Hubei (湖北, Hanyu Pinyin: Húběi, Wade-Giles: Hu-pei, also seen as Hupeh), abbreviated to 鄂 (pinyin: È), a province of the People's Republic of China, lies to the north of the Dongting Lake, giving it the name "North of the Lake". It covers over 180,000 km², with a population of 60,280,000 (2001). The city of Wuhan serves as the provincial capital.
The construction of the Three Gorges Dam over the Yangtze River began in 1993 near Yichang. In the following years, authorities resettled millions of people from western Hubei to make way for the construction of the dam.
Hubei borders Anhui in the east, Hunan and Jiangxi to the south, Chongqing in the west, and Shaanxi and Henan in the north. Two rivers, the Yangtze and Hanshui meet in Wuhan and thousands of lakes dot the landscape, so Hubei enjoys another beautiful name: "Province of Lakes". Xiling Gorge and part of Wu Gorge lie in western Hubei. They form part of the Three Gorges. Mountainous terrain generally dominates the western part of the province. Mount Wudang stands in the northwestern part of the province. Mount Dabie lies on the Anhui border.
Lying in a sub-tropical zone, Hubei sees its four seasons changing clearly. It has average temperatures of 0 degrees Celsius in winter and of 37ºC in summer.
Hubei has a reputation for its plentiful products and is called a "Hometown for Fish and Rice". Famous agricultural products in Hubei include cotton, rice, wheat, tea, while industry fetures metallurgy, machinery, power generation, textiles, foodstuffs and high-tech commodities.
