A road sign shows distance to the "Huangshi urban area" (黄石市区) rather than simply "Huangshi" (黄石). This is a useful distinction, because the sign is located already within Huangshi prefectural level city (immediately upon entering its Yangxin County from the neighboring Xianning), but still 100 kilometres (62 mi) from the Huangshi main urban area.
A prefecture-level city (Chinese: 地级市(地級市); pinyin: Dìjíshì) or prefectural city is an administrative division of the People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province and above a county in China's administrative structure. It usually consists of multiple sub-prefecture-level cities or towns and the surrounding countryside.
