Bordering Jiangsu, Shandong, Anhui and Henan provinces, Bozhou lies in the northwest of Anhui Province and the center of the Huanghuai Plain. It has under its jurisdiction three counties, namely Woyang, Mengcheng and Lixin, and one district, Qiaocheng.
Being one of the birthplaces of the Chinese people, Bozhou has a history of more than 3,700 years according to written records. Even as early in the Shang Dynasty (17th- 11th century BC), Bozhou was a relatively advanced city in economy and culture, and one of the civilized cities in the world at that time.
The long history, splendid ancient culture and the so many famous people left Bozhou plenty of valuable ancient relics. Bozhou has 18 key cultural relics sites under state and provincial level protection, 36 under municipal protection and 150 ordinary ones. Among them, the famous ones are the Huaxi Building with marvelous carvings and colorful paintings, the Yuchi Temple relics reputed as the first primitive village of china, the Underground Pass way for Army Deployment in the Period of Cao Cao, which was claimed as the oldest and most intact underground Great Wall; the Huazu Buddhist Convent, which has 8 scenic spots as the sound of the hut, the fragrance of the medicine garden, the cry for longevity by the five animals and the convent has the name inscribed by Guo Moruo; the tombs of the Cao family with fine architecture, the Tianjing Palace and the Zhuangzi Ancestral Hall with grand buildings, the tombs of the hat and clothes of the respectable King of Chengtang in the Shang Dynasty, the Baiyi Law School, the old temples of the Muslims, the 72 old streets and 36 old roads with characteristics of the Ming and Qing dynasties. A lot of famous persons were born in Bozhou, such as Laozi — the founder of the Taoism, Zhuangzi — the sage, Cao Cao — the King of the Wei Kingdom, and Huatuo — the highly skilled doctor. In 1995, the General Secretary of CPC, Jiang Zemin inscribed Bozhou as Hometown of Huatuo, Village of Medicine, far spreading the fame of the capital of medicine.
Bozhou is also famous for its wine. Represented by the Gujing imperial wine, the wine of Bozhou weighs to some extent in the wine industry of China.
As the gold triangle of ox, Bozhou has created a new situation featuring ox husbandry in a large scale, professional development and corporate management. Bozhou is a major producer of paulownia and poplar; woods are exported to Japan and Southeast Asian countries.
Bozhou was approved by the State Council as a city directly under the jurisdiction of the provincial government in June 2000. It is a cultural and historical city at the state level and an excellent tourist city of China.
(Source: chinaculture.org)
