Wuhu

Wuhu () 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 City to the northwest, Ma'anshan city to the northeast, Jiangsu to the east, and is approximately southwest of Nanjing. With ongoing urbanization in the southern part of Nanjing, a conurbation is forming between Nanjing, Maanshan and Wuhu, comprising over 10.66 million inhabitants.

History

thumb|upright|A heritage building: the St. James' School (No. 11 Middle School), Lion Hill, Wuhu

Wuhu is known to have been inhabited since at least 570 BCE. Present-day Wuhu evolved out of a settlement known as Jiuzi (), located on the southern bank of the Shuiyang River, about southeast of Wuhu's contemporary urban core.

Upon the establishment of the Republic of China in 1912, Fu, Prefectures, and Ting were established, and counties were placed under direct provincial jurisdiction.

On July 6, 2020, the Anhui provincial government approved the merger of Sanshan District into Yijiang District, the replacement of Wuhu County with Wanzhi District, and the replacement of Fanchang County with Fanchang District.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Wuhu administers 8 county-level divisions, including 5 districts, 1 county, and 1 county-level city.

{| class="wikitable"

!Name

!Simplified Chinese

!Pinyin

!Population

!Postal Code

|Jinghu District

|Jìnghú Qū

|478,658

|241000

|Yijiang District

|Yìjiāng Qū

|422,620

|241002

|Jiujiang District

|Jiūjiāng Qū

|721,521

|241000

|Wanzhi District

|湾沚区

|Wānzhǐ Qū

|344,016

|241100

|Fanchang District

|Fánchāng Qū

|243,907

|241200

|Nanling County

|Nánlíng Xiàn

|431,148

|241300

|Wuwei city

|Wúwéi Shì

|817,997

|238300

{|class="wikitable"

! Map

| <div style="position: relative" class="center">

</div>

Defunct – Sanshan District

Climate

Demographics

Population

As of the 2020 Chinese census, Wuhu had a total population of 3,644,420 inhabitants, of whom 1,622,799 lived its built-up (or metro) area: Jiujiang District, Jinghu District and Yijiang District. As of 2022, 13.75% of Wuhu's population is 14 years old or younger, 65.60% is 15 to 59 years old, and 20.65% is 60 years old or older. 16.89% of Wuhu's population is 65 years or older. Other ethnic minorities with over 500 inhabitants in the city include the Yi, the Tujia, the Miao, the Zhuang, and the Manchu.

Language

, a variety of Jiang-Huai Mandarin, itself a branch of Mandarin Chinese, is commonly spoken in urban areas. and its GDP per capita nearly doubling from 2012 to 2019 alone.

As of 2022, Wuhu has a gross domestic product (GDP) of 450.213 billion renminbi (RMB). Chery Automobile and Anhui Conch Cement Company are 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

Bus and taxi

The city is served by Wuhu Bus (), a municipal bus services and taxi services provider. Wuhu Bus runs 157 different routes, serviced by more than 1,300 vehicles.

Culture

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

During 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.

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 Anking 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.

Religion/Medicine

The New York Methodist Mission Society's Superintendent Virgil C. Hart arrived in Wuhu in 1881, intent on purchasing a piece of property to build the city's first Methodist Church and Western-style hospital. Hart was able to secure the Yichisan Hill before the British, who wanted the property to build a consulate and naval base. The Yichisan Hospital is Anhui's oldest/continuous western hospital. Dr. Edgerton H. Hart (V.C. Hart's eldest son) became the hospital's Director in 1895 and continued at that capacity until his death in April 1913. Caroline Maddock arrived in Wuhu in October 1904, to serve as the General Hospital's Head Nurse. Caroline Maddock married Dr. Edgerton Hart in October 1907. In 1909, Caroline and four other nurses founded the Nurses Association of China and she served as its first president; this association still represents China's Nurse profession.

Heritage and Tourism

Several sites in Wuhu have been included on the China's List of Major National Historical and Cultural Sites. They include the Barren Hill Temple (Guangji Temple ), a Buddhist temple originally dating back to the Tang dynasty that contains The Barren Hill Pagoda (Zhe Pagoda), an edifice from the Northern Song dynasty.

thumb|The Barren Hill Pagoda in Barren Hill Temple (Guangji Temple), dating to the Northern Song dynasty

Other listed monuments date back to the 19th and 20th century, when Wuhu was a former treaty port. These include the St. Joseph Cathedral and St. Aloysius Technical School, the British Consulate Office (Fanluoshan) and Residence (Yugengshan), the Wuhu Bund including the Wuhu Customs House(Yangtze Riverside Park) (滨江公园), Advent Church and houses, the Methodist residence houses and Wuhu Girls' School in Qingshan, the Advent Church and Disciples of Christ's Wuhu Union Academy, the Asiatic Petroleum Company house (Tieshan Hotel), the Wuhu Foreign Cemetery (Zheshan-Tieshan) and other sites dating back to Wuhu's treaty port era.

Other touristic sites in Wuhu:

Zhongshan Road (Damalu)

Changjie

Erjie

Mirror Lake () (Taotang)
Jiuzi Plaza ()
Zheshan (Barren Hill) (Wuhu Park)
Fantawild Adventure, one of the largest theme parks in the Chinese Mainland ()
Longwo Lake ()
Maren Qifeng Scenic Area ()
Macrolink Beluga Ocean Park ()
Wuhu Olympic Stadium ()
Yangtze River Bridge Crossing ()

Education

;Universities and Colleges

Anhui Normal University
Anhui Polytechnic University
Wannan Medical College
Wuhu Radio and TV University ()
Wuhu Institute of Technology ()
Anhui Business College of Vocational Technology ()
Anhui Technical College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering ()
Anhui college of Chinese traditional medicine ()
Anhui vocational college of information technology ()

;High Schools

Wuhu City No. 1 High School ()
High School Affiliated to Anhui Normal University ()
Wuhu County No. 1 High School ()
Wuhu City No. 12 High School ()
Fanchang County No. 1 High School ()

Health care system

;Notable hospitals

Yijishan Hospital (, or Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College ()
Xuancheng Area Hospital (), or Second Affiliated Hospital of Wannan Medical College ()
Wuhu Second Hospital ()
Wuhu First Hospital ()
Wuhu Third Hospital ()
Wuhu Fourth Hospital ()
Wuhu Fifth Hospital ()
Wuhu Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine ()
Maternal and Child Health Hospital of Wuhu City ()
Wuhu Red Cross Hospital ()

;Related health care settings

Wuhu CDC ()
Wuhu Center of Blood ()

Notable people

Helen Priscilla Stam (born in Wuhu General Hospital in September 1934)
John and Betty Stam (reinterred in the Wuhu Foreign Cemetery In January 1935)
Xiao Yuncong (1596–1673), Ming Dynasty painter
Zhao Wei (born 1976), actress
Zhou Lüxin (born 1988), diver
Wang Ying, (1913–1974) actress and author
Jackie Chan (born 1954), actor and martial artist (father from Wuhu)
Chen Duxiu (; October 8, 1879 – May 27, 1942) was a Chinese revolutionary socialist, educator, philosopher and author, who co-founded the Chinese Communist Party (with Li Dazhao) in 1921, serving from 1921 to 1927 as its first General Secretary. (teacher of the Government Boys' School (Wanjiang school))

Notable constructions

tall pylons of HVDC Yangtze River Crossing Wuhu, a part of HVDC Three Gorges-Changzhou, are the tallest pylons used for HVDC.