Thanks to its advantageous geographic location, Yichang has been defined as a distributing center, an important trading port and a transportation hub along the Yangtze River linking west Hubei and east Sichuan since ancient times. For a very long time, it has been renown as "Gateway to the Three Gorges", and "Throat between Sichuan and Hubei". Today, Yichang remains a brisk river port of China, controlling the access to Chongqing to its southwest.