Anshan, Liaoning Province, China

🇨🇳 Anshan is an inland prefecture-level city in central-south-east Liaoning province, People's Republic of China, about 92 km south of the provincial capital Shenyang. It is Liaoning's third-most populous city. The city's name came from the horse saddle-like shape of a nearby mountain south of the city, which can be seen on the left about five minutes before the northbound train arrives at Anshan railway station. Anshan is home to the Anshan Iron and Steel Group, one of the largest steel producers in China.

The north east of China is a major industrial zone and Anshan is one of the key sites of the north east. 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.

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.

Anshan is rich in other mineral wealth too. The southern and south eastern areas of Anshan are rich in magnesite. Reserves of magnesite here are equivalent to a quarter of all world-wide 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 the precious stone, 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 km (56 miles) to the north, and by two major highways linking it with Shenyang and Dalian.

The government of Anshan established a five-year plan with the aim of turning the city into a strong modern industrial city with plenty of tourism. It also aimed to make the city GDP reach 100 billion RMB and to build a modern industrial city by using advances in technology to transform the traditional industries. Attracting foreign investment is also another main idea in the plan. Anshan has been identified by the Economist Intelligence Unit as a member of the CHAMPS (Chongqing, Hefei, Anshan, Maanshan, Pingdingshan and Shenyang), an economic profile of the top 20 emerging cities in China. The opportunities for engaging Anshan's consumers have been documented by the ethnographer and cultural sociologist Michael B. Griffiths.