Bozhou, Anhui Province, China

🇨🇳 Bozhou is a prefecture-level city in north-western Anhui province, China. It borders Huaibei to the north-east, Bengbu to the south-east, Huainan to the south, Fuyang to the south-west, and Henan to the north. The county remains largely rural.

The prefecture-level city of Bozhou administers 4 county-level divisions, including 1 district and 3 counties. • Qiaocheng District (谯城区) • Guoyang County (涡阳县) • Lixin County (利辛县) • Mengcheng County (蒙城县).

History Bozhou was, in addition to being a prefecture during the Tang dynasty, once the Qiao Commandery (Chinese: 谯郡) at the time of the Sui dynasty.

In 1355, during the Yuan dynasty, Han Lin'er (韓林兒) was proclaimed by Liu Futong (劉福通) to be the Emperor of Great Song (大宋, a reference to the extinct Song dynasty) with the regnal year Longfeng (龍鳳; 'dragon and fenghuang'). Chao was nicknamed "The Little Ming King" (小明王).

In 1368, Bo Prefecture was downgraded in status and became a county. In 1496, it was again upgraded to a prefecture/Fu then later lowered to a county in 1912 (after 1911 Revolution) when it became Bo County. In May 1986, it was upgraded to a county-level city administered by Fuyang Prefecture (阜阳地区). In 1996, Bozhou was upgraded to a provincially directly administered city (省直辖市), under the control of Fuyang City on behalf of the province. The province has directly administered Bozhou since February 1998. In June 2000, Bozhou was made a prefecture-level city.

The city is located on two main Chinese train routes running from capital Beijing to the south and from the east to Shanghai which facilitate the easy transportation of goods and people.

Bozhou's population currently stands at around the three million mark which makes it small by Chinese standards. Whilst Bozhou is currently developing and expanding, it still has few internationally recognised brands based in the city.

Traditional Chinese Medicine Market Bozhou is currently the capital of Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) in mainland China, with one of the largest TCM industries and production area in the country. In 2008, companies based in Bozhou exported over 160,000 tons of products (out of total Chinese exports of 240,000 tons). Whilst relatively underdeveloped compared to coastal regions of China, Bozhou continues to be the primary location and trading hub for TCM within China. The international TCM Expo is held in Bozhou in September each year which sees delegates from around the world coming to discuss TCM.