The images here are taken around the city where we live.

 

Ma'anshan City has a population of around 450,000 people. As with many of China's cities, it is an industrial city.

The city has many steam trains still in operation, probably more here in this one city than anywhere else in the world.

Ma'anshan is charming with its picturesque scenery, with Yushan Lake in the heart of the city, and many mountains such as Ma'an, Jiuhua, and Jiashan it also has  many parks and smaller lakes lakes, with many of the streets being tree lined with elms.. The most famous scenic spot in Ma'anshan is Caishiji, a rock projecting over the water of the Yangzte River, on top of which stands the Taibai Tower named after Li Bai, the famous Chinese Poet, who drowned in the river whilst drunk.

Ma'anshan is an ancient cultural city as well as producer of steel thanks to its rich deposits of iron. The Ma'anshan Iron & Steel Co. is a major iron and steel production center in the country. Last year (2005) Ma'anshan hosted the first national Poetry Festival.

 A  story is told of the city's name, which means Horse Saddle Hill. When the Kingdoms of Chu and Shu were at war in the third century, General Xiang Yu of Chu was defeated by Liu Bei and attempted to retreat to Wujiang on the north bank of Yangtze. Finding only a small boat, he had his precious mount ferried across first. At this moment Liu Bei's pursuing soldiers arrived and Xiang yu, knowing he was trapped, cut his throat with his own sword. Seeing his master's courageous suicide, the horse leapt into the river and drowned. The boatman buried its saddle on the nearby hill.

I am in my third year in the city now and it has changed dramatically over this time.

It is close enough from Nanjing (6.5 million) yet far enough away.