Tongling

area code: 562 Tongling (Simplified Chinese: 铜陵; Traditional Chinese: 銅陵; pinyin: Tónglíng; Wade-Giles: T'ung-ling; former names: Tunglinghsien, Tungkwanshan; literally "Copper Hillock") is a prefecture-level city in southern Anhui province, People's Republic of China. A river port along the Yangtze River, Tongling borders Chaohu to the north, Wuhu to the east, Chizhou to the southwest and Anqing to the west. Today the city's industrial base still revolves around the several nearby copper mines and copper processing operations. The local mineral resources also include : iron, coal, gold, silver and tin, plus more than twenty other rare minerals associated with them such as nickel, cadmium, gallium, molybdenum, germanium and selenium. Other important industries include chemical works, textiles, building materials, electronics, machinery and food processing. Long a hub of water transportation, in 1995 Tongling became the site of Anhui Province's first highway bridge spanning the Yangtze River. Although Tongling City is mostly mountainous, the surrounding flatlands are rich agricultural regions producing rice, wheat, cotton, beans, garlic , herbal medicines and ginger. Large amounts of fish are also harvested in the region. Tongling is the center for conservation efforts to preserve the last remaining Yangtze freshwater dolphins. Two semi-natural reserves have been established in the Tongling area, in the Tongling and Shishou oxbow lakes, but as yet no dolphins have been successfully captured and moved from the river into the lakes.