today's urban area. A Ming garrison followed in 1397, and its town was called Suoli (所里). In 1552 a walled fort and the Qianzhou post (乾州哨) were built, and in 1704 the Qing made Qianzhou a subprefecture (乾州厅). The county was renamed Qiancheng (乾城县) in 1913 because another Qian County existed in Shaanxi, and in 1953 it became Jishou County after the Miao name for Suoli. It has been the prefecture seat since 1957 and became a county-level city in 1982.
What to see
The Aizhai Bridge (矮寨大桥) at Aizhai town (矮寨镇) carries the Baotou-Maoming Expressway (包茂高速) across the Dehang gorge (德夯峡谷) with a main span of 1,176 m, its deck 355 m above the gorge floor; it opened on 31 March 2012. From its viewing platform the Aizhai road can be seen coiling across the mountainside in 13 bends. The bridge, the Dehang Grand Canyon and Shibadong village (十八洞村) in neighbouring Huayuan County (花垣县) form one scenic area, rated 5A on 11 June 2021. In Dehang Miao village (德夯苗寨) the Liusha waterfall (流纱瀑布) hangs like a bead curtain and the Dehang Huanjing (德夯幻境) show recreates a Miao wedding banquet.
Qianzhou Ancient Town (乾州古城) stands on the Wanrong River (万溶江). Hunan Daily counts more than 1,000 old houses in its lanes, with old buildings such as Sanmenkai (三门开), Hujiatang (胡家塘), the Confucian temple and a stone archway, and preserved relics of figures such as Jian Bozan (翦伯赞). The new Xiangxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Park gathers the prefecture's 26 national heritage items.
Food, festivals and local products
Qianzhou's food street sells snacks such as preserved-mustard pork pastries (梅菜扣肉饼) and sour pickled radish, and its shops carry Huangjin tea (黄金茶), cured meats and silver jewellery. Jiugui liquor (酒鬼酒) and pressed duck are also local products. Aizhai is known as a home of the Miao drum dance, and the city's yearly calendar includes the Qianzhou Spring Fair (乾州春会), the Aizhai Hundred Lions gathering (矮寨百狮会) and the Miao Fourth of April festival (苗族四月八).
Highlights
- Aizhai Bridge 矮寨大桥: Expressway suspension bridge over the Dehang gorge, main span 1,176 m and deck 355 m above the gorge floor, opened 2012.
- Aizhai-Shibadong-Dehang Grand Canyon scenic area 矮寨·十八洞·德夯大峡谷景区: Rated a national 5A scenic area on 11 June 2021.
- Dehang Miao village 德夯苗寨: Miao village in the gorge with the Liusha waterfall and the Dehang Huanjing wedding-banquet show.
- Qianzhou Ancient Town 乾州古城: Old town on the Wanrong River with more than 1,000 old houses, the Hujiatang buildings and the Xiangxi Intangible Cultural Heritage Park.
Sources for this guide
吉首市 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
吉祥首府 文旅新章——吉首市“以文塑旅、以旅彰文”促进高质量发展_湖南探索_湖南政研网 · Hunan Daily, republished by the Policy Research Office of the CPC Hunan Provincial Committee (hnzy.gov.cn)
矮寨大桥 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · CC BY-SA 4.0
矮寨·十八洞·德夯大峡谷景区 - 维基百科，自由的百科全书 · Wikipedia (Chinese) · 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 2026-09-25.
Explore Jishou
Core places to explore, with English and Chinese names.
Places to explore around Jishou
Dehang Grand Canyon (德夯大峡谷), Jishou. Photograph: "Aizhai Bridge-8".Dehang Grand Canyon德夯大峡谷
Dehang Grand Canyon near Jishou combines the Xiangxi geological landscape with a Miao village setting and cultural traditions.
Read the place guide →
Dehang Miao Village and Canyon · 德夯苗寨与峡谷Dehang Miao Village and Canyon德夯苗寨与峡谷
Dehang (德夯) is a Miao village and the canyon around it in the west of Jishou, in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan. The name means beautiful gorge in Miao, and the surrounding Dehang Scenic and Historic Area, 108 square kilometres in extent, has been a national key scenic area since 2005.
Read the place guide →
Aizhai Bridge Viewing Area · 矮寨大桥观景区Aizhai Bridge Viewing Area矮寨大桥观景区
The Aizhai bridge viewing area (矮寨大桥观景区) sits at Aizhai in Jishou, in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan, where a suspension bridge carries the Jishou-Chadong expressway 355 metres above the Dehang canyon. What is looked at is the bridge itself and, below it, the switchback mountain road it replaced.
Read the place guide →
Qianzhou Ancient City (乾州古城), Jishou. Photograph: "Qianzhou Ancient Town - panoramio".Qianzhou Ancient City乾州古城
Qianzhou old town (乾州古城) occupies the southern part of Jishou city in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan. Its core, about 0.47 square kilometres, was the seat of the Qianzhou subprefecture and a fortress on the Miao frontier wall, and it survives as a protected provincial historic and cultural district.
Read the place guide →Plan your visit
Getting there
Jishou is about 5 km in a straight line from central Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Search for 吉首市 in a map app to find stations and your accommodation.
Where to stay →Build your route
Dehang Grand Canyon and Dehang Miao Village and Canyon are both listed here. The linked place guides have entrance and visit details.
Continue with Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture →More in Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Sources & geographic information
Administrative names and parent areas: Official geographic directory · Reference date 2026-09-06.
Some facts checked against 吉首市 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 矮寨大桥 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Some facts checked against 矮寨·十八洞·德夯大峡谷景区 — Wikipedia contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Photo: Dehang Grand Canyon · Glabb · CC BY-SA 3.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Photo: Dehang Miao Village and Canyon · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Aizhai Bridge Viewing Area · Source photographer · License not provided. EXIF orientation normalized; resized without changing aspect ratio; converted to WebP. No subject edits.
Photo: Qianzhou Ancient City · Raki_Man · CC BY 3.0. Full frame retained; EXIF orientation normalized, proportionally resized to at most 800 pixels and converted to WebP. No generated pixels or subject changes. Cards may crop the display.
Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Pins mark approximate centres, not entrances or boundaries.