Wuhu

About Wuhu

Where the Qingyi River slips into the Yangtze, a slim Ming-dynasty pagoda has watched over Wuhu's waterfront for centuries. This river port in southern Anhui grew rich on rice and river trade, was opened to foreign commerce as a treaty port in the late 19th century, and today is one of the province's largest and most dynamic cities, known across China for its theme parks and car factories.

The old core is pleasantly walkable. Jinghu, the Mirror Lake, sits in the middle of downtown, ringed by willows and pedestrian shopping streets, and the restored Wuhu Ancient City nearby gathers lanes of grey-brick houses around the Confucian Temple. A short climb up Zheshan hill leads to Guangji Temple, a stop for pilgrims heading to Jiuhua Mountain, and along the Yangtze a promenade passes red-brick buildings from the treaty-port era.

Wuhu also keeps some unusual traditions. Its iron paintings, delicate landscapes forged from wrought iron, have been made here since the Qing dynasty, and its roasted melon seeds became a national snack. Families come for Fantawild's theme parks.