Donghu District 东湖区

Setting and landscape

The district lies in the northeast of Nanchang. Its western and northern limits follow the centre line of the southern navigation channel of the Gan, and its southern edge runs along Bayi Avenue (八一大道), Zhongshan Road (中山路) and the southern end of Bayi Square (八一广场). The ground is higher in the southwest and flat in the northeast, but the whole district sits between 16.4 and 27.2 metres above sea level. The mean annual temperature is 17.5 °C, with a January mean of 5.0 °C and a July mean of 29.6 °C.

History

In the Northern Wei period Li Daoyuan's (郦道元) Commentary on the Water Classic (水经注) called the lake Taihu; it has been called East Lake since the Tang and Song dynasties. The modern district took the name Donghu in April 1955 and merged with Shengli District (胜利区) in June 1980. In 2019 its Shajing (沙井) and Weidong (卫东) subdistricts were placed under Honggutan District (红谷滩区).

Four sites in the district make up the national key cultural relics protection unit for the headquarters of the Nanchang Uprising of 1 August 1927: He Long's (贺龙) headquarters at 85 Ziguo Road (子固路), Ye Ting's (叶挺) headquarters on the campus of Nanchang No. 2 Middle School (南昌二中) at 1 Supu Road (苏圃路), the officer training corps run by Zhu De (朱德) at 376 Bayi Avenue, and Zhu De's former home at 2 Huayuanjiao (花园角).

What to see

Tengwang Pavilion (滕王阁) stands on the east bank of the Gan. The present nine-storey, 57.5-metre building was completed on 8 October 1989 on the original site, following a 1942 reconstruction sketch by the architects Liang Sicheng (梁思成) and Mo Zongjiang (莫宗江); it is a national 5A tourist attraction. Bayi Square is also in the district, as are Bayi Park (八一公园), which is built around East Lake, Baihuazhou (百花洲), People's Park (人民公园) and Youmin Temple (佑民寺), whose bronze bell at 37 Huanhu Road (环湖路) is a Jiangxi provincial protected relic. Other provincial listings include Xinghua Lou (杏花楼) at 29 Nanhu Road (南湖路) and the Republican-era former Jiangxi Provincial Library at 71 Zhongshan Road.

Highlights

• Tengwang Pavilion 滕王阁: Nine-storey, 57.5 m pavilion on the Gan River, rebuilt in 1989 from a 1942 sketch by Liang Sicheng and Mo Zongjiang; national 5A attraction.
• He Long's Nanchang Uprising headquarters 贺龙指挥部旧址: 85 Ziguo Road; one of the four sites making up the national key cultural relics protection unit for the 1 August 1927 uprising headquarters.
• Zhu De's former residence 朱德旧居: 2 Huayuanjiao; one of the four sites in the national key unit for the 1927 uprising headquarters.
• Bayi Park 八一公园: Park built around East Lake, the lake that gives the district its name.
• Youmin Temple bronze bell 佑民寺铜钟: Jiangxi provincial protected relic at 37 Huanhu Road.