Badong County is famous for the Shennong Stream gorges located near Badong town. The stream itself falls into the Yangtze opposite the Badong center city.
Yangtze River in Badong County
The Badong county seat, commonly referred to simply as "Badong", is in the town of Xinling (信陵镇; Xìnlíng Zhèn), located on the high southern banks of the Yangtze River channel. The Yangtze valley was flooded during the first decade of the 21st century after the construction of the Three Gorges Dam to the east, but Badong county seat was mostly above the flood line, and so more of the original town survives than is the case in many other river towns along this section of the Yangtze.
The main urban area of the county (i.e., the place typically labeled "Badong" on less-detailed maps) consists of Xinling Town—the seat of the county government—on the right (southern) bank of the Yangtze, and the smaller Dongrangkou and Guandukou towns on the opposite side of the river. They two sides of the Yangtze are connected by the Badong Bridge.
Climate
Climate data for Badong (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–2010)
Coal mining in small pits is the main commercial activity in the region, along with farming. There is also a large cement factory on the river to the east of the town, which is a significant polluter.
The rural population of Badong County, as with many other parts of inland China, has seen major changes in the past two decades. The Chinese government's population control policies in the 1980s and beyond resulted in a sharp drop in births, and also in a change in attitudes, making many couples uninterested in having more than one child. The new freedom to travel and work in other parts of China has also led to a major exodus of workers to the coastal areas of China to find work. The older people tend to stay in the villages, and the workers often return to have their children, but they then generally return to the factories. The overall result is that many villages in Badong are shrinking and some terraced farmland in this largely mountaintainous region is being abandoned and allowed to return to its original state.
Transportation
Rural landscape near G209 in Xiqiuwan Township, Badong County
Due to the difficult terrain and the road conditions, the most convenient way to reach Badong's county seat is with a Yangtze riverboat. Both regular boats and hydrofoils call in the busy Badong harbor on the way up and down between Yichang and Chongqing.
The county has one Yangtze crossing, the Badong Bridge, carrying China National Highway 209. The highway crosses the northern half of the county from the northeast to the southwest. As of 2009, Highway 209 was little more than a dirt road for a 20-km stretch north of the bridge.
The Yesanguan railway station, located near Yesanguan Town in the south-central part of the county, is the only railway station within the county. It renamed from Badong railway station to Yesanguan railway station in 2022.[6] A high-speed rail station, Badong North railway station (now renamed Badong railway station), will open on the Zhengzhou–Wanzhou high-speed railway.
A number of provincial highways run north to south through the county.
The passenger terminal in the Badong Port, with the funicular system
Badong Port passenger funicular
A coal barge on the Yangtze
On the Badong Bridge, which carries G209 across the Yangtze
Government offices of Baishawan village, in Xiqiuwan Township
References
^ abc巴东县历史沿革 [Badong County Historical Development] (in Simplified Chinese). XZQH.org. 6 August 2014. Retrieved 24 January 2019. 1996年初，巴东县面积3219平方千米，{...}2010年第六次人口普查，巴东县常住总人口420840人，其中：信陵镇60831人，东壤[sic]口镇22771人，沿渡河镇39607人，官渡口镇44157人，茶店子镇26510人，绿葱坡镇22533人，大支坪镇16901人，野三关镇61233人，水布垭镇39011人，清太坪镇31645人，溪丘湾乡36477人，金果坪乡19164人。
^行政区划 [Administrative Divisions] (in Simplified Chinese). Badong County People's Government. Retrieved 24 January 2019. 1.官渡口镇{...}2.水布垭镇{...}3.绿葱坡镇{...}4.金果坪乡{...}5.茶店子镇{...}6.野三关镇{...}7.溪丘湾乡{...}8.信陵镇{...}9.清太坪镇{...}10.沿渡河镇{...}11.东瀼口镇{...}12.大支坪镇{...}
^2017年统计用区划代码和城乡划分代码：巴东县 [2017 Statistical Area Numbers and Rural-Urban Area Numbers: Badong County] (in Simplified Chinese). National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2019. 统计用区划代码 名称 422823100000 信陵镇 422823101000 东瀼口镇 422823102000 沿渡河镇 422823103000 官渡口镇 422823104000 茶店子镇 422823105000 绿葱坡镇 422823106000 大支坪镇 422823107000 野三关镇 422823108000 水布垭镇 422823109000 清太坪镇 422823200000 溪丘湾乡 422823201000 金果坪乡
