Lichuan
Encyclopedia
Lichuan is a county-level city
County-level city
A county-level city is a county-level administrative division of mainland China. County-level cities are usually governed by prefecture-level divisions, but a few are governed directly by province-level divisions....

 in the Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture
-Demographics:The total area is 24,000 square kilometers, and the population is 3,800,000. 52.6% of the population belong to the Tujia and Miao nations, who -while officially minority nations- are thus a majority here...

, in Hubei
Hubei
' Hupeh) is a province in Central China. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Lake Dongting...

 Province of China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. Lichuan has approximately 73,000 inabitants.

Ran Jianxin

Ran Jianxin was an official of Lichuan who fought against local corruption and organized expropriation by the government. He was accused by the government of corruption. Six months later, on the 26th of May 2011, Ran was arrested.
His accusers were never able to produce evidence to support their charges.

On June 4, 2011, during the interrogation of Ran Jianxin, investigators from the People's Procuratorate of Badong
Badong
Badong County is a county located in the extreme west of central China's Hubei province, in Enshi Prefecture. The Yangtze River flows through the county and the county seat is located just east of the Wu Gorge in the Three Gorges region....

 learned that the suspect was feeling ill. Ran was sent for treatment Badong People's hospital. At 16:30 the same day, Ran Jianxin
died, despite attempts to revive him. The cause of death is officially under investigation.

Meanwhile, photos of Ran Jianxin have been circulating around the Internet for all to see, often accompanied by the following question: "Do you need an investigation to prove that this man was killed ...?"

By uploading these pictures of the bruised body of Ran Jianxin, there seems to be little doubt about the cause of his death.

While the government is officially "investigating", many people in Linchuan went to the streets to express their anger and discontent. According to various online sources, the number of people who took to the streets range from 1,500 to 20,000.

Nature

Lichuan is believed to be the location of most (if not all) of the naturally growing Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, critically endangered deciduous conifer tree, sole living species of the genus Metasequoia, and one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China...

trees in existence.
The Metasequoia
Metasequoia
Metasequoia is a fast-growing, deciduous tree, and the sole living species, Metasequoia glyptostroboides, is one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China. Although the least tall of the redwoods, it grows to at least 200 feet in height...

genus, related to the giant redwoods of North America, was first described as a fossil from the Mesozoic
Mesozoic
The Mesozoic era is an interval of geological time from about 250 million years ago to about 65 million years ago. It is often referred to as the age of reptiles because reptiles, namely dinosaurs, were the dominant terrestrial and marine vertebrates of the time...

 Era in 1941. But in 1943 a small stand of an unidentified tree was discovered in Modaoxi (磨刀溪), presently known as Moudao (谋道) Town, in Lichuan County, by Zhan Wang. After the end of the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, this tree species was officially described as the only living species of Metasequoia, and given scientific name Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Metasequoia glyptostroboides
Metasequoia glyptostroboides, the dawn redwood, is a fast-growing, critically endangered deciduous conifer tree, sole living species of the genus Metasequoia, and one of three species of conifers known as redwoods. It is native to the Sichuan-Hubei region of China...

. In 1948 the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...

 sent an expedition to Lichuan to collect seeds and, soon after, seedling trees were distributed to various universities and arboreta worldwide for growth trials.

Presently, a number of natural Metasequoia populations exist in the hills and wetlands of Lichuan. Most of these groups are small, with fewer than 30 trees each; however, the largest of them, in Xiaohe Valley, is estimated to consist of around 5,400 trees. Outside of Lichuan, a few trees are also said to exist in the Hunan
Hunan
' is a province of South-Central China, located to the south of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River and south of Lake Dongting...

 Province.

Transport

China National Highway 318
China National Highway 318
China National Highway 318 runs from Shanghai to Zhangmu on the China-Nepal border. It is 5,476 kilometres in length and runs west from Shanghai towards Zhejiang, Anhui, Hubei, Chongqing, Sichuan, and ends in Tibet. One notable section of this road is the Si Du River Bridge, the bridge with the...

 runs through Lichuan on its way from Enshi
Enshi
Enshi may refer to:*Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, in Hubei, China*Enshi City, in Enshi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture, Hubei, China...

 to Wanzhou
Wanzhou District
Wanzhou District , formerly Wanxian or Wan County is a district of Chongqing Municipality of the People's Republic of China. The urban area of Wanzhou, located in the northern part of the district and on the upper reaches of the Three Gorges on the Yangtze River, is 228 km away from downtown...

.

Until recently, there were no railways in Lichuan (or anywhere in Enshi Prefecture). But with the construction of the Yiwan Railway
Yiwan Railway
The Yichang–Wanzhou Railway, or the Yiwan Railway connects the cities of Yichang and Wanzhou via Lichuan, in the central People's Republic of China. It was completed in 2010, and will be part of the future Huhanrong Passenger Dedicated Line from Shanghai to Wuhan to Chengdu...

 (scheduled to open in 2010), the new Lichuan Station will become a junction where the Yuli Railway
Yuli Railway
The Chongqing-Lichuan Railway, or the Yuli Railway is a railway under construction in the Chinese province of Hubei and the municipality of Chongqing....

 (the line from Lichuan toward Chongqing
Chongqing
Chongqing is a major city in Southwest China and one of the five national central cities of China. Administratively, it is one of the PRC's four direct-controlled municipalities , and the only such municipality in inland China.The municipality was created on 14 March 1997, succeeding the...

) will join the Yiwan Railway mainline (from Yichang
Yichang
Yichang is a prefecture-level city located in Hubei province of the People's Republic of China. It is the second largest city in Hubei province after the province capital, Wuhan. The Three Gorges Dam is located within its administrative area, in Yiling District.-History:In ancient times Yichang...

 via Lichuan to Wanzhou, with further connections to Chengdu
Chengdu
Chengdu , formerly transliterated Chengtu, is the capital of Sichuan province in Southwest China. It holds sub-provincial administrative status...

).
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