Xuancheng

Archeological digs in Xuancheng have found pottery and stoneware indicative of the Liangzhu Culture. During the Spring and Autumn period, the area belonged to the State of Wu, although, upon the decline of Wu, the area was also ruled by the State of Chu and the State of Yue, respectively. Under the Qin dynasty, the area was administered as Zhang Commandery (Chinese: 鄣郡), which became the Danyang Commandery in 109 BCE, under the Western Han dynasty. During the Danyang Commandery, Wanling (Chinese: 宛陵, presently Xuanzhou District, the site of the Xuancheng Municipal Government) served as the administrative center. Xuanzhou has been the political, economic and cultural center of administration since then. In 281 CE, Xuancheng Commandery was established. Xuancheng became a prefecture-level city in 2000.

Its terrain is varied and complicated, basically sloping downward from the south to the north. Its landform can be approximately divided into five types: mountain, hill, valley and basin, hillock and plain. The south and southeast regions belong to ranges of Tianmu Mountain, while the southwest and west regions are respectively parts of ranges of Mt. Huangshan and Mt. Jiuhua. Qingliang Peak is also located within Xuancheng. 59.34% of the city's area is forested. The city has a subtropical humid monsoon climate, with four distinct seasons and abundant precipitation. Of the four seasons, summer is the longest. Its annual average temperature falls round 15.6C (60.1F). Most of the rainfall occurs in summer. The plum rain season lasts from mid-June to early July.

In Xuancheng, Jianghuai Mandarin and Wu Chinese are spoken as well as Standard Mandarin. Xuancheng is a city with 2,000 years of history and cultural relics. It has a profound cultural heritage and rich tourism resources. There are many scenic areas, such as the Anhui Research Center for Chinese Alligator Reproduction (ARCCAR), which is a large captive breeding base for the endangered Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis). There are also four unique scenes – Taiji Cave, Peach Blossom Pool, Jing Ting Mountain, Zhangshan Canyon. Other attractions include cultural sites of the New Fourth Army, the Ancestral Hall of the Hu Family in Jixi (the former residence of Hu Shih), the Jiang's Village in Jingde, and so on. …