Dongkou County is located in the southwest of central Hunan, at the eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain and the upper reaches of Zishui. The county covers an area of ??2,200 square kilometers, governs 22 townships and towns, and has a population of 770,000, mainly Han, with 15 ethnic minorities including Yao, Miao, and Hui. Dongkou County was formally established in 1952. The soil and water here have nurtured many people with lofty ideals, and Cai E, the modern anti-Yuan Huguo democratic revolutionist, was born here. The area at the entrance of the cave is rich in resources, especially water energy, minerals, and forest resources. The mineral deposits include more than 20 types of coal, manganese, tungsten, clay, etc., with abundant reserves and high grade. The forest coverage rate in the county reaches 66%, and there are 45 million bamboos. It is a key forestry county in Hunan Province and a national greening standard county. Specialties include "Xuefeng Mandarin Oranges" named by Premier Zhou Enlai himself during his lifetime, as well as tea, pigs, barley rice, gastrodia elata, etc. Gulou's "Xuefeng Yunwu Tea" has been a tribute to the emperor since the Ming Dynasty. The location of the cave entrance is good. Since ancient times, there has been the "Southern Silk Road" - the Hunan-Guizhou Ancient Post Road running through the entire territory. The existing 320 National Highway, 1805, and 1806 Provincial Highways intersect here, becoming an important transportation hub to the southwest. In recent years, Dongkou has been bathed in the east wind of reform and opening up and the glory of the party's policy of enriching the people. It adheres to the development path of "private economy as the main body, large-scale operations to achieve benefits, science and technology education as the forerunner, and investment promotion as the driving force", and the county economy has been improved. has achieved rapid development, and various undertakings have made comprehensive progress. It has achieved double-cropping of rice fields for eight consecutive years and has won awards from the State Council for its annual production of over 10,000 tons of grain and spring grain and oil. In 1999, it won the honorary titles of "Advanced Unit for Commercial Lean Meat Land Construction" and "Advanced County (City) in Livestock Production" in Hunan Province, and was designated by the State Council as "National Lean Meat Pig Production Base County". With pigs as the leader at the entrance of the cave, the county has formed six major agricultural product bases including grain, oil, bamboo, fruit, and tea, providing a broad stage for the trading of agricultural products and their processed products. Postal code: 422300.
Dongkou County is located at 110°8′～111°57′ in east diameter and 26°51′～27°22′ in north latitude. It is located in the southwest of Hunan Province, at the eastern foot of Xuefeng Mountain and the upper reaches of Zijiang River. It borders Longhui to the east, Wugang to the south, Shupu County to the north, Suining County to the southwest, and Qianyang County to the northwest. It is 328 kilometers east from Shaoyang to Changsha City. Dongkou County was originally part of Wugang County. On February 24, 1952, with the approval of the Government Affairs Council of the Central People's Government, the seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth, eleventh and part of the third district of the original Wugang County were demarcated, and the county was established on April 1 of the same year. Out of the county, go west along the Pingxi River for 4 kilometers. The river cuts off the snow peaks and goes eastward. The dangerous peaks on both sides of the bank confront each other, forming a canyon. It is said that the canyon is covered by cliffs, and the river flows out of the hole, forming a deep pool called "Dongkou Pond", which later evolved into "Dongkou Pond". "Dongkou" is named after Dongkou Pond with beautiful lakes and mountains.
Dongkou County has superior natural conditions, convenient transportation and prosperous economy. It has always been the production base of grain, timber, tea and pigs in Hunan Province, and is known as the "Hometown of Tea and Fruit". In 1985, it was listed as the five major production bases in Hunan Province for "commercial grain, Xuefeng mandarin oranges, improved tea, lean export pigs, and fast-growing fir forests".
The northwest of the territory is mountainous and steep, the central part is low and flat, and the southeast is dotted with hills. It has a humid subtropical monsoon climate. The three mountains in the northwest of the county block the intrusion of the northwest wind, forming a microclimate area in the central valley plain area. In particular, the leeward slope has higher temperatures, warm winters and cool summers, a long frost-free period, and sunshine. Plenty, with more rainy days. The annual average temperature is 16.6℃. The average annual precipitation is 1468.6 mm. The frost-free period is about 290 days and the sunshine is 1569 hours.
There are more than 130 large and small creeks in the territory, belonging to the Zi and Yuan water systems. The theoretical water energy reserves are 225,000 kilowatts and the developable capacity is 184,000 kilowatts. The water quality is excellent, and mineral water resources are scattered throughout the territory, including Tongshan warm and cold mineral water and Banjiang Hexian mineral water. There are more than 20 proven minerals in the county including coal, stone coal, oil, oil shale, iron, manganese, nickel, etc. Among them, coal, iron and manganese reserves are relatively large. Among them, the total reserves are 50 million tons of bituminous coal, 82,000 tons of stone coal, more than 7.8 million tons of manganese, and more than 1 billion tons of clay.
The county is rich in forest resources, with a standing stock of 4.3 million cubic meters. It is one of the key forest areas in Hunan Province. There are 105 species of woody plants, 102 species of grass and trees, and more than 50 species of wild birds, including owls, lovebirds, Steller's parrots, and golden pheasants. There are more than 20 kinds of snakes, such as five-step snake, golden cup snake and cobra.
Common natural disasters in the territory include drought, floods, cold waves, freezes and hail in local areas.
Agricultural production in Dongkou County has always been relatively developed. Grain, tea, citrus, pigs and timber have long been famous. The county mainly produces rice, livestock pigs, barley, citrus, tea, wood, bamboo, special medicinal materials, lily, eucommia, gastrodia elata and tung oil, and litsea cubeba. Local products such as Xuefeng tangerines and Gulou Yunwu tea are famous both at home and abroad. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, grain output has increased significantly, with total output increasing from 72,200 tons in 1949 to 310,300 tons in 1990. In 1989 and 1990, summer grain and summer oil production were awarded twice by the State Council. Livestock is mainly pig raising, with a high lean meat rate ranking first in Shaoyang City. The county has built agricultural production bases for commercial grains in Hunan Province, Xuefeng mandarin oranges, improved tea, fast-growing fir forests, lean export pigs, and rural energy development.
Dongkou County has historically been the strategic hub of Hunan and Guizhou. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, 64 roads including Dongsui (Dongxian County to Suining City) were built, with a total length of 568.25 kilometers. 100% of townships and towns and 95% of villages have access to roads. In 1996, the county's total fiscal revenue was 93.88 million yuan.
The county’s local specialties include Xuefeng tangerines, and other major products include mountain cloud tea, barley, fir, raw lacquer and lean pigs.