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Dangtu County

County in Anhui, China

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Dangtu County (simplified Chinese: 当涂县; traditional Chinese: 當涂縣; pinyin: Dāngtú Xiàn) is one of three counties under the jurisdiction of the prefecture-level city of Ma'anshan in the southeast of Anhui Province, China.

Dangtu is one of the longest established counties in eastern China and formed part of the Taiping Prefecture during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

In September 2012, three towns of Bowang, Danyang, and Xinshi from Dangtu County were split to form Bowang District.

01Geography

The county is situated immediately south of the Ma'anshan urban core, and its northern built-up region is effectively a suburb of the greater Ma'anshan area. It is situated on the eastern (right) bank of the Yangtze River and western shore of Shijiu Lake; it borders Jiangsu Province to the east and the prefecture-level city of Wuhu to the southwest. Its southern half is still largely rural.

County entrance sign
County entrance sign

02Administrative divisions

Dangtu County is divided into 10 towns and 1 township.

Towns
Township

03Demographics

According to the Sixth National Census, the county has a total population of about 410,000. The main urban center of Dangtu County is home to approximately 220,000 residents.

"Teytong" (Dangtu). Nieuhof: L'ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l'Empereur de la Chine, 1665
"Teytong" (Dangtu). Nieuhof: L'ambassade de la Compagnie Orientale des Provinces Unies vers l'Empereur de la Chine, 1665

04Culture

Dangtu County has a long history of more than 2000 years as a county. It was called Danyang (丹阳) in the Qin dynasty but during the Sui dynasty, the county became known as "Dangtu" (当涂). A famous poet named Xie Tiao (谢朓) once praised Dangtu County as the place of beautiful mountains and rivers. Li Bai had come to Dangtu seven times and his uncle was the former governor of Dangtu County. There is a memorial to the famous Chinese poet, Li Bai (aka Li Po c. 700-762), who is said to have drowned at Dangtu after attempting to embrace the reflection of the moon. Dangtu people have a sense of familiarity with many of the poems Li Bai wrote because the beautiful scenery he described in his poems are the actual places where the local people have lived all of their lives.

05Economy

Dangtu County, which borders the municipality of Nanjing in Jiangsu, is a relatively prosperous county, with a 2015 GDP per capita of approximately $6,000 (US). Its factories produce bricks, candles, electric lamps, and soap. Its major exports are frozen meat, textiles, leather and plastic products. Industry occupies about 60% of the Dangtu economy, with services generating 20% of economic output.

Watch videos about Dangtu CountyExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article Dangtu County, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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