Xuancheng

Xuancheng () is a city in the southeast of Anhui province. Archeological digs suggest that the city has been settled for over 4,000 years, and has been under formal administration since the Qin dynasty. Located in the lower Yangtze River drainage basin and Yangtze River Delta, it borders Wuhu to the northwest, Chizhou to the west, Huangshan to the southwest, and the coastal provinces of Zhejiang and Jiangsu to the southeast and northeast respectively. Archeological digs in Xuancheng have found pottery and stoneware indicative of the Liangzhu Culture. During the Spring and Autumn period, the area belonged to the State of Wu, although, upon the decline of Wu, the area was also ruled by the State of Chu and the State of Yue, respectively. Under the Qin dynasty, the area was administered as Zhang Commandery (), which became the zh in 109 BCE, under the Western Han Dynasty. During the Danyang Commandery, Wanling (, presently Xuanzhou District, the site of the Xuancheng Municipal Government) served as the administrative center. Xuanzhou has been the political, economic and cultural center of administration since then. In 281 CE, zh was established. Xuancheng became a prefecture-level city in 2000. Its terrain is varied and complicated, basically sloping downward from the south to the north. Its landform can be approximately divided into five types: mountain, hill, valley and basin, hillock and plain. The south and southeast regions belong to ranges of Tianmu Mountain, while the southwest and west regions are respectively parts of ranges of Mt. Huangshan and Mt. Jiuhua. zh is also located within Xuancheng. 59.34% of the city's area is forested. The city has a subtropical humid monsoon climate, with four distinct seasons and abundant precipitation. Of the four seasons, summer is the longest. Its annual average temperature falls round 15.6C (60.1F). Most of the rainfall occurs in summer. The plum rain season lasts from mid-June to early July. Xuancheng City administers seven county-level divisions, including one district, two county-level cities and five counties.