襄陽

Etymology
Surprisingly unclear.

is speculated to imply "tall and prone to floods", which is recorded in the. The city presincts recieved chronic floods up until the 1930's.

The term is typically used to refer to establishments on the north bank of a river or the south side of a mountain. Xiangyang is, however, situated north of and on the south bank of the. The settlement north of the Han is ).

Several theories have been proposed, though very little geographical evidence has been found for any of them. Some include:
 * The Han River may have flowed south of Xiangyang, hence the modern-day bend just east of the city
 * There was a small river called the Xiang that used to flow south of the city
 * There was a "Mount Xiang" in the past that was north of Xiangyang