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On February 14, Terry and I will board a plane in Dallas and travel through Los Angeles, Hong Kong and Wuhan, China (9,279 miles in 22 hours, 50 minutes), and eventually begin our work in Jingzhou, China on the central campus of Chang Jiang Da Xue (Yangtze River University) in Jingzhou, Hubei Province. We will each teach 6-7 classes weekly with some 35-50 students in each class.

Jingzhou, China

Population: 6.30 million Urban Population: 1.56 million    Area: 1,400 sq km

Jingzhou (“Jing-joe”):Jingzhou sits on the Yangtze River, between Wuhan and Yichang in Hubei Province.  It was the capital of Jing, one of the nine great regions into which Emperor Yu, founder of the Xia dynasty (2205-1766 BC), divided China.  In the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) the city was the capital of the Kingdom of Chu .  According to tradition its walls were first built in the third century by Guan Yu, a hero of the Three Kingdoms era.  Guan Yu was renowned for his strength, height and valor.  A thousand years after his death he was deified as the god of war, and his fierce red-faced image appears in many Chinese temples. Stories of his exploits and battles over the city are vividly told in the novel, “Romance of the Three Kingdoms.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jingzhou

For information about Hubei Province, here’s an English website you might want to take a look at: http://english.cnhubei.com

City Wall

The City Wall of Jingzhou has a history of over 2,000 years. The enceinte was built during Qing and Han Dynasties (221 BC-220), and the wall itself was built during the Five Dynasties and Ten States Period (907-960). It had been damaged and repaired multiple times during the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The one in existence now was built in the Qing Dynasty (1644 – 1911).

The wall has three parts: inner earth city, middle brick city and outer water city. Measuring 30 feet high, the city wall has 1,567 battlements and 28 emplacements. The water city is the moat of the city wall and its first line of defense. Seven miles long, 33 yards wide and 13 feet deep, the moat connects Tai Lake in the west to the Grand Canal in the east. A boat can sail from here to Wuhan.

Among China’s seven ancient city walls, the City Wall in Jingzhou is rated as the second best. Compared with other famous city walls such as that in Nanjing and Shanxi, the wall in Jingzhou is the largest and best preserved.

Jingzhou Museum

Many cultural relics and treasures have survived the long history of Jingzhou. Over the years, many items have been excavated and housed in the Jingzhou Museum. Among these are the sword of Gou Jian (the king of Yue State during the Eastern Dynasty) and the man corpse of Western Han Dynasty (206 BC – 24 AD). The sword, although buried under the earth for three thousand years, still looks new and is fairly sharp. The man corpse, buried in 167 BC, was once an official in Jiangling. There are also silks and lacquer wares from the Warring States Period on display here.

Relics of Three Kingdoms

As Jingzhou was the battle-field during the Three Kingdoms Period, many relics found here are related to this period. Romance of the Three Kingdoms, one of the four classic Chinese novels, is still very popular in Jingzhou and was written based on the history and stories of this period.

Yangtze University is situated in the ancient historical city of Jingzhou, connected with Wuhan by a 200 km highway. Jingzhou is a birthplace of Chu culture and a must for scholars who research Chu culture at home and aboard. Chu State was the most powerful civilized state in the Warring Period of China. Chu State founded the capital in Jingzhou and it has been well reserved here up to the present. Jingzhou witnesses some world-renowned culture and history, including Quyuan and his works Chu Ci as well as Guanyu and relevant stories of Three Kingdoms.

The university has 3,436 faculty members, of whom 2,149 are full time teachers. 938 people have senior title. Now 233 are full professors and 501 are associate professors. There are 1,154 having obtained their postgraduate degree, including 241 doctoral members. It has 8 specially appointed professors from the Chu Tian Scholar Project, 48 experts endowed with special grants from the State Council or the provincial government, 16 young and middle aged experts who won outstanding contribution prize from Hubei Government, 3 National Excellent Teachers and 3 Hubei Famous Teachers. The university has invited a group of famous scholars and academicians from Chinese Academy of Sciences as part time professors.

The university offers 3 doctoral programs, 4 first level subjects of master’s degree and 46 master’s programs. It can grant master’s degree to applicants who have equivalent educational level of graduate, master’s degree of Engineering, master’s degree of agricultural promotion and on-the-post master’s degree to teachers of intitutions of higher learning. The university has 80 undergraduate programs covering 10 disciplines, specifically economics, law, education, literature, history, science, engineering, agriculture, medicine and management. Its full-time student body is about 34,000, including postgraduates, undergraduate students, three years students and international students.

Yangtze River Attractions – The Yangtze River, the longest river in China, boasts widespread natural scenery and rich cultural relics. It has plentiful traveling resources mostly clustering around the mainstream area from Chongqing to Shanghai. Along the route, visitors can find many well-known scenic sights such as Chongqing Jinyun Mountain, Fengdu Ghost City, Yunyang Zhangfei Temple, Jingzhou Ancient City, Red Cliff, Wuhan Yellow Crane Tower and Yueyang Tower. Besides, the big cities like Chongqing, Wuhan, Nanjing and Shanghai are all hot tourist cities.

Among the countless scenic sights, the Three Gorges is the most amazing landscape. It is one of the ten top scenic sights in China. Starting from Fengjie County in Chongqing City in the west and ending at Yichang City in Hubei Province in the east, it is composed of Qutang Gorge, Wu Gorge and Xiling Gorge from west to east, thus the name “Three Gorges”. The Three Gorges presents visitors with different views. Qutang Gorge is grand and magnificent. Wu Gorge is noted for beautiful scenery, and Xiling Gorge is struck by its abruptness and boldness. The branch rivers such as Daning River, Fragrant Stream and Shennong Stream are equally to visitors’ liking. Rowing on the river, one will feel like traveling in an enchanting Chinese landscape painting. A large number of celebrities in history have left poems in praising its charm. Recently as the completion of the Three Gorges Dam Project in 2009, a quantity of scenic sites have been submerged or removed. But at the same time, the rising water makes some originally narrow gorges reachable. Many new sights emerge.