The geographical environment of Xichuan County

Xichuan belongs to the monsoon climate zone transitioning from the northern subtropical zone to the warm temperate zone. The four seasons are characterized by rapid warming in spring (March to May), more southeasterly winds, dramatic temperature rises and falls, and relatively rainy weather in April. There are often strong winds in May. In summer (June-August), rainfall is concentrated and droughts and floods are uneven. Early summer is mostly dry, and middle and late summer have more rainfall. Autumn (September to November) is cool with frequent rains. In late autumn, the temperature drops rapidly and the rainfall drops sharply. In winter (December to February), there are strong northwest winds and it is dry and cold. Due to the natural barriers of the Qinling Mountains and Funiu Mountains in the northwest and the two lines of defense formed by the peaks in the northwest, it prevents the cold air masses from the north from invading southward to a certain extent. The average annual temperature 15.8°C, about 2°C higher than the eastern region at the same latitude, and the frost-free period is about 228 days.

Xichuan has abundant rainfall, with annual rainfall ranging from 391.3 to 1423.7 mm. The average rainfall for many years is 804.3 mm. The first flood in the area is earlier and the last flood is later. The flood season is from June to September. The amount accounts for 58% of the whole year, and in some years it is as high as 79.8%. The geographical distribution is also uneven; it has the characteristics of more in the northwest and less in the southeast, with an average range of 731.2-809.4 mm. Monkey Mountain: Located between Danjiang and Qihe, the main peak is 6 kilometers northeast of Jingziguan, with an altitude of 943.3 meters. The north slope is steep and the south slope is gentle. The rock layer is limestone. Monkey Mountain runs from northwest to southeast and winds for more than ten miles. On the middle peak is the Fahai Zen Temple built in the Tang Dynasty. It has towering temples, surrounded by green bamboos and towering ancient trees. It is quite famous in history and is still visited by tourists. .

Xianglu Mountain: Located between Qi River and Donghuang River, the main peak is located 5 kilometers north of Xihuang Township, with an altitude of 849.9 meters.

Yuhuangding: Located east of the lower reaches of the Qi River and west of the Stork River, the main peak is located at the junction of Xihuang, Siwan and Maotang Townships. It is 902 meters above sea level and is connected to Fengzi Mountain in the Xixia in the north. Spreading from northwest to southeast to the Henggou area, the mountains suddenly dropped into hills; to Huangbaiguan, it formed a branch and rose again, with mountains above 700 meters above sea level such as Fenghuangzhai and Dazhai, as well as larger hills such as Wutailing.

Jiaozi Mountain: Located at the junction of Xichuan and Neixiang, it spreads in the southern area of ??Madeng Town. The main peak is about 512.5 meters above sea level.

Majeng Mountain: It is located in the northwest of Huangzhuang and the southeast of ancient Majeng Town (which has been submerged). It is surrounded by Shixue Mountain, Ashan Mountain, and Prince Mountain, which stretch for more than a hundred miles. In the sixth year of Shaoding in the Song Dynasty (1233), Meng Gong defeated the Jin general Wuxian in Shunyang. Wuxian retreated to the Ma Deng Mountain, so Shunyang, Shenzhou and Tangzhou all surrendered to Meng Gong. Wuxian's general Liu Yi led Two hundred warriors surrendered and reported to Meng Gong the true and false status of the Wuxian. Meng Gong immediately sent troops to attack the enemy stronghold and killed a large number of golden soldiers. Meng Gong estimated that after suffering a heavy blow, Wu Xian would climb to the top of the mountain to observe the movements of the Song camp, so he ordered his general Fan Wenbin to set up an ambush on the mountain. When the Wuxianguo arrived, they were ambushed and fled one after another.

Zhulian Mountain (Sanjian Mountain, also known as Sanquan Mountain): Located in the south of Xianghua Town, the main peak is 499 meters above sea level.

Sifeng Mountain: distributed in the southern part of Taohe Township, Cangfang Town and Shengwan Town. The main peak has four peaks standing side by side. The highest peak is Paomaling, with an altitude of 1086 meters, which is the highest point in the county. Xichuan County has formed leading industries with local characteristics such as small peppers, Zanthoxylum bungeanum, forest fruits, Humulberry, Chinese medicinal materials, and aquatic products. According to relevant data, the planting area of ??Xianghua small peppers is 100,000 acres, with an annual output of 56 million kilograms of dried peppers, which are exported to more than 10 countries and regions such as the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong; the aquatic products have formed 10,000 fish cages and 100 million capsules There is a whitebait breeding base; the total area of ??the forestry and fruit industry, mainly pepper and citrus, reaches 470,000 acres; the asparagus planting area is 400,000 acres.

There are 1,787 species of wild animals and plants in Xichuan County. Among them, there are 58 species of fungi in 23 families; 978 species of wild plants in 135 families; and 751 species of wild animals in 184 families. There are more than 10 national key protected plants including green sandalwood, lingchunmu, lianxiang tree, water green tree, ginkgo and gastrodia elata. There are more than 20 nationally protected animals including leopards, eagles, antelopes, musk deer, wild boars, civets, ocelots, flying squirrels, muntjacs, golden pheasants, pheasants, ferret badgers, pig badgers, and dog badgers. There are five major rivers in the territory: Danjiang, Guanhe, Qihe, Taohe and Diaohe. The annual surface runoff is 560 million cubic meters and the water energy reserve is 63,000 kilowatts.

Danjiang Reservoir, Asia's largest artificial freshwater lake, has a water area of ??400 square kilometers and a water storage capacity of 29 billion cubic meters. The main rivers in Xichuan are Danjiang, Guanhe, Qihe, Taohe and Diaohe. Xichuan County belongs to the Hanjiang River system in the Yangtze River Basin. The Danjiang River runs through the entire territory from northwest to southeast. The Danjiang River and its tributaries account for 93.5% of the county's area. The main tributaries include Qi River, Tao River and Laoyuan River, which merge into the main stream of Danjiang River at Siwan, Jinying and Majiang respectively. The controlled drainage area is more than 1,000 square kilometers. The Diao River, which belongs to the Tangbai River system, has a drainage area of ??182.5 square kilometers in the county, accounting for 6.5 of the total area of ??the county. Its watershed involves three townships: Houpo, Xianghua and Jiuchong. It is located in the west of Nanyang Basin, east of the Dantang watershed, on the boundary between Houpo in the southeast of Xichuan County, the eastern edge of Jiuchong two townships and the western plain of Deng County. In addition, it is distributed Among the main tributaries of each river, 8 have a drainage area of ??more than 100 square kilometers, and 9 have a drainage area of ??less than 100 square kilometers and more than 30 square kilometers.