large urban area and river port, east-central Hubei sheng (province), central China. Located on the left bank of the Han River at its confluence with the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), it is the largest of the three former cities (the other two being Hanyang and Wuchang) now constituting the Wuhan conurbation.
It was founded as Jiangxia under the Song dynasty (960–1279). During the Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1911/12) dynasties, it was one of the four most famous towns (zhen) in China. Hankou was one of the first Chinese cities opened to foreign trade (1861); it came under Nationalist Chinese administration in 1928; and it was occupied by the Japanese in 1938–45. In 1949, following the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, it became part of Wuhan. Hankou is the most populous component of the great Wuhan urban complex and has the conurbation’s most thriving business sector.
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