Anhui Province << ahn hway >> is an agricultural and industrial province in eastern China. Its name is sometimes spelled Anhwei. Anhui has an area of 54,000 square miles (139,900 square kilometers). Hefei is the capital and largest city.
The northern part of Anhui lies on a wide, flat area called the North China Plain. Two major rivers, the Huai in the north and the Yangtze in the south, flow through Anhui. Chao Lake, located in the middle of the province, ranks as one of the largest freshwater lakes in China. However, it is also one of the most polluted. The Huang Shan (also spelled Huangshan) mountain range rises in southern Anhui.
Anhui has rich deposits of coal and iron ore. The province is a major producer of rice and tea. Anhui is famous for making what the Chinese call the “four treasures” of the scholar—paper, ink, the brushes used for writing, and the ink stones on which the ink is ground and mixed with water.
The province of Anhui was established in 1667. The Japanese occupied most of Anhui during World War II (1939-1945). Heavy industry, especially steelmaking, expanded rapidly in Anhui after the war. The University of Science and Technology of China, one of China’s leading universities, was founded in Beijing but moved to Hefei in the early 1970’s.
