Jingzhou

Jingzhou and Shashi were two sister cities a couple of years ago. Now they are merged and become one city -- Jingzhou City.

Jingzhou was originally the capital of Kingdom of Chu in the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 B.C.). Its earth-structure walls were firstly built in the third century by Guan Yu, a hero of the Three Kingdoms era. The existing one is extended in the Qing Dynasty and known as the best preserved. The solid rampart surrounded by moats boast as a iron-case with slab basements and bricks walls. Sticky rice poured into the crevice to reinforce solidity.

Having been the capital of over twenty kingdoms, Jingzhou has rich excavations of Chu Culture. Jingzhou Museum was firstly built during the period of Kuaiyuan Reign of the Tang Dynasty. This museum boasts a collection of over 100,000 relics concerning the 6000-year Chu Cultur, especially an important collection of lacquer ware, 2,000-year-old silk garments and fabrics featured with exquisite patterns and an almost perfectly preserved male corpse of a Han-dynasty official.