Jang Hui

"fire"

- Because we are fishing town. At least that's how it was before the factory moved in. Army makes their metal there. Moved in a few years ago and started gunking up our river. Now our little village is struggling to survive.

Jang Hui is a small fishing village situated in one of the outer islands of the Fire Nation. Located on the Jang Hui River, from which it takes its name, this unique settlement is made up of houseboats and buildings on stilts, connected by bridges and planks.

History
At the time of Avatar Aang's arrival in 100 ASC, the once-thriving fishing community was struggling to survive due to run-off pollution of the river by the Fire Nation army factory. Ten years before, the Fire Nation military appropriated a plot of land on the banks of the Jang Hui, and built a tremendous metal manufacturing facility which served as the principle smelter for weapon production. The factory spewed its entire by-product waste out into the river, polluting the water and destroying the villagers' chief livelihood. Afterwards, local fishermen were lucky to find a few shriveled fish and some dirty clams. Multiple shops in the center of town were boarded up and closed. Without clean water, food, and medicine, many poor, sick villagers were helplessly reduced to suffering and poverty.



When Aang and his friends came to the village of Jang Hui, Katara was devastated to see the villagers suffer, and decided they needed her help. She disguised herself as the guardian spirit of the town, the Painted Lady, and brought food to the village and healed the sick. A few nights later, she dressed in her disguise and, with the help of Aang, destroyed the factory. As the gang prepared to leave the village the next day, they saw a squad of Fire Nation troops heading toward the town on Jet skis and realized that the army likely thought the villagers had sabotaged the factory. Katara immediately became determined to stop them. The soldiers started attacking the village, but a gust of wind blew their flames out. With assistance from Appa, Toph and Sokka providing spooky sound effects, Aang and Katara staged an encounter with the Painted Lady, and successfully forced the troops to flee.

The Avatar and his friends then encouraged the villagers to clean up the pollution. By the time the group left, the water was back to its beautiful crystal blue color.

Fire Nation army factory


Built on the shores of the Jang Hui River, this smelting plant was where the Fire Nation army made the metals for various weapons and vehicles. The cooling system provided by the river water helped in the production of a tough, new armored metal. However, as a result, the plant dumped exorbitant amounts of waste into the river while large smoke stacks simultaneously contaminated the air. To General Mung, however, this pollution was a small price to pay for manufacturing weapons that could help win the Hundred Year War.

Aang and Katara, who disguised herself as the Painted Lady, the spirit who helped and protected the people of Jang Hui, destroyed it to stop the pollution the factory was generating.

The Painted Lady
Known for her gentleness and healing abilities, the Painted Lady is a powerful and benevolent spirit. She watched over the river town of Jang Hui until the Fire Nation factory moved in and began polluting the river. It was this event that drove the Painted Lady away, leaving the villagers to fend for themselves. As is the case with many other spirits, only enlightened people can see the Painted Lady.

Fauna

 * Clams
 * Two-headed fish

Notable figures

 * The Painted Lady
 * General Mung
 * Dock/Xu/Bushi
 * Little boy

Trivia

 * Jang Hui, translates to "gray river" in Chinese.
 * Michael Dante DiMartino suggested that this village be floating after seeing a real village on the water.