Due to this fact, people from west lake region used to take a whole day to come all the way to the downtown because there was no bridge across the river, and cars and travelers have to count on the ferry to cross Yuan Jiang.

Many young people leave the county as migrant workers to south and east coastal areas, e.g. Guangdong, Shanghai, etc., in the hope of finding better jobs and education opportunities for themselves and their next generation.

Rice, cotton, canola oil, green ramie, Italian aspens, various fishes from the Dongting lake, fleshes are the major products in the county.

Other state-owned factories such as paper-making company, spinning mill went into bankruptcy several years ago due to environmental pollutions, corruption and low efficiency to compete in the market.

Thanks to the enforcement of state law, the ecological system is minimally disturbed by anthropogenic activities in the conservation area and hosts hundreds types of fishes, birds and wild animals.