Tongling (; former names: Tunglinghsien, Tungkwanshan) is a
prefecture-level city in southern
Anhui province. A
river port
An inland port is a port on an inland waterway, such as a river, lake, or canal, which may or may not be connected to the sea. The term "inland port" is also used to refer to a dry port.
Examples
The United States Army Corps of Engineers publ ...
along the
Yangtze River, Tongling borders
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 ...
to the east,
Chizhou to the southwest and
Anqing
Anqing (, also Nganking, formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 4,165,284 as of the 2020 census, with 804,493 living in the ...
to the west.
As of the 2020 census, its population was 1,311,726 inhabitants whom 842,675 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of 3 urban districts.
The asteroid
12418 Tongling
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...
was named after the city.
Geography
Tongling is located in southern Anhui on the southern (right) bank of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, with latitude ranging from 30° 45' 12" to 31° 07' 56" N and longitude ranging from 117° 42' 00" to 118° 10' 06" E; the maximal north–south extent is , and the greatest east–west width is .
It borders
Fanchang County to the southeast,
Qingyang County
Qingyang County () is a county in the south of Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It is the northeasternmost county-level division of the prefecture-level city of Chizhou. It has a population of and an area of . The government of Qingya ...
and
Nanling County to the south,
Guichi District of
Chizhou to the southwest, and, northwest across the Yangtze,
Wuwei County and
Zongyang County.
Climate
Administration
The
prefecture-level city of Tongling administers 4
county-level divisions, including 3
districts
A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...
and 1
county.
*
Tongguan District
Tongguan District () is an urban district under the administration of the city of Tongling, Anhui Province, People's Republic of China. It has a total area of , and a population of approximately . The district's postal code is 244000 and 244031. T ...
()
*
Jiao District ()
*
Yi'an District
Yi'an District (), formerly Tongling County, is a district of the city of Tongling, in the south of Anhui province, lying on the southern and eastern (right) bank of the Yangtze River. The total area is . The population (Han nationality) is 716,30 ...
()
*
Zongyang County ()
In 2012, the provincial government made plans to cede
Zongyang County from
Anqing
Anqing (, also Nganking, formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province, People's Republic of China. Its population was 4,165,284 as of the 2020 census, with 804,493 living in the ...
City to Tongling City, in order to grant the latter land across the Yangtze.
;Defunct divisions
*
Tongguanshan District ()
*
Shizishan District ()
History
Tongling has been famous as a beautiful mountain city since its origins in the
Han dynasty over 1500 years ago. Owing to its copper and tin deposits, it was an important center in the past for bronze production. The scale of industrial activity gradually increased through the
Ming (1368–1644) and
Qing
The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...
(1644–1911) dynasties, the Japanese occupation of 1938–45, and especially under the
Communist
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
government since 1949.
Economy
Today the city's industrial base still revolves around the several nearby copper mines and copper processing operations. The local mineral resources also include : iron, coal, gold, silver, tin, Iron sulfide, plus more than twenty other rare minerals associated with them such as nickel, cadmium, gallium, molybdenum, germanium and selenium. Other important industries include chemical works, textiles, building materials, electronics, machinery and food processing. Long a hub of water transportation, in 1995 Tongling became the site of Anhui Province's first highway bridge spanning the
Yangtze River.
Although Tongling City is mostly mountainous, the surrounding flatlands are rich agricultural regions producing rice, wheat, cotton, beans, garlic, herbal medicines and ginger. Large amounts of fish are also harvested in the region.
Tongling is the center for conservation efforts to preserve the last remaining
Yangtze freshwater dolphins. Two semi-natural reserves have been established in the Tongling area, in the Tongling and Shishou oxbow lakes, but as yet no dolphins have been successfully captured and moved from the river into the lakes.
Tongling has developed at a rapid speed in the past 5 years, i.e. 2003 to 2007.The average GDP per capita has reached ¥44,870 in 2008 which is the second in Anhui province. And the increasing rate is 13%, far more than the average increasing rate of the whole province which is 12.8%.And it aims to achieve $10000 GDP per capita in 2012.
As of 2016, Tongling City, administered 3 districts and 1 county, the total population of 1.7185 million people. GDP of 95.73 billion yuan. By industry, the added value of the primary industry was 4.89 billion yuan, the added value of the secondary industry was 56.96 billion yuan, and the added value of the tertiary industry was 33.87 billion yuan. The three industrial structures are 5.1: 59.5: 35.4. According to the resident population, the annual per capita GDP is 59,960 yuan.
Transport
As of November 2017, Tongling has
two bridges across the Yangtze River.
Rail
Tongling is served by the
Nanjing–Tongling,
Tongling–Jiujiang, Lujiang-Tongling Railways,
Nanjing–Anqing Intercity Railway
The Nanjing–Anqing intercity railway () is a high-speed rail, passenger-dedicated line between cities of Nanjing, Jiangsu Province and Anqing, Anhui Province, in China. Construction of the railway began in January 2010, and the line was open ...
and
Hefei-Fuzhou High-Speed Railway.
Culture
The famous poet of Tang Dynasty,
Li Bai (c.700–762, also known as Li Po) praised the beauty and richness of Tongling. The
Tongling Sports Centre Stadium is located in the city. The football stadium has a capacity of 30,000 and it opened in 2018.
Local specialties
Tongling ginger
Tongling ginger is one of the "eight treasures" of Tongling. It is a perennial herb and an annual cultivated crop. Tongling ginger is scientifically identified by the Anhui Academy of Agricultural Sciences Horticulture and belongs to the type of white ginger. The fresh ginger skin is white and slightly yellow, the ginger is bergamot-shaped, and the petals are thick and thick.
Tongling dried tofu
Tongling dried tofu which began production in the Ming Dynasty and has a history of more than 400 years. Because Datong Town is the only way to the Buddhist shrine Jiuhua Mountain, pilgrims worshipping Buddhas from all over the country and Korea, India and other countries must purchase Tongling dried tofu for vegetarian food.
International relations
The contract of town-twinning with the city of
Marbach am Neckar in
Baden-Württemberg, Germany was established in 1990 and was among the first Sino-German town-twinnings, or sister city relationships. One lady citizen of Marbach am Neckar has been awarded honorary citizenship of Tongling City in 2005, recognizing her relentless effort to keep up the town-twinning. Marbach is the birthplace of the famous German poet
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friends ...
(1759–1805), as a symbol of friendship a statue was erected in local Tianjinhu-Lake-Park.
Tongling has been twinned with the
Borough of Halton in England since 1997. A Chinese friendship garden was created in the grounds of
Runcorn Town Hall
Runcorn Town Hall is in Heath Road, Runcorn, Cheshire, England. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building. It was originally built as Halton Grange, a mansion for Thomas Johnson, a l ...
in 2006, including a bronze statue gifted by the twin city of Tongling.
References
External links
Government website of Tongling(in Simplified Chinese)
{{Major cities along the Yangtze River
Cities in Anhui
Populated places on the Yangtze River