Located in south-central Anhui Province, Tongling is one of the core cities of the Yangtze River Economic Belt with a permanent population of about 1.301 million and the land area of 3,008 square kilometers.

Tongling is rich in resources and has over 30 kinds of rare metal minerals with proved reserves. The reserves of copper, gold, silver and limestone in Tongling top the list in the province, while that of pyrite ranks first in East China and second across the country. Tongling, the first copper industry base of China, produced the first batch of melted copper and copper ingots of the country. Copper extraction and smelting in the city can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou Dynasties about 3,000 years ago. It is the birthplace of "Tongcheng School of Literature", the most distinguished among the mid-Qing Dynasty schools of literature.

(Photo/Xu Hao)