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Coordinates
:
31°50′N
117°0′E
? / ?
31.833°N 117°E
? /
31.833; 117
Anhui
(
Chinese
:
安徽
;
pinyin
:
?nhu?
;
Wade?Giles
: An-hui,
Mandarin pronunciation:
[anxwei]
) is a
province
of the
People's Republic of China
. Located in eastern China across the basins of the
Yangtze River
and the
Huai River
, it borders
Jiangsu
to the east,
Zhejiang
to the southeast,
Jiangxi
to the south,
Hubei
to the southwest,
Henan
to the northwest, and
Shandong
for a tiny section in the north. The capital of the province is
Hefei
.
The name "Anhui" derives from the names of two cities in south Anhui,
Anqing
and
Huizhou
(now
Huangshan City
).
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The abbreviation for Anhui is "?" (W?n), because there were historically a State of Wan, a Mount Wan, and a Wan river in the province.
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]
History
The province of Anhui was formed in the seventeenth century. Before then, there was no coherent concept of "Anhui". Northern Anhui was firmly a part of the
North China Plain
in terms of culture, together with modern-day
Henan
province. Central Anhui constituted most of the fertile and densely-populated
Huai He
River watershed. Southern Anhui, along the
Yangtze
, was closer to
Hubei
and southern
Jiangsu
provinces in culture. Finally, the hills of southeastern Anhui formed a unique and distinct cultural sphere of its own. The creation of the province of Anhui has not eroded these distinctions.
[
citation needed
]
During the
Shang Dynasty
(
sixteenth
to
eleventh century BC
) most of Anhui was populated by non-Sinitic peoples known collectively as the
Dongyi
.
King Tang of Shang
, the legendary founder of the Shang Dynasty, was said to have put his capital at Bo (?), in the vicinities of
Bozhou
in modern northern Anhui.
[
citation needed
]
During the
Warring States Period
, Shouchun (modern
Shou County
) in central Anhui became a refugee capital for the
state of Chu
after its heartlands in modern
Hubei
province was overrun by the powerful
state of Qin
in the west, in 278 BC. Qin nevertheless managed to conquer all of China in 221 BC, creating the
Qin Dynasty
.
[
citation needed
]
Anhui was administered under several different
commanderies
during the
Qin Dynasty
and the
Han Dynasty
. Near the end of the
Han Dynasty
Shouchun became the base for the
warlord
Yuan Shu
, who declared himself emperor at one point, but soon succumbed to illness, allowing his small realm to come under the powerful warlord
Cao Cao
, founder of the
Wei Kingdom
, one of the
Three Kingdoms
.
[
citation needed
]
The 4th century saw the influx of nomadic tribes from
Central Asia
into
North China
. This began several centuries of political division of northern and
southern China
. Being at the juncture of north and south, the lands comprising modern Anhui changed hands frequently and was usually bisected through the middle politically. The
Battle of Feishui
, between the
Former Qin
of the north and the
Eastern Jin Dynasty
of the south, took place in 383 AD in modern Anhui.
[
citation needed
]
The
Sui Dynasty
(581-618) and the
Tang Dynasty
(618-907) oversaw several centuries of relative peace and unity in China. During this period Anhui was once again ruled under several different jurisdictions.
[
citation needed
]
During the division of China between the
Jin Dynasty
in the north and the
Southern Song Dynasty
in the south, Anhui was once again bisected, this time along the
Huai He
River. This lasted until
Mongol
reunification of China in 1279.
[
citation needed
]
The
Ming Dynasty
drove out the Mongols in 1368. Due to a short stint as the capital of China by the city of
Nanjing
in nearby
Jiangsu
province, the entirety of Jiangsu and Anhui kept their special status as territory-governed directly by the central government, and were called Nanzhili (南直? "Southern directly-governed").
[
citation needed
]
The
Manchu
Qing Dynasty
, which conquered China in 1644, changed this situation by establishing Nanzhili as Jiangnan province; in 1666 Jiangsu and Anhui were split apart as separate provinces. This was the beginning of the contemporary Anhui province, which has since kept almost the same borders as today. The one significant change that occurred was the move of the provincial capital from
Anqing
to
Hefei
in 1946.
[
citation needed
]
When the
People's Republic of China
was founded in 1949, Anhui was briefly split into two separate administrative regions: Wanbei (North Anhui) and Wannan (South Anhui). They were merged into a province in 1952.
[
citation needed
]
In the 2007 book
China Road
, author
Rob Gifford
stated that the Chinese refer to Anhui as a "big agricultural province" (??大省). According to Gifford this is a
euphemism
for a "very poor" area and that people have referred to Anhui as the "
Appalachia
of China."
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Geography
Anhui is quite diverse topographically. The north of the province is part of the
North China Plain
while the north-central areas are part of the
Huai He
River watershed. Both of these regions are very flat and densely populated. The land becomes more uneven further south, with the
Dabie Mountains
occupying much of southwestern Anhui and a series of hills and ranges cutting through southeastern Anhui. The
Yangtze River
finds its way through south Anhui in between these two mountainous regions. The highest peak in Anhui is
Lotus Peak
, part of the
Huangshan Mountains
in southeastern Anhui. It has an altitude of 1873 m.
Major rivers include the
Huai He
in the north and the
Yangtze
in the south. The largest lake is
Lake Chaohu
in the center of the province, with an area of about 800 km². The southeastern part of the province near the Yangtze River has many lakes as well.
As with topography, the province differs in climate from north to south. The north is more temperate and has more clearcut seasons. January temperatures average at around -1 to 2
°C
north of the Huai He, and 0 to 3°C south of the Huai He; in July temperatures average 27°C or above.
Plum rains
occur in June and July and may cause flooding.
Major cities:
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Administrative divisions
Anhui is divided into seventeen
prefecture-level divisions
:
The seventeen
prefecture-level divisions
of Anhui are subdivided into 105
county-level divisions
(44
districts
, five
county-level cities
, and 56
counties
). Those are in turn divided into 1845
township-level divisions
(972
towns
, 634
townships
, nine
ethnic townships
, and 230
subdistricts
).
See
List of administrative divisions of Anhui
for a complete list of
county-level divisions
.
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Politics
The Politics of Anhui Province is structured in a dual party-government system like all other governing institutions in mainland China.
The Governor of Anhui (
simplified Chinese
:
安徽省省?
) is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Anhui. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Anhui
Communist Party of China
Provincial Committee Secretary (
simplified Chinese
:
安徽省委??
), colloquially termed the "Anhui Party Chief".
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Economy
Agriculture in Anhui varies according to the climate zones that the province crosses. North of the
Huai He
river
wheat
and
sweet potatoes
are grown, while south of the
Huai He
it is
rice
and
wheat
instead.
Natural resources of Anhui include
iron
in
Ma'anshan
,
coal
in
Huainan
, and
copper
in
Tongling
. There are industries related to these natural resources (e.g.
steel industry
at
Ma'anshan
). One of the famous Anhui-based corporations is the automobile company
Chery
, which is based in
Wuhu
.
Compared to its more successful neighbours to the east,
Zhejiang
and
Jiangsu
, Anhui has lagged markedly behind in economic development, with a
GDP
per capita around one third the level of those two provinces. There is great regional disparity as well, and most of the wealth is concentrated in industrial regions close to the
Yangtze River
, such as
Hefei
,
Wuhu
, and
Ma'anshan
.
Anhui's nominal GDP for 2009 was approximately 1.005 trillion yuan (US$147 billion), up 12.9% from 2008 and a per capita of 16,391 yuan (US$2,400). It is considered a mid-size economy in terms of economic output.
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Major Economic and Technological Development Zones
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Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone
Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone is located in the southwest of Hefei. The zone is divided into two functional areas. The east part is allocated for manufacturing purpose and it also has two parks; the west part is where the business center, Hefei university town, and the international community center are located. It is established in 1993, and it is located close to Hefei Luogang International Airport.
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Hefei Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone
Hefei Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone was founded in October 1990 and approved by the State Council as a state-level Development Zone in March 1991. In 1997, the Development Zone was ratified as an APEC Science and Technology Industrial Park, with special open policies to APEC and EU members. Hefei High Tech Park was also approved as a National High Tech Export Base in 2000 and obtained the award of a Advanced High Tech Zone under the Torch Program in 2003. So far, more than 100 hi-tech enterprises have entered the zone. Industries encouraged in the zone include Chemicals Production and Processing, Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Heavy Industry, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Medical Equipment and Supplies, Research and Development, Telecommunications Equipment.
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Wuhu Economic and Technological Development Zone
Established in 1993, Wuhu Economic & Technological Development Zone is the first state-level development zone approved by central government in Anhui Province. As the hub in the west of the Yangtze Delta, it is an idea place for business in Central China and East China such as manufacturing place or logistic center due to great transportation advantage. Wuhu port is the last fine deepwater port here going against the Yangtse River. It is main foreign trade base and oversea transportation center. It takes 1 hour from Wuhu to Nanjing Lukou International Airport and to Hefei Luogang Airport.
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Wuhu Export Processing Zone
Wuhu Export Processing Zone was approved to be a national level export processing zone by State Council. Wuhu Export Processing Zone is located in the Wuhu EDZ, with a total planned area of 2.95 sqkm with the first-stage are being 1.1 sqkm. It is located close to Wuhu Airport and Wuhu Port. Industries encouraged in the zone include Electronics Assembly & Manufacturing, Heavy Industry, Instruments & Industrial Equipment Production, Shipping/Warehousing/Logistics, Trading and Distribution.
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Demographics
Han Chinese
make up the vast majority of the population. The
Hui
and
She
nationalities are the two largest
minorities
.
Anhui has a highly unbalanced gender ratio. According to a 2009 study published in the
British Medical Journal
, in the 1-4 age group, there are 138 boys for every 100 girls, making it among the most unbalanced of provinces in China.
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Culture
Anhui spans many geographical and cultural regions. The northern, flatter parts of the province, along the river
Huai He
and further north, are most akin to neighbouring provinces like
Henan
and
Shandong
. In contrast, the southern, hilly parts of the province are more similar in culture and dialect to other southern, hilly provinces, like
Zhejiang
and
Jiangxi
.
Mandarin dialects
are spoken over the northern and central parts of the province. Dialects to the north (e.g.
Bengbu dialect
) are classified as
Zhongyuan Mandarin
, together with dialects in provinces such as
Henan
and
Shandong
; dialects in the central parts (e.g.
Hefei dialect
) are classfied as
Jianghuai Mandarin
, together with dialects in the central parts of neighbouring
Jiangsu
province. Non-Mandarin dialects are spoken in the south: dialects of
Wu
are spoken in
Xuancheng
prefecture-level city
, though these are rapidly being replaced by Jianghuai Mandarin; dialects of
Gan
are spoken in a few counties in the southwest bordering
Jiangxi
province; and the
Huizhou dialects
are spoken in about ten counties in the far south, a small but highly diverse and unique group of Chinese dialects.
Huangmeixi
, which originated in the environs of
Anqing
in southwestern Anhui, is a form of traditional
Chinese opera
popular across China.
Huiju
, a form of traditional opera originating in the
Huizhou
-speaking areas of southern Anhui, is one of the major precursors of
Beijing Opera
; in the 1950s Huiju (which had disappeared) was revived.
Luju
is a type of traditional opera found across central Anhui, from east to west.
Anhui cuisine
is one of the eight great traditions of
Chinese cuisine
. Combining elements of cooking from northern Anhui, south-central Anhui, and the
Huizhou
-speaking areas of southern Anhui, Anhui cuisine is known for its use of wild game and herbs, both land and sea, and comparatively unelaborate methods of preparation.
Anhui has a high concentration of traditional products related to calligraphy: Xuanzhou (today
Xuancheng
) and Huizhou (today
Huangshan City
) are revered for producing
Xuan Paper
and
Hui Ink
, respectively, which are traditionally considered the best types of paper and ink for
Chinese calligraphy
.
She County
is famous for the
She Inkstone
, one of the most preferred types of
inkstones
(a required tool in traditional calligraphy).
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Tourism
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Development
In 2008,
France
is to help the
Anhui Provincial Tourism Bureau
develop a rural tourism demonstration project.
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Notable people
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Colleges and universities
- Anhui Agricultural University
, in
Hefei
- Anhui Normal University
, in
Wuhu
- Anhui University
, in
Hefei
- Anhui University of Finance and Economics
, in
Bengbu
- Anhui University of Technology
, in
Ma'anshan
- Hefei University of Technology
- Anhui University of Technology and Science
, in
Wuhu
- University of Science & Technology of China
, located in the Southwest part of Hefei
- Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
- Anhui University of Science & Technology
, in
Huainan
- Wannan Medical College
, in
Wuhu
- Huainan Institute of Technology
, in
Huainan
- Correspondence College of Computer of China
- Chuzhou Normal Academy
, in
Chuzhou
- Anhui Sanlian College
, in
Hefei
- Electronic Engineering College of Hefei
- Huaibei Coal Industry Normal College
- Anqing Teachers College
, in
Anqing
- Hefei Normal University
, in
Hefei
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See also
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References
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External links