Port · Industrial centre · Anhui
Wuhu
芜湖
Yangtze rice market and car-making city
Wuhu is a prefecture-level city in south-eastern Anhui on the south bank of the Yangtze. Historically one of the four great rice markets of China and a treaty port from 1877, it is now a manufacturing centre known for automobiles, robotics and cement, and for the craft of Wuhu iron pictures.
Key facts
Overview
Wuhu lies where the Qingyi River joins the Yangtze, in the low lake country between the river and the southern Anhui hills. In the Qing and Republican periods it was one of China's four great rice markets, shipping grain downriver to Jiangnan.
Since the late 1990s it has become Anhui's leading industrial city after Hefei. It is the home of the car maker Chery and of large robotics and cement companies, and the Yangtze bridges tie it closely to Nanjing and Hefei.
Names and nicknames
鸠兹
The ancient name of the settlement, recorded from the Spring and Autumn period.
江城
“river city”
Common epithet for the city on the Yangtze.
History
The settlement of Jiuzi is mentioned in the Spring and Autumn Annals. Wuhu became a busy river port and tax station in the Ming. It opened as a treaty port in 1877 under the Chefoo Convention and grew as a rice market. After 1978 its industries expanded rapidly.
1877
Treaty port
Opened under the Chefoo Convention; the former British consulate stands on Fanluo Hill.
1882
Rice market moved to Wuhu
The shift of the rice trade from Zhenjiang made Wuhu one of China's four great rice markets.
1997
Chery founded
The city-owned car maker grew into one of China's largest vehicle exporters.
Landmarks
Park or garden
Jinghu (Mirror Lake)
镜湖
Lake in the city centre surrounded by parks and old streets.
Temple or shrine
Guangji Temple and Zheshan Pagoda
广济寺
Temple and Song-era pagoda on Zheshan hill, associated with Jiuhuashan pilgrims.
Street or quarter
Wuhu Old City
芜湖古城
Restored lanes of the old walled town near Jinghu.
Neighbourhoods
Zhongshan Road
中山路步行街
Pedestrian shopping street by the lake.
Food
Shrimp-roe noodles
虾籽面
Noodles in a broth flavoured with dried shrimp roe.
Knife-cut noodles
小刀面
Thin hand-cut noodles, a local breakfast.
Culture
Wuhu is known for iron pictures (铁画), wrought-iron landscapes first made by the smith Tang Tianchi in the Qing dynasty with the painter Xiao Yuncong. The Ming–Qing city was a stopping place for pilgrims to Jiuhuashan and for travellers on the Yangtze.
Getting around
- Wuhu station is on high-speed lines to Hefei, Nanjing and Huangshan; a monorail system serves the city.
- Wuhu Xuanzhou Airport lies to the south-east.
Day trips
Jiuhuashan
九华山
The Buddhist mountain of Dizang in Chizhou, one of the Four Sacred Mountains.
Caishiji
采石矶
Cliff above the Yangtze in Ma'anshan, where legend says Li Bai drowned trying to embrace the moon's reflection.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Wuhu Municipal People's Government — Wuhu Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Wuhu — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Anhui
- Hefei合肥Capital · Industrial centre · Historic cityScience city on Chaohu, from Three Kingdoms fortress to electric-car hub
- Huangshan黄山Scenic area · Historic city · Cultural centreThe Yellow Mountain and the villages of old Huizhou
- Anqing安庆Historic city · Cultural centre · PortOld provincial capital on the Yangtze, home of Huangmei opera and the Tongcheng school