Wuhu

Meaning of the name

Population
385,800 (1985 est.)

Location
On the south bank of the Yangzi River, 160 km upstream from Nanjing

History
Known since 770 BC, Wuhu became a strategically important town during the Three Kingdoms period (220 BC-65 AD), when it was controlled by the Wu Kingdom. At this time it was known as Qiuzu (Chiu-tzu).

Under the Ming dynasty, from the 15th century onward, Wuhu developed into a major commercial center and river port, and since that time has been known as a center of the rice trade.

From 1876, Wuhu was a treaty port, which allowed foreign traders to reside there. A huge, American-built Catholic church dates from this time. Trade in rice, wood, and tea flourished at Wuhu until the Warlord Era of the 1920s and 1930s, when bandits were active in the area.

During the Japanese occupation in the late 30's and early 40's, Chinese resistance fighters hid in the lakes around Wuhu, by submerging themselves and breathing through reeds.

Major industries only began to be developed in Wuhu after World War II, with the development of the textile industry, paper mills, and a large automobile factory. Despite this, Wuhu has lagged behind Ma'anshan and Tongling in industrial production, and remains primarily a commercial and collecting center for trade in rice, silk, cotton, tea, wheat and eggs.

Culture
In the Tang dynasty (619-907), the poet Du Fu 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 lacquer 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. Sheng Shan (Sacred Hill) is the legendary location of his sword grinding rock and tempering pool.

Food
Wuhu and Anqing are noted centers of the Yanjiang cuisine. It specializes in 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.