LAO-HO-K'OU

formerly Kuang-hua, Pinyin Laohekou, or Guanghua, town in northern Hupeh sheng (province), China. It is situated on the Han River at its confluence with the Lao River, some 30 miles (50 km) northwest of Hsiang-fan. Lao-ho-k'ou is a communications centre of some importance, being situated on the major southeast-to-northwest highway, via the Han River valley, where the highway joins the route to Nan-yang and the province of Honan. Lao-ho-k'ou is also the head of navigation for junks up to 50 tons on the Han River and is on a spur of the rail line, completed in 1978, extending up the Han River valley from Hsiang-fan via An-k'ang in Shensi province to Ch'ung-ch'ing (Chungking) in Szechwan province. Lao-ho-k'ou was the seat of a county called Yin-ch'eng from the late 5th century AD. In the 18th and 19th centuries, although Lao-ho-k'ou remained administratively subordinate to Hsiang-fan, it grew into a commercial centre with a sphere of influence extending into the newly colonized area of the Upper Han River in southern Shensi province and into northeastern Szechwan. Bankers and merchant firms from Han-k'ou (Wu-han) and Shanghai and from Shansi and Kiangsi provinces had flourishing branches in the city, and it was nicknamed Little Hankow. In the 1930s Lao-ho-k'ou was estimated to have a population of 120,000 people. Since then, however, much of the trade of Lao-ho-k'ou has been transferred to Hsiang-fan, and the importance of the city has declined. Pop. (1990) 123,366.