Anhui Province is located at the hinterland of East China, crossing the Yangtze River and the middle and lower reaches of the Huaihe River. To the east, it links with Jiangsu and Zhejiang Province; to the west, it closes with Hubei and Henan Province; to the south is Jiangxi Province; and to the north is Shandong Province. During the early Qing Dynasty, Anhui belonged to Jiangnan Province.
In 1667, Anhui Province was formally and independently established. Its name came from the first character of the names of its two cities – “An”qing and “Hui”zhou. Within the boundary of this province, there were Wan Mountain and Wan Water, which are now called Tianzhu Mountain and Wan River. During the spring and autumn period (from BC 722 to BC 481), Anhui Province had been named Wan Country, so Anhui is also called “Wan” for short.
The east longitude of Anhui Province is between 114 degrees and 54 minutes and 119 degrees and 37 minutes. The north latitude is between 29 degrees and 41 minutes and 34 degrees and 38 minutes. From east to west spreads about 450 kilometers wide and from south to north occupies about 570 kilometers long with a total area of 139,600 square kilometers, accounting for 1.45% of the whole country’s area and ranking No.3 in eastern China and No. 22 in China. At the end of 2004, the population of the province reaches 64.61 million, ranking No. 8 in China.
Anhui China Topography
The southern and western terrains are higher and the eastern and northern are lower. The topography in north and south are vastly different, complex and diverse. Yangtze River, which is 416 kilometers long, and Huaihe River, which is 430 kilometers long, are flowing across the whole province and divides the province into four natural regions.
- The Huaibei Plain: the terrain in north of Huaihe River is forthright and wide. It is part of North China Plain.
- The Jianghuai Hills: it located between the Huaibei and Central Anhui Plain. The west and east side of Jianghuai Hills are covered by many high mountains and hills. The terrain is full of twists and turns.
- The Central Anhui Plain: it is part of the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River Plain. The terrain in both sides of the Yangtze River is low.
- The Southern Anhui Hill: it lies in the south of the Yangtze River Plain. The main terrain is hilly. Within this region, the main mountains have Dabie Mountain, Huangshan Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain and Tianzhu Mountain. Among them, Lotus Peak in Huangshan Mountain is the highest peak with 1,860 meters.
In Anhui Province, there are over 2,000 rivers and 110 lakes, such as Yangtze River, Huaihe River, Xin’an River and Chao Lake that is one of the five largest fresh water lakes in China.
Anhui Climate
The Huaihe River is as a dividing line. In the north of Anhui Province belongs to a warm-temperate, semi-humid monsoonal climate; in the south is a sub-tropical, humid monsoonal climate. The main features are mild climate, abundant sunshine, obvious monsoon and distinctive seasons. The average annual temperature is between 14 and 16 centigrade. It has only two centigrade difference in north and south. The average annual sunshine is between 1800 and 2500 hours. The average frost-free period often lasts 200 to 250 days. The average precipitation is between 800 and 1600 mm.
Anhui Province Transportation
Transportation in Anhui Province is convenient. The road density is twice as high as the national average. The highway mileage has broken through 1,300 kilometers. Tongling Yangtze River Bridge, Wuhu Yangtze River Bridge and Anqing Yangtze River Bridge connect with the north and south of the whole province. The road and river transport capacity respectively rank No.2 and No.3 in the central region. Beijing-Shanghai Railway, Beijing-Hongkong Railway, Eurasian Continental Bridge and other railways run through the whole province. The railway mileage has reached 2,326 kilometers, ranking the first in eastern China. In addition, there are six airports: Hefei, Huangshan, Wuhan, Anqing, Bangbu and Fuyang Airport. The telecommunication in Anhui is developing well. It is the third province where all the cities and counties have digital communication.
Resources
Anhui owns superior resources, including land resources, biological resources, water resources and mineral resources.
- Land resources: now the whole province occupies 4.08 million hectares of arable land and 1.05 million hectares of water surface.
- Biological resources: there are totally 10,917 species of biological resources: the woody plants that are under state protection have 30 species; the rare wild animals have 54 species; and the first and second levels animals in China respectively own 18 species and 368 species, especially Yangtze Alligator and Baiqitun (White Fin Porpoise) are the most valuable.
- Water resources: the water resources reserve about 68 billion cubic meters, ranking No.20 nationwide.
- Mineral resources: the entire province has explored nearly 140 species of useful minerals. 67 species of them have been known their reserves, among which, the coal, iron, cooper, sulfur, phosphorus, alum, limestone rank the top ten in China. Now the proven coal reserves are 25 billion tons, iron ore are 2.99 billon tons, cooper ore are 3.894 million tons and pyrite are 564 million tons, ranking differently No.7, No.5, No.5 and No.2 in China.
Anhui Province Tourism
Anhui Province is so colorful and full of cultural monuments. It is one of the provinces that own the most abundant tourism resources. Now there are five state-level key scenic spots. Huangshan Mountain is the most famous for hills and rivers as the model of Anhui Province. Within its boundary, wonderful pine trees, strange stones, clouds and hot spring are called “Four Best Sceneries”.
In 1990, by the UNESCO, the five scenic spots have been listed in the record “World Natural and Cultural Heritage”, attracting world attention. Jiuhua Mountain is one of four famous Buddhist Mountains with beautiful scenery, fascinating a large number of tourists to visit. Now there are 78 ancient temples existing, but the combination of Buddhist Temple and Wannan residential areas is unique. Qiyun Mountain, which is the famous Taoist shrine, Cliffs, Daoism relics and the unique rosy clouds are spectacular. Tianzhu Mountain, which is named as “Nanyue” by Hanwu Emperor, covers 45 peaks, 86 strange stones, 18 waterfalls and other sceneries. Langyang Mountain is famous for the poem “Tippler Pavilion”(醉翁亭记) written by Ouyangxiu in Song Dynasty. In addition to the state-level scenic spots, there are 19 provincial-level scenic spots.
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