Why was Xiangyang so important in Chinese history?

It controls the crossing of the Han River on the main route from the Central Plain to the middle Yangtze. Armies from the north had to take it to reach the south, and its fall to the Mongols in 1273 led directly to the conquest of the Southern Song.

Is Xiangyang the same as Xiangfan?

Yes. From 1950 to 2010 the combined city of Xiangyang and Fancheng was called Xiangfan; in 2010 it was renamed Xiangyang.

Historic city · Industrial centre · Hubei

Xiangyang

襄阳 (Xiāngyáng)

Moated fortress city on the Han River

Xiangyang is a prefecture-level city in northern Hubei on the Han River, long the military key between the Central Plain and the Yangtze. It is known for its broad moat and walls, for Longzhong, where Zhuge Liang lived before joining Liu Bei, and for the six-year Mongol siege of 1268–1273.

ProvinceHubei

Key facts

Province: Hubei
Administrative level: Prefecture-level city
Area: about 19,700 km²[1]
Resident population: 5.26 million(as of 2020 census)[2]
Mongol siege: 1268–1273

Overview

Xiangyang and its twin town Fancheng face each other across the Han River at a point where routes from the north converge on the way to the Yangtze. Whoever held the crossing controlled access to the south, which made the city one of the most besieged in Chinese history.

The walled city on the south bank is surrounded by a moat that in places is more than 200 metres wide. The modern city is a centre of the car industry, with plants of the Dongfeng group.

Names and nicknames

襄樊 (Xiāngfán)
Name of the city from 1950, when Xiangyang and Fancheng on the opposite bank were combined, until 2010, when the historic name Xiangyang was restored.
铁打的襄阳 (tiě dǎ de Xiāngyáng)
“iron-cast Xiangyang”
Old saying about the city's defences.

History

Xiangyang was a Chu city and later the base from which rulers of the south defended the Han valley. The scholar Zhuge Liang lived in retirement at Longzhong outside the city until Liu Bei visited him three times, around 207. In the Southern Song, Xiangyang and Fancheng held out against the Mongols from 1268 to 1273; their fall opened the Yangtze to the Yuan armies. The Tang poet Meng Haoran and the Song painter and calligrapher Mi Fu are both associated with the city.

c. 207
Three visits to the thatched cottage
Liu Bei called on Zhuge Liang at Longzhong three times before he agreed to serve him, an episode known as 三顾茅庐.
219
Battle of Fancheng
Guan Yu besieged Fancheng and flooded the relieving army, before the loss of Jingzhou forced him to withdraw.
1268–1273
Mongol siege of Xiangyang and Fancheng
The twin cities held out for about six years; the Mongols finally brought counterweight trebuchets built by engineers from western Asia, and the fall of the cities doomed the Southern Song.
2010
Name Xiangyang restored
The city, called Xiangfan since 1950, took back its historic name.

Landmarks

Historic site
Xiangyang city walls and moat
襄阳古城 (Xiāngyáng gǔchéng)
Walls rebuilt in the Ming and Qing, with the Linhan Gate facing the Han and one of the widest city moats in China.
Historic site
Gulongzhong
古隆中 (Gǔ Lóngzhōng)
Wooded valley west of the city with memorial halls on the traditional site of Zhuge Liang's home.
Historic site
Mi Fu Memorial Temple
米公祠 (Mǐgōng Cí)
Temple to the Song artist Mi Fu in Fancheng, with engraved stones of his calligraphy.
Museum
Xiangyang Museum
襄阳博物馆 (Xiāngyáng Bówùguǎn)
Housed in the Zhaoming Tower complex inside the walls.

Neighbourhoods

Fancheng
樊城 (Fánchéng)
The commercial town on the north bank of the Han, with old guild halls and waterfront streets.

Food

Xiangyang beef noodles
襄阳牛肉面 (Xiāngyáng niúròu miàn)
Noodles in a spicy beef-tallow broth, traditionally eaten for breakfast with a bowl of rice wine.

Culture

Xiangyang's identity is bound up with the Three Kingdoms and with the martial legends of the Song siege, which the novelist Jin Yong used as the backdrop for The Return of the Condor Heroes. Its literary heritage includes Meng Haoran, who lived at Lumen Mountain across the river, and the scholar-official families of the Han valley.

即从巴峡穿巫峡，便下襄阳向洛阳。

Jí cóng Bā xiá chuān Wū xiá, biàn xià Xiāngyáng xiàng Luòyáng.

“At once from the Ba gorge through the Wu gorge, then down to Xiangyang and on to Luoyang.”

— Du Fu, “On Hearing that the Imperial Army Has Recovered Henan and Hebei” (闻官军收河南河北), 763

Getting around

Xiangyang East station is on the high-speed line from Zhengzhou to Chongqing and links to Wuhan.
Xiangyang Liuji Airport serves domestic routes.

Day trips

Lumen Mountain
鹿门山 (Lùmén Shān)
Hill east of the Han where Meng Haoran lived in retirement.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Xiangyang Municipal People's Government — Xiangyang Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
Xiangyang — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)

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