Hefei

Hefei is a prefecture-level city in China and serves as the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui province. Situated north of Chao Lake on a low saddle crossing the northeastern extension of the Dabie Mountains, the city forms the divide between the Huai and Yangtze rivers.

What historical turning point reshaped ancient Hefei?

In the 3rd century AD, the region experienced a decisive historical turning point during the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford. Zhang Liao, a general of the Wei state, led 800 picked cavalry at Xiaoyao Ford to defeat a 200,000-strong army from the rival state of Wu. This confrontation initiated several decades of continuous warfare between Wu and Wei as they fought over the crucial border territory.

How did later centuries transform the settlement?

Following periods of administrative shifts and border conflicts between northern and southern states, the present-day city dates from the Song dynasty, migrating from a location previously situated farther north. During the Song dynasty, the area functioned as a vital defense center for the Southern Song against Jin invaders and operated as a flourishing trade hub. After the conclusion of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Hefei was established as the capital of Anhui, eventually growing into a major modern center for scientific research, home to institutions such as the University of Science and Technology of China.

Hefei is a prefecture-level city and the political, economic, and cultural center of Anhui province, China. Situated in the central portion of the province north of Chao Lake, it stands on a low saddle crossing the northeastern extension of the Dabie Mountains, forming the divide between the Huai and Yangtze rivers.

What historical turning points reshaped Hefei?

Hefei's trajectory has been defined by several major historical shifts, ranging from ancient military conflicts to modern industrialization. In the 3rd century AD, the city was the site of the Battle of Xiaoyao Ford, where Wei state general Zhang Liao led 800 cavalry to defeat a 200,000-strong army from the rival Wu state. During the 10th century, it briefly served as the capital of the independent Wu kingdom from 902 to 938 and acted as an important center of the Southern Tang state.

The construction of the Tianjin–Pukou railway farther east in 1912 temporarily turned Hefei into a provincial backwater, shifting its importance to Bengbu. However, a major historical turning point occurred in the 20th century as administrative and industrial shifts revived the region. Following the Chinese victory in the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1945, Hefei was made the capital of Anhui, and the provincial government transferred there from Anqing in 1945, with its designation as provincial capital finalized in 1952. Although it was a quiet market town of roughly 30,000 residents in the mid-1930s, its population grew more than tenfold over the following 20 years.

Further transformation arrived through infrastructure and educational developments. In 1932–1936, a Chinese company built a railway linking Hefei with Yuxikou and the Huai River at Huainan, reviving the local economy. Industrial growth accelerated in the mid-20th century with the opening of a thermal generating plant in the early 1950s, a cotton mill in 1958, and subsequent iron, steel, chemical, and machine-tool operations supported by the Third Front construction. Education and scientific research became foundational to modern Hefei when the University of Science and Technology of China relocated to the city in 1970, followed by the opening of a Chinese Academy of Sciences branch in 1978 and electronics institutes in the early 1980s. In 1991, Hefei became one of the first Chinese cities to establish a High-Tech Industrial Zone.

Today, Hefei stands as a leading world city for scientific research, ranking 12th globally, 8th in the Asia-Pacific, and 7th in China according to the 2025 Nature Index. It hosts the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, an experimental superconducting tokamak magnetic fusion energy reactor, alongside major higher education institutions including the University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei University of Technology, Anhui University, Anhui Agricultural University, and Anhui Medical University.

According to the 2020 census, the total population of Hefei reached 9,369,881 inhabitants, while its built-up or metropolitan area—comprising four urban districts alongside the urbanized counties of Feidong, Feixi, and Changfeng—was home to 7,754,481 people.

For more geographical and regional details, consult the GeoNames record for Hefei and the comprehensive documentation available on Wikipedia.