Wuhu

Wuhu ( Chinese 蕪湖市 / 芜湖市 , Pinyin Wúhú Shì , literally "weed-overgrown lake") is a district-free city with around 3.84 million inhabitants (end of 2011) and an area of 5,988 km² in the southeast of the Chinese province of Anhui , around 360 Kilometers west of Shanghai and 90 kilometers from Nanjing .

The next big city is Ma'anshan , in the north.

Administrative structure

At the district level, Wuhu is made up of four urban districts , three districts and one urban district. These are:

Jinghu District (镜湖区), 58 km², 439,100 inhabitants, center, seat of the city government;
Yijiang District (弋江区), 154 km², 187,500 inhabitants;
Jiujiang District (鸠江区), 232 km², 234,200 inhabitants;
Sanshan District (三山区), 276 km², 144,200 inhabitants;
Wuhu district (芜湖县), 730 km², 381,300 inhabitants, main town: Wanzhi municipality (湾沚镇);
Circuit Fanchang (繁昌县) square kilometers 604, 316,100 inhabitants, capital: greater community Fanyang (繁阳镇);
Nanling County (南陵县), 1,264 km², 550,000 inhabitants, capital: Jishan Municipality (籍山镇);
City of Wuwei (无为市), 2,413 km², 1.41 million inhabitants.

history

The area around Wuhu has been around since 770 BC at the latest. Settled. Wuhu was a strategically important city during the Three Kingdoms Period (208–280 AD) and was controlled by the Wu Dynasty . At that time the name of the city was Jiuzi (Chiutzu, 鸠兹). In the 3rd century, the battle of the kingdoms of Wu and Shu took place here. During the Ming Dynasty , Wuhu developed into an important trading center and inland port. During this time the city was a center of the Chinese rice trade. During the Battle of Wuhu in 1644 Qing troops defeated the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty .

In the course of the “ unequal treaties ”, Wuhu had to open itself as a so-called contract port in 1876 and hand over most of the city center near the Yangtze River as a concession to the British colonial power . The Roman Catholic St. Joseph Cathedral in Wuhu (圣若瑟主教座堂) dates from this period. The city grew through the trade in rice, wood and tea and after the Chinese reunification (1928) developed into an important economic and trade center.

Between 1937 and 1945, Wuhu was occupied several times by troops from the Japanese Kwantung Army . After the Second World War , the city's prosperity continued. The textile and paper industry as well as shipbuilding in particular developed into important economic sectors. The focus, however, remained unchanged on the trade in rice, silk, cotton, tea, wheat and eggs. At the beginning of the 21st century, Wuhu also achieved economic growth to become a center for industrial production and manufacturing in the region.

economy

The city has the second largest economic power in Anhui, after the provincial capital Hefei . In 2011, Wuhu's GDP reached RMB 165.8 billion, an increase of 16.0% over the previous year. The average per capita income was 47,028 RMB, an increase of 15.3% over the previous year.

In the vicinity of Wuhu are the highest overhead line masts used for HVDC transmission , namely those of the Wuhu Yangtze overhead line crossing . The headquarters of Chery Automobile and Anhui Conch Cement Company , the largest cement manufacturer in China, are also located in Wuhu .

Wuhu has the fifth largest port on the Yangtze and the last deep water port on the river. Yuxikou Pier is the largest inland port for coal in China.

One of Wuhu's tallest skyscrapers is the Riverside Century Plaza Main Tower .

transport

Wuhu is served as a stop on the Anhui – Jiangxi and Nanjing – Tongling railway lines. A connection to the Chinese high-speed train network on the Nanjing - Anqing line was planned for 2011 , and the line went into operation at the beginning of 2016. The travel time to Nanjing is less than half an hour. At the moment (as of spring 2016) there is a direct connection to Shanghai via Nanjing three times a day.

Town twinning

Wuhu lists five community partnerships :

city	country	since
Kochi	Japan Shikoku, Japan	1985
Pavia	Italy Lombardy, Italy	1988
Torrejon de Ardoz	Spain Madrid, Spain	1999
Ulyanovsk	Russia Volga, Russia	2018
West Covina	United States California, United States	2010

sons and daughters of the town

Edward Russell Ayrton (1882-1914), British Egyptologist
Qian Xingcun (1900–1977), literary scholar
Joseph Liu Xinhong (* 1964), Roman Catholic Bishop of Anqing
Ge Yongxi (* 1974), lawyer
Zhao Wei (* 1976), actress and singer

Web links

Commons : Wuhu - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

↑ Welcome to Anhui. The People's Government of Anhui Province, 2006, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on November 8, 2013 .
↑ Wuhu. Yangtze Business Services, 2006, accessed November 8, 2013 .
↑ Welcome to Anhui. Retrieved May 23, 2016 .
^ Friendship Cities-Welcome to WuHu. Retrieved August 10, 2020 .
^ Sister Cities. Kōchi, December 23, 2008, accessed July 16, 2011 .

[1] Welcome to Anhui. The People's Government of Anhui Province, 2006, archived from the original on July 14, 2014 ; accessed on November 8, 2013 .

[2] Wuhu. Yangtze Business Services, 2006, accessed November 8, 2013 .

[3] Welcome to Anhui. Retrieved May 23, 2016 .

[Twins-4] Friendship Cities-Welcome to WuHu. Retrieved August 10, 2020 .

[5] Sister Cities. Kōchi, December 23, 2008, accessed July 16, 2011 .