Economy

Xuancheng is known for its production of high quality Xuan paper (宣紙), Xuan writing brushes (宣笔), and Xuan ink stones (宣砚), all of which are used in traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting. These products make up a large proportion of the city's exports.

Geography

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.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.[1]

History

As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-24AD), Danyang Commandery was established on this region with Wanling (presently Xuanzhou District, the site of the Xuancheng Municipal Government) as its capital city. Xuanzhou has been the political, economic and cultural center of administration since then.