Badong County

Badong County (simplified Chinese: 巴东县; traditional Chinese: 巴東縣; pinyin: Bādōng Xiàn; lit. 'East of (state of) Ba') is a county located in western Hubei province, People's Republic of China, bordering Chongqing municipality to the west. It is the northernmost county-level division under the administration of 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. Badong County is famous for the Shennong Stream gorges located near Badong town. The stream itself falls into the Yangtze opposite the Badong center city. The Badong county seat, commonly referred to simply as "Badong", is in the town of Xinling (信陵镇; Xìnlíng Zhèn), located on the high southern banks of the Yangtze River channel. The Yangtze valley was flooded during the first decade of the 21st century after the construction of the Three Gorges Dam to the east, but Badong county seat was mostly above the flood line, and so more of the original town survives than is the case in many other river towns along this section of the Yangtze.