Sitting on the southeast bank of the Yangtze River, Wuhu borders Xuancheng to the southeast, Chizhou and Tongling to the southwest, Hefei City to the northwest, Ma'anshan city to the northeast, Jiangsu to the east, and is approximately 90 km (56 mi) southwest of Nanjing.

[3] Jiuzi was a site of conflict prior to 670 BCE between the Chu and the Wu during the Spring and Autumn period.

[3] During the time of the Qin dynasty, Jiuzi was placed under the jurisdiction of the Zhang Commandery (Chinese: 鄣郡; pinyin: Zhāng Jùn).

[3] In 223 CE, under the reign of Sun Quan of the Eastern Wu, the county seat was moved from the site of Jiuzi to the highlands along the north banks of the Qingyi River, to the southeast of contemporary Wuhu's urban core.

[3] In 627 CE, under the Tang dynasty, the area was re-organized as Xuan Prefecture (Chinese: 宣州; pinyin: Xuān Zhōu), and placed under the jurisdiction of Jiangnan Circuit.

[3] In 937 CE, upon the creation of the Southern Tang during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Wuhu County was established, and placed under Jiangning Fu [zh].

[citation needed] Wuhu County was placed under the jurisdiction of Huiningchitaiguang Circuit [zh] during the Taiping Rebellion.

[3] Trade in rice, wood, and tea flourished at Wuhu until the Warlord Era of the 1920s and 1930s, when bandits were active in the area.

[citation needed] In 1932, Wuhu County was placed under the jurisdiction of the Second Administrative Division of Anhui province (Chinese: 安徽省第二专区; pinyin: Ānhuī Shěng Dì Èr Zhuānqū).

[citation needed] Under Japanese occupation, Chinese resistance fighters hid in the lakes around Wuhu by submerging themselves and breathing through reeds.

[citation needed] Despite this, Wuhu had been lagging behind Ma'anshan and Tongling in industrial production for decades after the establishment of the People's Republic of China and remained primarily a commercial center for trade in rice, silk, cotton, tea, wheat and eggs.

[11] Other ethnic minorities with over 500 inhabitants in the city include the Yi, the Tujia, the Miao, the Zhuang, and the Manchu.

[10] Major industrial products in Wuhu include automobiles, HVAC units, plate glass, cement, steel, and copper.

[14][page needed] Chery Automobile and Anhui Conch Cement Company are headquartered in this development area.

[18][19] The acclaimed poet Li Bai spent his late life in Wuhu, it is said, due to its striking landscape.

Li Bai was born in Suyab, an ancient Silk Road city in Central Asian, and raised in southwestern China.

Xie Tiao, one of the most distinctive Six Dynasty poets whom he greatly admired, left many poems when holding positions here.

During the Tang dynasty (619–907), the poet Du Mu wrote a famous poem Thoughts on Staying Again at Wuhu.

A famous stone tablet in Wuhu recording local events of the Song dynasty period (ca.

Another blacksmith of the Spring and Autumn period (770–476 BC) named Gan Jiang was famous for sword making.

Zhe Shan (Reddish Brown Hill) is said to get its colour from the flames of Gan Jiang's furnace.

Shen Shan (Sacred Hill) is the legendary location of his sword grinding rock and tempering pool.

Hart was able to secure the Yichisan Hill before the British, who wanted the property to build a consulate and naval base[citation needed].

[20] Caroline Maddock arrived in Wuhu in October 1904, to serve as the General Hospital's Head Nurse.