Yichang, a prefecture-level city and sub-central city of Hubei Province, is a regional central city in central China approved by The State Council and a member of the middle reaches of the Yangtze River City Group. It is located at the boundary between the upper reaches and the middle reaches of the Yangtze River in central China, the southwest of Hubei, and known as the "gateway of the Three Gorges" and the "throat of Sichuan and Hubei". The city has jurisdiction over 5 municipal districts, 3 county-level cities, 3 counties, 2 autonomous counties, with a total area of 21,000 square kilometers. As of midnight on November 1, 2020, Yichang has 4,017,600 permanent residents and 3,909,400 registered residents. In 2021, the city's gross regional product was 502.269 billion yuan.

Yichang was called Yiling in ancient times, because of "water here and Yi, mountain here and mausoleum". In the Qing Dynasty, it was renamed "Yichang" in the meaning of "Yiyu prosperity". It was the hometown of Qu Yuan, Lei Zu, Wang Zhaojun, Yang Shoujing and other historical celebrities. Yichang is the birthplace of the Three Gorges and the location of the Three Gorges Project. It has 468 hydropower stations (including the Three Gorges Dam and Gezhou Dam), and is known as the "hydropower Capital of the world" as 0.2% of the country's land is equipped with 7% of the country's installed hydropower capacity. Yichang is an excellent tourist city in China. As of May 2022, there are 52 A-level tourist attractions in Yichang, including 8 4A level scenic spots and 4 5A level scenic spots.

Yichang is an important comprehensive transportation hub in Hubei Province, with traffic arteries such as Han-Yi Expressway, Han-Yi Railway, Jiaoliu Railway and 318 National Highway. Yichang BRT, which opened in July 2015, is the country's most technologically advanced bus rapid transit system with the longest single line, the most stations. On April 2, 2017, the China (Hubei) Pilot Free Trade Zone Yichang Area was officially inaugurated.