Basic Information of Bozhou

Natural Geography
Bozhou is located in the northwestern part of Anhui Province, situated at the southern end of the North China Plain and bordering Anhui and Henan. Its geographical shape is elongated diagonally from southeast to northwest, with a length of about 150 kilometers from north to south and a width of about 90 kilometers from east to west. The total administrative area of it covers 8,374 square kilometers.
The rivers within Bozhou belong to the Huai River water system, and the main rivers include the Guo River, Xifei River, and Cihuai New River. Among them, the Guo River stretches for 173 kilometers within the city and covers a basin area of 4,039 square kilometers, which is referred to as the “mother river” of Bozhou people.
Bozhou enjoys a favorable climate, belonging to the temperate semi-humid climate. The monsoon is significant, providing moderate temperatures, ample sunlight, moderate rainfall, a long frost-free period and four distinct seasons. The average annual temperature is 15.2°C, the average annual precipitation is 867.2 millimeters, the average annual sunshine duration is 2,040.9 hours, and the frost-free period lasts about 219 days. The climate characterized by simultaneous rainfall and warmth throughout the growing season provides excellent conditions for agricultural production in Bozhou, making it suitable for crops such as winter wheat, soybeans, corn, cotton, tobacco, as well as medicinal herbs like white peony, Chinese peony, and chrysanthemum, promoting diverse business.
Bozhou is rich in resources and people’s well-being, and it has a robust momentum in developing multi-level composite industries such as medicinal herbs, brewing, and mineral deposits. It leads the nation in terms of transactions of Chinese medicinal herbs, production of Chinese herbal decoctions, and processing of health tea. Renowned brands of Baijiu, such as Gujinggong liquor and others, enjoy nationwide recognition. The region boasts abundant underground coal and oil resources, with a cumulative proven resource reserve of 5.7 billion tons, among which coal amounts to 5.02 billion tons, ranking third in the province.
History
Bozhou, formerly known as “Bo” and also referred to as “Qiaocheng”, is an ancient city. The Chinese character “Bo” consists of two characters: “gao” at the top and “zhai” at the bottom, giving rise to the nickname “place of Gaozhai”. As far back as seven to eight thousand years ago, humans thrived in this area, making it one of the birthplaces of ancient Chinese culture. Shang Tang destroyed the Xia Dynasty and founded the Shang Dynasty, which was capitalized in Bozhou in 190, and he established Jifang Kingdom. In the second year of Emperor Wen’s reign in the Wei Dynasty (221), Qiao was designated as a “complementary capital”, and it was collectively referred to as one of the “Five Capitals” along with Xuchang, Chang’an, Luoyang, and Ye. In the first year of the Emperor Jing’s reign in the Northern Zhou Dynasty (579), South Yanzhou was renamed to Bozhou, marking the first appearance of the name “Bozhou”. In the fifteenth year of the Zhizheng era in the Yuan Dynasty (1355), Liu Futong rebelled against the Yuan Dynasty and declared Han Lin’er as emperor in Bozhou, establishing the Song regime, with Bozhou as its capital, which marked Bozhou’s significance as an ancient capital during three different dynasties. In 1912, Bozhou was changed to Bo County. In August 1948, Bozhou City was established. In February 1949, the city and county were merged, restoring the Bo County administration, which was then under the jurisdiction of the Fuyang Commissioner’s Office.
Administrative Division
Bozhou administers the following subdivisions: Guoyang County, Mengcheng County, Lixin County, and Qiaocheng District.
According to data provided by the Municipal Bureau of Statistics, as of the end of 2022, Bozhou’s resident population reached 4.96 million.
Geographical Advantages
Bozhou is renowned as the “thoroughfare between the north and south and the pivot of Henan”, and during the Ming and Qing dynasties, it was even referred to as “Little Nanjing” due to its thriving maritime trade. Since its establishment as a city, Bozhou has consistently invested in transportation infrastructure, further emphasizing its geographical and transportation advantages.
Currently, the Shangqiu-Hefei-Hangzhou High-Speed Railway is in operation, and the construction of Bozhou Airport is underway. Projects like the Fuyang-Mengcheng-Suzhou Intercity Railway, Bozhou-Mengcheng Expressway, Xuzhou-Huaibei-Fuyang Expressway (Bozhou section), Guo River waterway, and integrated port facilities are being accelerated, expanding the scope of Bozhou’s transportation network and facilitating better connectivity with other regions. There’s continuous effort in the construction of new and upgraded national and provincial trunk roads, as well as rural roads, forming a three-dimensional traffic corridor resembling the shape of the Chinese character “米” and the initial formation of a “one ring, seven horizontal and seven vertical” road network in the city center. The integrated transportation network supporting both local connectivity and external linkage continue to be improved.
Prominent Figures Throughout History
Bozhou has a rich heritage and nurtured many exceptional people.
Laozi, the founder of Taoism, was born in Guoyang and authored the Tao Te Ching, which presents a comprehensive philosophical system and is revered as the “King of Ten Thousand Classics”.
Zhuangzi, a distinguished philosopher, hailed from Mengcheng. His work A Happy Excursion is imbued with romanticism, which imparts wisdom for exploring the truths of the universe and principles of health.
Cao Cao, a notable political strategist, military leader, and litterateur of the Three Kingdoms period, was born in Qiaocheng. He rose to prominence during turbulent times, unifying northern China. Alongside his sons Cao Pi and Cao Zhi, he promoted the flourishing and prosperity of literature and arts, giving rise to the poignant and melancholic “Jian’an style”.
Eminent figures such as the monarch Shang Tang, Daoist patriarch Chen Tuan, legendary warrior Hua Mulan, poet Li Shen, Zhang Lei, one of the Four Disciples of Sushi, and the leader of the Nian Army Zhang Lexing are all talents from here.