Yichang, located at the conjunctional area of the upper stream and middle stream of the Yangtze River, the intersection and transitional belt between the mountainous areas of western Hubei Province and the Jianghan Plain, is known as "the Throat of Sichuan and Hubei Province, the Portal of Three Gorges”. It covers the area of 110°15′～112°04′ E and 29°56′～31°34′ N. It covers an area of 21, 084 square kilometers. The largest distance from north to south is 180 km, from east to west is 174 km wherein mountainous areas occupy 67.4%, hilly areas 22.7%, plain 9.9%. Yichang boarders the Jingzhou City and the Jingmen City on the east, the Changde City of Hunan Province on the south, the Enshi Tujia Autonomous Prefecture on the west and the Shennongjia Forest Region and the Xiangfan City on the north.

The big difference of altitude in Yichang City creates its complex terrain tilting from the northwest to the southeast with mountains, hills and plains. In the west, Xingshan County, Zigui County, Changyang County, Wufeng County and the western parts of Yiling District are mountainous areas; in the east, hills cover the eastern parts of Yiling District, DangYang City, Yuan\'an County and Yidu City; and parts of Zhijiang City, Dangyang City and Yidu City on both sides of the confluent areas of the Yangtze River, the Qingjiang River and the Ju-zhang River are plians.

The humid subtropical monsoon climate controls Yichang for its location in the transitional area between the central and northern tropical zones. The seasonal distinction is typical with rainy summer and droughty winter. Over the years, the average rainfall is 1215.6 mm. The average temperature is 16.9 degrees Celsius between the highest temperature record of 41.4 degrees Celsius (July) and the lowest temperature record of minus 9.8 degrees Celsius (January). The active accumulated temperature of the annual average temperature above 10 degrees Celsius, which lasts 250 days, is over 5200 degrees Celsius. The length of frost-free period is 250 to 300 days; the annual average radiation amount 100.7 kilocalories per square centimeter; the average annual sunshine duration 1538-1883 hours; the sunshine rate 40%.