Ānxiāng

Anxiang lies in northern Hunan in the Dongting Lake basin, a low-lying landscape crossed by the Li River and channels connected to the Yangtze. Waterways, embanked fields and settlements share the lake plain.

The area has a long administrative history. Zuotang County was established in 40 CE, and Anxiang County was created in the sixth century. Under the Yuan it belonged to Lizhou; in the Ming and Qing periods it remained associated with that prefecture. Embanked cultivation and waterborne commerce developed in the lake region during the Ming and Qing.