Wuhu

This article is about the prefecture-level city. For other uses, see Wuhu (disambiguation).
Wuhu
芜湖市
Prefecture-level city

Location of Wuhu City jurisdiction in Anhui
Country China
Province Anhui
County-level divisions 8
Municipal seat Jiujiang District
(31°22′12″N 118°23′33″E / 31.37000°N 118.39250°E / 31.37000; 118.39250)
Government
 • CPC Secretary Chen Shulong (陈树隆)
 • Mayor Yang Jiongnong (杨静农)
 • Deputy Mayor Shi Dini
Area
 • Prefecture-level city 5,988 km2 (2,312 sq mi)
 • Urban 1,292 km2 (499 sq mi)
 • Metro 972 km2 (375 sq mi)
Elevation 7.9 m (26 ft)
Population (2010 census)
 • Prefecture-level city 3,545,067
 • Density 590/km2 (1,500/sq mi)
 • Urban 1,498,917
 • Urban density 1,200/km2 (3,000/sq mi)
 • Metro 1,264,539
 • Metro density 1,300/km2 (3,400/sq mi)
Time zone China Standard (UTC+8)
Area code(s) 0553
GDP (2011) ¥165,8 billion
GDP per capita ¥47,028
License Plate Prefix 皖B
Website http://www.wuhu.gov.cn/

Wuhu (simplified Chinese: 芜湖; traditional Chinese: 蕪湖; pinyin: Wúhú; literally "Weedy Lake") is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province, China. Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei to the northwest, Ma'anshan to the northeast, and the province of Jiangsu to the east, and is approximately 90 km (56 mi) southwest of Nanjing. Its population was 3,545,067 inhabitants at the 2010 census whom 1,264,539 in the built-up (or metro) area made of 3 out of 4 urban districts (all but Sanshan not yet continuously urbanized).

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Wuhu administers 8 county-level divisions, including 4 districts and 4 counties.

Map

Demographics

By the end of 2011, the total population was estimated to be 3,842,100，of whom 1,450,000 live in the 4 urban districts and the others live in the counties. Vast majority of the local population are Han Chinese, though there are some Muslim Hui people as minorities. Jiang-Huai Mandarin, a branch of Mandarin Chinese, was widely spoken in urban area, while some people in the counties spoke Wu Chinese. Putonghua, or Standard Mandarin was commonly used in this area.

History

A heritage building in the No.11 Middle School in Wuhu

Wuhu is known to have been inhabited since at least 770 BCE. It became a strategically important town during the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 AD), when it was controlled by the Eastern Wu. At this time it was known as Jiuzi (Chiu-tzu 鳩茲). Under the Ming dynasty, Wuhu developed into a major commercial center and river port and since that time has been known as a center of the rice trade.

In 1644, the Hongguang Emperor (better known as the Prince of Fu), one of the last emperors of the Ming Dynasty, was captured by forces of the new Qing Dynasty in Wuhu. The city became a treaty port in 1876 and has remained a commercial center since that time. The city's Roman Catholic cathedral, St. Joseph's Cathedral (圣若瑟主教座堂), dates from this time. Most of the downtown area alongside the Yangtze River was ceded in the British concession.

Trade in rice, wood, and tea flourished at Wuhu until the Warlord Era of the 1920s and 1930s, when bandits were active in the area.

At the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War, part of the Second World War, Wuhu was occupied by Japan on December 10, 1937. This was a prelude to the Battle of Nanjing, ending in the Nanjing Massacre. Under Japanese occupation, Chinese resistance fighters hid in the lakes around Wuhu by submerging themselves and breathing through reeds.

Major industries began to be developed in Wuhu after the Second World War, with the development of the textile industry, shipbuilding, and paper mills. Despite this, Wuhu had been lagging behind Ma'anshan and Tongling in industrial production for decades after the establishment of the China, and remained primarily a commercial center for trade in rice, silk, cotton, tea, wheat and eggs. However, with recent years' economic rise, Wuhu has become a hub for manufacturing in the area.

Economy

The city is the second largest economy in Anhui, after Hefei, the provincial capital. In 2011, Wuhu’s GDP reached RMB 165.8 billion, an increase of 16.0% over the previous year. Its per capita GDP was RMB 47,028, with a year-on-year rise of 15.3%.[1]

Wuhu Economic &Technological Development Area in the north of the city launched in 1993 is one of the first state-level economic & technological development area in Anhui province, also has the only export processing zone in the province.[2] Chery Automobile and Anhui Conch Cement Company are both headquartered in this development area.

Wuhu is the fifth largest port alongside Yangtze River. Yuxikou Pier is the largest inland river coal harbor in China.

Transportation

Wuhu has one Yangtze River crossing—the Wuhu Yangtze River Bridge, opened in 2000, carries the G5011 Wuhu–Hefei Expressway and Huainan Railway.

Rail

Wuhu is served by the Anhui–Jiangxi, Nanjing–Tongling and Huainan Railways.

Culture

The great poet Li Bai spent his late life in Wuhu, it is said, due to its striking landscape. Li Bai was born in a Central Asian town and raised in the southwestern China. Xie Tiao, one of the most distinctive Six Dynasty poets whom he greatly admired, left many poems when holding positions here.

In the Tang dynasty (619-907), the poet Du Mu wrote a famous poem Thoughts on Staying Again at Wuhu. A factory in Wuhu carries on the local craft of making wrought iron pictures. Other local handicrafts are embossed lacquerware and rice straw pith patchwork. A famous stone tablet in Wuhu recording local events of the Song dynasty period (ca. 1000 AD) is considered to be a masterpiece of the renowned calligrapher Mi Fu. In the Western world, Wuhu is now known as the home city to many adopted Chinese children.

Folklore

An itinerant blacksmith named Tang Tianchi is reputed to have invented the wrought-iron picture in Wuhu, when a painter whom he admired chided him, "You will never make pictures by beating iron."

Another blacksmith of the Spring and Autumn period (770-476 BC) named Gan Jiang was famous for sword making. Zhe Shan (Reddish Brown Hill) is said to get its colour from the flames of Gan Jiang's furnace. Shen Shan (Sacred Hill) is the legendary location of his sword grinding rock and tempering pool.

Cuisine

Wuhu and Anqing are noted centers of the Yanjiang cuisine. It specializes in freshwater fish and poultry, and features special techniques of chopping, shaping, and colouring. The flavour of Yanjiang dishes is often enhanced by sweetening and smoking.

Tourism

Education

Universities & Colleges
Notable High Schools

Wuhu City No.12 Middle School(芜湖市第十二中学)

Healthcare system

Notable hospitals
Related Health Care settings

Notable people

Notable constructions

Sister cities and friendly cities

References

  1. ↑ "Wuhu ( Anhui ) City Information". hktdc.com. 2010-09-16. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
  2. ↑ "芜湖经济技术开发区". Weda.gov.cn. Retrieved 2011-09-06.

External links

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