Tongling 铜陵市

Setting and landscape

Tongling sits where the Yangtze plain gives way to the hills of southern Anhui: an alluvial plain follows the river through the middle, with low hills to the south-east and north-west. The Yangtze, flowing north-east, splits the city into eastern and western parts and carries sandbar islands such as Heyuezhou (和悦洲); west of the river lie Chenyao (陈瑶湖), Baidang (白荡湖) and Caizi (菜子湖) lakes. The city government counts more than 640 km² of wetland, over a fifth of its area.

History

The Eastern Han set up a Tongguan (铜官, 'copper office') town here, and under the Tang the state ran copper mines known as Tongguanchang (铜官场). Tongguan Mountain (铜官山) first appears in the records in 888, when Yang Xingmi (杨行密) camped at its foot, and in 951, under the Southern Tang, Yi'an County (义安县) was renamed Tongling. On 21 April 1949, after the Yangtze crossing campaign, Tongling became what the city government calls the first city south of the river to be liberated. Tongguanshan City, founded on the mines in 1956, merged with Tongling County as Tongling City in 1958; Zongyang County (枞阳县) joined from Anqing (安庆) in 2015.

The Dagongshan–Fenghuangshan copper mine sites (大工山—凤凰山铜矿遗址) are a national key protected site, and in 2025 the city culture and tourism bureau set out plans for a provincial archaeological park there and a World Heritage bid for the ancient copper mines of southern Anhui.

What to see

Datong (大通), a town on the Yangtze in Jiaoqu (郊区), was historically an important river port and is listed as a Chinese Historic and Cultural Town; the town and Heyuezhou island form a historic protection zone. Fushan (浮山) in Zongyang County is an early Cretaceous volcano and a Buddhist mountain, now a national geopark, national forest park and AAAA scenic area, and the city listed its cliff inscriptions (摩崖石刻) among key relic-protection projects in 2025. Tianjing Lake (天井湖) and Phoenix Mountain (凤凰山) are also national AAAA scenic areas.

Food and local products

Tongling white ginger (铜陵白姜) is a geographical-indication product, and its cultivation system is a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System. The city culture and tourism bureau names Taiping baked flatbread (太平烧饼), Taiping stinky dried tofu (太平臭干) and Shun'an crisp candy (顺安酥糖) among the city's intangible-heritage specialities.

Getting oriented

The government sits in Tongguan District (铜官区). The Beijing–Fuzhou and Nanjing–Anqing high-speed lines cross here, as do the Beijing–Taipei and Shanghai–Chongqing expressways, and Yangtze bridges opened in 1995 and 2015, the second for road and rail. Jiuhua Mountain (九华山) is about 80 km to the south, and Chizhou Jiuhuashan Airport (池州九华山机场) about 20 km away.

Highlights

• Datong Ancient Town 大通古镇: Former Yangtze trading port in Jiaoqu, listed as a Chinese Historic and Cultural Town.
• Fushan 浮山: Early Cretaceous volcano and Buddhist mountain in Zongyang County; national geopark and AAAA scenic area.
• Dagongshan–Fenghuangshan copper mine sites 大工山—凤凰山铜矿遗址: National key protected site; in 2025 the city planned a provincial archaeological park there.
• Tongling white ginger 铜陵白姜: Geographical-indication product whose cultivation system is a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System.