Hefei became a commercial center over two thousand years ago. Its position of strategic importance made it a battlefield in many historical conflicts. It is now the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui Province with newly developed industries including iron and steel, machine building, electronics, construction materials, textiles, dyes, and chemicals.

Leisure Ford (Xiaoyaojin)

Once a ferry wharf on the Feishui River, Xiaoyaojin is now a beautiful park in the northeast corner of Hefei. The famous battle in which Zhang Liao, a general of King Cao Cao of the Kingdom of Wei (220-265), trounced Sun Quan, the King of the Kingdom of Wu, took place here. There is a tomb in the park containing Zhang Liao’s personal effects.

Terrace for Training Archers (Jiaomnutai)

This terrace is inside the east gate of Hefei. It is five meters high and covers 3,700 square meters. According to the city’s records, Cao Cao had the terrace erected for training archers I the use of the crossbow to resist Sun Quan’s navy. A well on the terrace is called High Well (Gaojing) or roof tops of the bungalows in the streets below. Grooves in the rock, made by the ropes used for hauling up water, are still visible on the rim. Mingjiao Temple on the terrace contains an iron Buddha six meters high and weighing over five tons.

Temple of Magistrate Bao

This temple was built on Xianghua Mound in Baohe Park in memory of Bao Zheng (999-1062) of the Northern Song Dynasty. Born in Hefei, Bao Zheng was an honest official known as “Upright Magistrate Bao”, who had once and his portrait carved on a stone, as well as relics unearthed from his tomb. A well beside the temple is called “Upright Spring (Lianquan),” and it is said that corrupt officials of the town dared not drink the springwater. The willow-lined Xianghua Mound is surrounded by water, in which water chestnuts and lotus flowers grow lavishly, and is connected to land by a bridge. Lotus roots flourish in the nearby Baohe River.

(china.org.cn)