Anshan

Anshan 鞍山市
Anshan Iron and Steel Works, the Anshan railway station, Lishan Temple
Location of Anshan City jurisdiction in Liaoning
Anshan Location of the city centre in Liaoning
Coordinates (Anshan municipal government): 41°06′29″N 122°59′38″E / 41.108°N 122.994°E / 41.108; 122.994
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Liaoning
Municipal seat	Tiedong District
Districts and Counties	List Tai'an County Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County
Government
•  Postal code	114010
Area code	412
ISO 3166 code	CN-LN-03
Licence plates	辽C
Administrative division code	210300
Website	Anshan.gov.cn

Anshan (

The area of Anshan has been inhabited since prehistoric times. It has been a site of iron mining and metallurgy for over 2,000 years.^[5]: 289 The area remained of little significance, a small city in Liaodong province, overshadowed by neighbouring Liaoyang city, until the mid-20th Century.

In 1587 Anshan was fortified by the

As part of the economic privileges that Japan forced China to cede in 1915, Japan obtained concessions in Anshan.[6]^: 29

From 1918 to 1945, Anshan was under Japanese colonial control and was a centre for modern iron and steel production.

With the defeat of Japan in 1945, Anshan was returned to China along with the rest of the Chinese Manchuria. Civil war continued between the Nationalists and the Communists. The Nationalist Government attempted to revive manufacturing in the area during their period of control from 1946 to 1948.[5]^{: 289–290} The Nationalists withdrew from Anshan in February 1948.^[6]: 91

The Communists entered the city on 28 February.^[6]: 97 Upon beginning governing in Anshan, Communist authorities sought to implement New Democracy by nationalizing some private enterprises with compensation and providing financial support to other private business.^[6]: 121 A significant amount of Japanese remained in Anshan, and they were governed indirectly by the CPC through an intermediary group of Japanese Communist cadre, which included members of the Japanese Communist Party who had been in the region before 1945, former Japanese soldiers who had been reeducated in Yan'an, and Japanese Communists recruited and trained by the CPC after 1945.^[6]: 122

The northeast of China was marked out to become a major industrial centre for the new People's Republic of China. Anshan became a key part of China's approach to "socialist industrialization" which, modeled after the Soviet approach, focused on the development of heavy industry

Anshan is reported to have served as a base for Soviet MIG fighter aircraft and pilots during the Korean War (1950–1953) in air combat operations against US/UN forces.[10]

In 1954, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru visited Anshan.^[6]: 1

On March 12, 1953, the city became a municipality under the Central Government's direct administration.

During the Cultural Revolution, on 17 August 1967, the Communist Party of China's central authorities issued the Resolution on the Anshan Question which criticized the CPC Angang Committee and the CPC Anshan City Committee members as capitalist roaders.^[6]: 253 Three days later, the Anshan City Military Control Committee was established by the People's Liberation Army with Zhang Feng and Chen Shaokun as the Committee directors.^[6]: 253 The Committee implemented military control over both Angang and Anshan.^[6]: 253 On 20 March 1968, the city's Revolutionary Committee was created.^[6]: 253

The State Council confirmed that Anshan should be in charge of Xiuyan County and Haicheng City in 1985.

The furnaces of the steel plant were changed in the 1980s to designs which blow oxygen in from the front. This increased the production and also reduced pollution. In the 1990s, they were additionally altered to blow oxygen in from the top as well. This further increases production and reduces pollution. In December 2000, all three production lines of Anshan Iron and Steel Company switched from mould-casting to continuous casting. This new technology has significantly reduced the dust and other pollution in the city. The new plant equipment is also much less labour-intensive. This has meant a reduction in the workforce has caused an unemployment problem in the city. A new drive to market Anshan as a tourist destination is hoped to help bolster the city's economy.

Sited north of the

: 明朝) for travellers who passed by on work duty.

Climate

Anshan has a

Siberian anticyclone

. The four seasons here are distinctive. Nearly half of the annual rainfall occurs in July and August. The monthly 24-hour average temperatures ranges from −7.6 °C (18.3 °F) in January to 25.9 °C (78.6 °F) in July, while the annual mean is 10.6 °C (51.1 °F). Sunshine is generous and amounts to 2,595.4 hours annually, while relative humidity averages 55%, ranging from 44% in April to 71% in July and August. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −26.9 °C (−16.4 °F) up to 36.7 °C (98.1 °F).

Climate data for Anshan, elevation 77 m (253 ft), (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1971–2025)
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	8.9 (48.0)	17.5 (63.5)	26.1 (79.0)	30.2 (86.4)	34.7 (94.5)	36.5 (97.7)	36.7 (98.1)	36.0 (96.8)	32.6 (90.7)	29.2 (84.6)	22.7 (72.9)	15.5 (59.9)	36.7 (98.1)
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	−3.3 (26.1)	1.2 (34.2)	8.4 (47.1)	17.4 (63.3)	24.2 (75.6)	28.0 (82.4)	30.0 (86.0)	29.2 (84.6)	24.9 (76.8)	17.1 (62.8)	7.1 (44.8)	−0.7 (30.7)	15.3 (59.5)
Daily mean °C (°F)	−7.6 (18.3)	−3.3 (26.1)	3.6 (38.5)	12.1 (53.8)	18.9 (66.0)	23.3 (73.9)	25.9 (78.6)	25.0 (77.0)	19.9 (67.8)	12.1 (53.8)	2.7 (36.9)	−5.0 (23.0)	10.6 (51.1)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	−11.2 (11.8)	−7.1 (19.2)	−0.5 (31.1)	7.5 (45.5)	14.1 (57.4)	19.0 (66.2)	22.3 (72.1)	21.4 (70.5)	15.5 (59.9)	7.7 (45.9)	−1.1 (30.0)	−8.6 (16.5)	6.6 (43.8)
Record low °C (°F)	−26.9 (−16.4)	−23.9 (−11.0)	−24.0 (−11.2)	−6.3 (20.7)	1.2 (34.2)	8.0 (46.4)	13.6 (56.5)	9.5 (49.1)	1.7 (35.1)	−6.2 (20.8)	−16.0 (3.2)	−24.5 (−12.1)	−26.9 (−16.4)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	8.1 (0.32)	10.1 (0.40)	17.7 (0.70)	37.2 (1.46)	65.4 (2.57)	87.6 (3.45)	154.8 (6.09)	180.2 (7.09)	54.7 (2.15)	44.9 (1.77)	27.6 (1.09)	13.0 (0.51)	701.3 (27.6)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	3.6	3.5	4.6	7.0	8.5	11.1	13.2	11.0	7.5	6.6	5.2	3.7	85.5
Average snowy days	5.7	4.8	4.2	1.2	0	0	0	0	0	0.4	4.3	6.0	26.6
Average relative humidity (%)	53	47	45	44	49	60	71	71	61	54	54	54	55
Mean monthly sunshine hours	186.1	196.4	236.2	241.5	270.5	238.5	213.6	222.4	236.3	213.2	173.1	167.6	2,595.4
Percentage possible sunshine	62	65	64	60	60	53	47	53	64	63	59	59	59
Source 1: China Meteorological Administration[11][12]
Source 2: Weather China[13]

Administrative divisions

Anshan is divided into four districts, one town, one county and one autonomous county.

Map
Tiedong Tiexi Lishan Qianshan Haicheng (city) Tai'an County Xiuyan County
Name	Chinese (S)	Hanyu Pinyin	Population (2003 est.)	Area (km2)	Density (/km2)
Tiedong District	铁东区	Tiědōng Qū	490,000	30	16,333
Tiexi District	铁西区	Tiěxī Qū	290,000	34	8,529
Lishan District	立山区	Lìshān Qū	420,000	55	7,636
Qianshan District	千山区	Qiānshān Qū	260,000	503	517
Haicheng City	海城市	Hǎichéng Shì	1,130,000	2,732	414
Tai'an County	台安县	Tái'ān Xiàn	380,000	1,393	273
Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County	岫岩满族 自治县	Xiùyán Mǎnzú Zìzhìxiàn	510,000	4,502	113

Economy

The north east of China is a major industrial zone and Anshan is one of the key sites of the north east. Anshan is in the midst of a at least a quarter of China's iron and coal resources.^[5]: 289 The city is renowned as "China's capital of iron and steel". Prior to the development of the Iron and Steel industries, Anshan was a relatively small city of little importance. As the steel mills expanded, so to did the city. Spin off industries developed alongside the steel plant making the area a centre of heavy industry.

As a joint Sino-Japanese venture, Anshan Zhenzing Iron Ore Company Unlimited was started in Anshan in 1918. When Japan occupied Northeast China in 1931, these mills were turned into a Japanese owned monopoly. Anshan subsequently became part of the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo and additional industries developed around the iron and steel mills. Due to its mills, the city became a significant strategic industrial hub during World War II and as such, was subject to constant Allied bombing during the war.

Total production of processed iron in Manchuria reached 1,000,000 tonnes in 1931–32, of which almost half was made by Shōwa Steel in Anshan. Iron production grew to 7,000,000 tonnes in 1938 and by 1941, Shōwa Steel Works had a total capacity production of 1,750,000 tonnes of iron bars and 1,000,000 tonnes of processed steel. By 1942, Anshan's Shōwa Steel Works total production capacity reached 3,600,000 tonnes, making it one of the major iron and steel centers in the world.^[8]

In 1945 the steel plant was looted by Soviet forces. The Republic of China government partially repaired the site, but it was destroyed again during the Chinese civil war that saw the Communist forces victorious. The mills were once again repaired and Anshan Iron and Steel Company (Angang) was founded in 1948. From then to 2001, the company produced 290 million tons of steel, 284 million tons of pig iron and 192 million tons of rolled steel. Until ^[when?] the opening of a new steel plant in Shanghai, Angang was the largest steel producer in China. Today, Angang consists of three steelworks with 13 rolling mills plus supporting plants which produce coke, refractory materials and machinery for the steel plants. The company has an annual production capacity of 10 million tons of pig iron, 10 million tons of steel and 9.5 million tons of rolled steel. A quarter of China's total iron ore reserves, about 10 billion tons, are located in Anshan, ensuring that the city will remain an important steel producer well into the future.^[14]

Anshan is rich in other mineral wealth too. The southern and south eastern areas of Anshan are rich in magnesite, with reserves equivalent to a quarter of all worldwide reserves. Anshan also has the world's largest reserve of talcum, accounting for fully one third of the entire world supply. The Xiuyan area of Anshan is known for the production of jade. The largest single jade stone ever found came from Xiuyan, now carved into the form of a Buddha, it is a major tourist attraction in the area.

Anshan is serviced by Shenyang airport, about 90 kilometres (56 miles) to the north, and by two major highways linking it with Shenyang and Dalian.^[4]

The government of Anshan established a

Anshan has been identified by the

Out of the 3,584,000 people living in Anshan prefecture, 519,400 are ethnic Manchu, a holdover from northeast China's historical rule by the ethnic group. They are mainly in or around the Xiuyan Man regional ethnic autonomy area which is within Anshan's borders. During the last years of the Qing dynasty, large numbers of Han people migrated to the north east in search of work. This pattern continued into the 20th century. The development of Anshan as a large industrial center during and after World War II caused the city's population to increase rapidly, and the new arrivals began to significantly outnumber the local Man people. As of the last census data, Anshan was home to 48 Chinese ethnic groups. The Han people make up the lion's share at 3,020,500 people. Next, after the Han and Man people, come the Hui and the Chaoxian with 23,400 and 10,000 people respectively. The Hui population is widely dispersed but the Chaoxian population is mostly concentrated in Teixi (West district) and Qianshan district.^[17]

Anshan has a population of 3.65 million at the 2010 census. As the city has expanded, the area between Anshan and the neighbouring city of Liaoyang has become urbanised, with little or no farmland visible on route between them. According to the 2010 census, the conurbation of urban Anshan and urban Liaoyang districts contains 2.17 million inhabitants.

The city of Anshan can be divided into districts. The East district, Tiedong has a population of 452,900. The western district, Tiexi has 311,600 people. These two districts are demarcated by the railway lines that run north to south through the city. The north western portion of the city is dominated by the large steel works of Angang. The district of Lishan houses 425,600 people and the suburbs of Qianshan district have 366,200 soles. Within Anshan prefecture lies the subordinate city of Haicheng which accounts for 1,181,100 people. The neighbouring subordinate town of Tai'an has 354,700 people.

Anshan has no river or sea port. The nearby military airport, Anshan Teng'ao Airport (AOG), also accepts commercial domestic flights. Currently there are five routes in operation, Anshan–Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing, with one flight each per day throughout the year. Anshan Teng'ao Airport is 15 km (9 mi) southwest of the city centre. In addition to the small terminal building at the airport, there is also a city terminal situated just off Qianshan Road in Tiexi district. Passengers may buy tickets and check-in at the city terminal, from which they are taken by coach to the main airport terminal. The nearest other major commercial airports are Shenyang Taoxian International Airport (SHE), about 90 km (56 mi) to the north and Dalian Zhoushuizi International Airport about 270 km (170 mi) to the south.

The city is beside the

Local transportation is primarily by bus or taxi. Anshan used to have a single tram line—along Zhonghua Avenue, through the city centre and past Angang main gate—but this has been closed and the tracks removed. Due to the flat topography of the city centre, bicycles are popular. Almost all roads have a wide cycle lane on each side. Often this lane is further protected by a traffic island that separates the bikes from larger motor vehicles.

In recent years, Anshan has been trying to throw off its image as a heavy industrial town along with the dirt and pollution that goes with such industry. It has remodeled itself as a tourist destination.^{[citation needed]}

Foremost among the attractions in Anshan is Qianshan National Park which is about 18 km (11 mi), by road, to the southeast of the city. Qianshan, literally 'Thousand Mountains', is an abbreviation of 'Thousand lotus flower mountains'. The peaks were said to resemble the petals of the lotus flower which had been dropped to earth by a goddess. The park area of 44 km² (17 sq mi), is filled with both Buddhist and Taoist temples, monasteries and nunneries. It is one of few locations where both religions are found sharing the same site. Cars are not allowed within the park.^{[citation needed]}

One of the mountains in the park is believed to resemble Maitreya Buddha. It is claimed to be the largest naturally occurring image of Maitreya in the world. Several temples have been built on the peaks of the overlooking hills. Near the Buddha is a bird park.

Another major tourist location is "219 Park". The name of the park commemorates the liberation of Anshan by the People's Liberation Army on February 19, 1948. The park contains the Dongshan (East Mountain) scenic area as well as numerous lakes.

Of particular note is the

Anshan contains naturally hot spring water spas. There are four spas/hotels in Anshan. Visitors may shower and bathe in the spring water. At Tanggangzi Spa, once frequented by the Qing Emperors of China, visitors may have mud treatment where they are buried in hot volcanic sand, which has been infused with the spring water. The geothermal energy is also used to provide hot steam and water for winter heating throughout the area.

The city contains two large universities:

• Anshan Normal University
• University of Science and Technology, Liaoning

• Kei Tomiyama (1938–1995), Japanese actor, voice actor, and narrator, born in Anshan
• Chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of the 12th National People's Congress
• Ann Hui (b. 1947), Hong Kong New Wave film director, born in Anshan. Hui's 2006 film The Postmodern Life of My Aunt was partly set and filmed in Anshan.^[23]
• Anshan Iron and Steel Group
• Chen Xiaoxu (1965–2007), actress noted for playing Lin Daiyu
• Tang Xiao'ou (1968-2023), computer scientist and co-founder of SenseTime
• Lei Jiayin (b. 1983), actor noted for playing Chen Junsheng in The First Half of My Life
• Du Jing (b. 1984), female badminton player, former women's double champion
• Zhang Xiaofei (b. 1986), actress noted for her performance in Hi, Mom
• Sichuan Longfor
• Beijing Renhe
• Li Jiahang (b. 1987), actor noted for playing Fu Erkang in New My Fair Princess.
• Li Man (b. 1988), actress noted for her role in Zhang Yimou'sCurse of the Golden Flower.
• Li Xiaoxia (b. 1988), female table tennis player, Grand Slam champion.
• Guo Yue, table tennis player, 2007 women's world champion.
• Ma Long
  (b. 1988), male table tennis player, former world-ranked number one.
• Wang Yanlin (b. 1989), actor
• Beiwen Zhang (b. 1990), Chinese-born American badminton player
• Xu Mengtao (b. 1990), 2022 Olympic Champion aerial skier.
• Xu Minghao (stage name The8; b. 1997), member of popular K-pop group Seventeen
  , born in Anshan

• List of twin towns and sister cities in China

External links

Look up Anshan or An-shan in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Official website (in Chinese)