Tongling () is a

prefecture-level city A prefecture-level city () or prefectural city is an administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China (PRC), ranking below a province of China, province and above a Counties of the People's Republic of China, county in China's ...

in southern

Anhui Anhui is an inland Provinces of China, province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiang ...

province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. A river port along the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

, Tongling borders

Wuhu Wuhu () is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Anhui province of China, 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 n ...

to the east, Chizhou to the southwest and

Anqing Anqing ( zh, s=, t=安慶, p=Ānqìng, l=, also Yicheng, Nganking and formerly Hwaining, now the name of Huaining County) is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Anhui province of China, province, China, People's Republic of China. Its popu ...

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. At the end of 2024 and the beginning of 2025, the permanent population will be 1.302 million.The asteroid 12418 Tongling was named after the city.

History

Tongling has been famous as a beautiful mountain city since its origins in the

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

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 Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

(1644–1911) dynasties, the Japanese occupation of 1938–45, and especially under the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

government since 1949.Tongling has a long history and produced many talented people. It is one of the important birthplaces of China's bronze culture. The history of copper mining and smelting has lasted for more than 3,000 years without interruption. Tongling has been a mining center since the 7th century CE. While it has only been an

industrial city An industrial city or industrial town is a town or city in which the municipal economy, at least historically, is centered around industry, with important factories or other production facilities in the town. It has been part of most countries' ...

for the second half of the 20th century.

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 and

Nanling County Nanling County () is a county in the southeast of Anhui Province, China. It is under the administration of Wuhu City. Administrative divisions Nanling County is divided to 8 towns. Climate References Wuhu {{Wuhu-geo-stub ...

to the south, Guichi District of Chizhou to the southwest, and, northwest across the Yangtze, Wuwei County and Zongyang County.

Climate

Tongling City has a northern subtropical humid monsoon climate. The climate in Tongling is warm and humid, with heavy rain in spring and summer, hot summer, dry autumn, mild winter, long frost-free period and distinct four seasons.

Administration

The

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 ...

and 1

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

. * Tongguan District () * Jiao District () * Yi'an District () * Zongyang County () In 2012, the provincial government made plans to cede Zongyang County from

City to Tongling City, in order to grant the latter land across the Yangtze. ;Defunct divisions * Tongguanshan District () * Shizishan District ()

Transport

As of November 2017, Tongling has two bridges across the Yangtze River. The Tongling Yangtze River Bridge is a double-deck cable-stayed and suspension coordinated system bridge with a total length of 11.88 kilometers and a main span of 988 meters. It has three river crossing functions: expressway, intercity railway, and freight railway.

Rail

Tongling is served by the Nanjing–Tongling, Tongling–Jiujiang, Lujiang-Tongling Railways, Nanjing–Anqing Intercity Railway and Hefei-Fuzhou High-Speed Railway.

Twin towns

Statue of Schiller in Tianjinghu scenery park

The contract of town-twinning with the city of Marbach am Neckar in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, 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, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

(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 The Borough of Halton () is a local authority district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, North West England. It is administered by Halton Borough Council, a unitary authority since 1998. The borough contains the towns ...

in England since 1997. A Chinese friendship garden was created in the grounds of Runcorn Town Hall in 2006, including a bronze statue gifted by the twin city of Tongling.

Culture

Tongling has built 5 public libraries, 5 cultural centers, 2 museums, 1 art gallery and 1 theater. Tongling Museum is a special museum with copper culture as its main theme. It fully displays the status that Tongling should have in the history of China's bronze civilization, and displays the development of copper culture and the prospects of the copper industry.

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 National Civilized City