Situated at the foot of Mt. Huangshan in the south of
Anhui Province and bordering on Jiangxi and Zhejiang Provinces. Huangshan is a new city
famed as an emerging tourist attraction.
Huangshan City, earlier named Huizhou Prefecture and known in ancient
times as Xin'an, was established in July 1988. Besides the Huangshan Mountain Scenic Zone,
the new city has jurisdiction over three districts (Tunxi, earlier Tunxi City; Huizhou,
earlier Yansi Town in Shexian County; and Huangshan, earlier Taiping County) and four
counties (Shexian, Xiuning, Yixian and Qimen), with a total area of 9,807square kilometers
and a population of 1,400,000. Tunxi is where the municipal
government located. |
Huangshan City is rich in historical origins.
According to records, it was under the jurisdiction of Yangzhou Prefecture in the remote
antiquity. In the early years of the Qin Dynasty (221---207BC), two counties (Shexian and
Yixian) were established, which were divided by Sun Quan (king of Wu) in the Three
Kingdoms period (220---265) into six counties forming a new prefecture. In the first year
of Taikang's reign (280) in the Jin Dynasty, the prefecture was renamed Xin’an. It
was not until the third year of Xuanhe's reign (1121) in the Northern Song Dynasty that
the capital of Huizhou Prefecture, as it was called in its day, was set up, under which
lay most of the prefectures and counties belonging to the present-day Huangshan City. It
is more 
than 2,300 long years since the earliest records. As a matter of fact, there were
human activities at the foot of Mt. Huangshan as early as the New Stone Age. The earlier
inhabitants, known as mountaineers , lived in compact communities mainly along the
upper reaches of the Xin'an River (in the present--day Xiuning). Later they moved
downstream further east and opened up farmland there. In 1959, two graves of the Western
Zhou Dynasty were excavated in the western suburbs of Tunxi. And among the unearthed
relics were stoneware, copper birds and jade ornaments, as well as a great amount of
glazed pottery and bronze ware. This indicates that over 2,700 years ago the ancestors of
the Huizhou people had opened up the area in the upper reaches of the Xin’an River. |
| Within the boundaries of Huangshan Municipality, peaks
rise beyond peaks and rivers run across rivers, with Mt. Huangshan standing dominantly in
the middle. The damp climate accounts for the verdant mountain ranges and rich natural
resources. The scenic zone is 500 li in circumference, where thousands of peaks is
shrouded by mists and clouds all the year round. The majestic and enchanting scenery is
marked by quaint pines, grotesque rocks, the sea of clouds and hot springs, well known as
the four wonders . Mt. Huangshan has been |
listed by UNESCO in the Inventory of the World’s Cultural and
Natural Heritage and is now a world--famous summer resort and tourist destination.
The Qiyun Mountain in Xiuning County has been a Taoist sacred place
south of the Yangtze River since the Tang Dynasty. The mountain is not high, but it is
attractive with its peculiar antique appeal-the endless fantastic peaks, the colorful
cliffs, the layers of sandstone shaped like a multi-storeyed house,
and the caves,
gullies, springs and waterfalls scattered here and there. The story runs that Emperor
JiaJing of the Ming Dynasty once sent his men to the Qiyun Mountain to pray for a
son, and as his wish was fulfilled later, he approved the construction of
the "Heavenly Master' s Palace", |
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