Xiang River in the context of "Xing'an County"

The Long March (Chinese: 长征; pinyin: Chángzhēng; lit. 'Long Expedition') was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang (KMT) forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934 and October 1935. About 100,000 troops retreated from the Jiangxi Soviet and other bases to a new headquarters in Yan'an, Shaanxi, traversing some 10,000 kilometres (6,000 miles). About 8,000 troops ultimately survived the Long March.

After the defeat of the Red Army in Chiang Kai-shek's Fifth Encirclement Campaign, on 10 October 1934 the CCP decided to abandon its Jiangxi Soviet and headquarters in Ruijin, Jiangxi. The First Front Red Army of some 86,000 troops headed west, traveling over the rugged terrain of China's western provinces, including eastern Tibet. The Red Army broke several of Chiang's blockades with heavy losses, and by the time it crossed the Xiang River on 1 December had only 36,000 men left. Its leaders, including Comintern military adviser Otto Braun and Moscow-trained Bo Gu, decided to take the troops through Hunan, but Chiang set up defenses to block their way. Mao Zedong, who was not a member of the Politburo, suggested going through Guizhou instead, which was accepted. On New Year's Day 1935, the Red Army crossed the Wu River, and a week later held the Zunyi Conference, which reduced Soviet influence in the Politburo and established Mao's position as de facto leader.

Changsha is the capital of Hunan, China. Located in the lower reaches of the Xiang River in northeastern Hunan, it is the 15th most populous city in China with a population of 10,513,100, the third-most populous city in Central China, and the most livable city in China.

The city forms a part of the Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region along with Zhuzhou and Xiangtan, also known as the Changzhutan City Cluster. Greater Changsha was named one of the 13 emerging mega-cities in China in 2012 by the Economist Intelligence Unit. It is also a National Comprehensive Transportation Hub, and one of the first National Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Changshanese, a kind of Xiang Chinese, is spoken in the downtown area, while Ningxiangnese and Liuyangnese are also spoken in the counties and cities under its jurisdiction. As of the 2020 Chinese census, the prefecture-level city of Changsha had a population of 10,047,914 inhabitants.

Hengyang (simplified Chinese: 衡阳; traditional Chinese: 衡陽; pinyin: Héngyáng; Mandarin pronunciation: [xə̌ŋ.jǎŋ]) is the second largest city of Hunan Province, China. It straddles the Xiang River about 160 km (99 mi) south of the provincial capital of Changsha. As of the 2020 Chinese census, Its total population was 6,645,243 inhabitants, of whom 1,290,715 lived in the built-up (or metro) area consisting of 4 urban districts, Nanyue District not being conurbated yet.

Hengyang is home to University of South China, Hengyang Normal University, and Hunan Institute of Technology, three major provincial public universities in the city.

Zhuzhou (Chinese: 株洲; pinyin: Zhūzhōu, joo-joh), formerly Jianning (建宁), is a prefecture-level city of Hunan Province, China, straddling the Xiang River southeast of the provincial capital, Changsha, and bordering Jiangxi province to the east. It is part of the "Greater Changsha Metropolitan Region, also known as Changzhutan Golden Triangle" (comprising the cities of Changsha, Zhuzhou and Xiangtan). The city has jurisdiction over five counties (Yanling, Chaling, Youxian, Liling, Zhuzhou) and four districts (Hetang, Lusong, Shifeng and Tianyuan, a high-tech industrial development zone), and covers an area of 11,420 km (4,410 sq mi).

As of the 2022 census, Zhuzhou had 3,871,100 inhabitants, of whom 1,055,373 lived in the built-up area (4 urban districts). With Xiangtan areas adjoining Zhuzhou due to be agglomerated in a few years' time, the joint built-up area will be home to 2,933,069 inhabitants.Zhuzhou is located in a subtropical monsoon climate zone and with its abundant mineral and organic resources has one of the highest agricultural yields in Hunan province. Zhuzhou is home to a provincial public university of Hunan University of Technology.