Luotian County

Luotian County (Chinese: 罗田县) is a county of Huanggang, Hubei, China.

Located in the foothills of Dabie Shan (Dabie Mountains), the County has a population of about 600,000 and covers an area of 2,144 square kilometers.

History

Luotian is the birthplace of Xu Shouhui (徐壽輝), (? - 1360) who was a rebel leader in the late Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368) who proclaimed himself Emperor. Also known as Xu Zhenyi (真一 or 真逸), Xu originally was a cloth vendor by profession. In 1351, he worked with others in Qizhou (蘄州), in present day Qichun County to establish the rebel army of Red Turbans under the pretense of the Buddhist White Lotus Society. Otherwise, the history of Luotian is little known until about 523AD.

Economy

Luotian County is well-known for its abundant production of silkworm, sweet persimmon, and particularly chestnut, in which it is the leading producer of all Chinese counties. The county is more than 60% covered by forest, with many chestnut trees.

The county has produced geothermal energy and high quality mineral water for more than 150 years. It also has silver, lead, zinc, iron, fluorspar, feldspar, mica, chiolite and other minerals, as well as granite and white marble.

The main industries are food processing, electrical machinery, pharmaceuticals, car parts, building materials, and tourism.

Transportation

Although in a mountainous area, transportation in Luotian is good, with numerous roads and highways, plus the Beijing-Guangzhou rail line passing through it. Huangzhou port is not far away on the Yangtze river and Wuhan airport is 110 kilometers away.

References

* [http://www.ltbtv.com.cn Luotian website] (Chinese)