Pingxiang

Pingxiang (simplified Chinese: 萍乡; traditional Chinese: 萍鄉; pinyin: Píngxiāng; Wade–Giles: P'ing-hsiang) is a medium-sized prefecture-level city located in western Jiangxi province, People's Republic of China. Pingxiang is a city situated near the border of Jiangxi with Hunan province. It is approximately 110 kilometers from Changsha, Hunan, and about 260 kilometers from Nanchang, the capital. Most of the area around the city is hilly and mountainous, although the city itself is relatively flat. As a subtropical monsoon climatic city, Pingxiang has mild winters, long and hot summers, with plenty of rainfall. The annual average temperature is 18 °C. Archaeological evidence suggests that Pingxiang was first settled during the Stone Age. During the Han dynasty, it was part of Yichun. In 267, during the time of the Three Kingdoms, it became Pingxiang County, which made it a higher level of administration than what it is today. During the Tang dynasty (618–907), it was part of the Jiangnanxi Circuit, and was called Yuanzhou. Its name and area of administration were changed many times until 1970, when it assumed its present form.