economic activity is textile trade, and
another 25% is industrial based manu-
facturing, including motors, molds and
casting, with another 8% being light
industry.
The GDP per capita was ¥65,203 (ca.
US$8,926) in 2007, ranked no.2 in Ji-
angsu Province, less than Suzhou but
more than the capital city Nanjing.
The center of the city is filled with
modern high rise buildings which may
destroy the traditional atmosphere for
one thousand years and the market
is being redeveloped in a postmodern
style.
Culture
WuXi Painter Yu Wenshan c. 1658,
Landscape With Western Influenced
Perspective
Wuxi was originally a mining town,
which, legend has it, exhausted its tin
deposits, hence its name, which in Chi-
nese literally means “tinless”. Another
opinion about the origin of the city’s
name is, because one old saying “Min-
ing tin leads to war over China (because
in bronze era all weapons need tin);
Without tin (tinless) will lead to peace
over China”, the word “tinless” became
the name of the city. Whichever is cor-
rect, this city’s old history is definitely
related to the metal tin.
It subsequently became an arts and
cultural center, with several famous
Chinese authors claiming Wuxi as their
home town. Among them, most recent-
ly, Qian Zhongshu, author of Fortress
Besieged, a comedy of manners set in
China in the 1930s.
One of the handicraft specialties of
Wuxi is the production of Huishan clay
figurines.
In modern times Wuxi has produced
a number of cultural figures such as
Hua Yanjun (1893-1950) also known as
“Blind Abing”. famous for his erhu and
pipa music. Another famous musician
Folklore
is Liu Tianhua, who was the first to
compile folk music using staff. The nine peaks of Huishan, in Xihui
Park on the western outskirts of Wuxi,
are said to be the sleeping sons of the
As for cuisine, Wuxi is famous for its
legendary Dragon King.
Wuxi-style spareribs, sweetened pork
mini buns and oil gluten.
The wittiness of Wuxi natives is leg-
endary. A popular joke is that “they
Transportation can sell you meat that is really bones
and they sell you dumplings that are
By rail, Wuxi is conveniently situated
just air inside”, i.e. Wuxi pork ribs and
on the Nanjing-Shanghai Railway, link-
Wuxi fried tofu dumplings, which are
ing it directly with the provincial capi-
hollow. Some consider this trait un-
tal of Nanjing (2 hour train-ride) and
trustworthy.
China’s economic hub, Shanghai (1.5
hours train-ride) and the fifth biggest
economic hub and top of china’s tourist
destinations, Suzhou. K-series trains
all stop at Wuxi. Wuxi Airport, which
opened in 2004, is situated 14 km from
city centre, and has direct flights to
Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Hong
Kong and other Chinese cities.

terways and soon this area flourished.
After the death of Taibo, because Taibo
has no son, the emperor of Zhou named
a descendant of his family king of king-
dom “Wu”. The king called his kingdom
itself “Gowu”. Taibo’s shrine was set
up in today’s Meicun and the original
wood structure was destroyed during
the wars over the history. It has been
renovated several times and today’s
architecture is mostly from Qing dy-
nasty. A stone carved with Confucius’
comment can still be seen in today’s
Taibo Shine.
Economy
Currently Wuxi is designated an in-
vestment grade city, and has two large
industrial parks devoted to new in-
dustry. While current manufacturing
centers on textiles, there is a project to
move to electric motor manufacturing
and MRP software development.
According to most recent figures (2002)
from the local government, 24% of
Geography
The city plan, as is typical of many older
Chinese cities, is of a central city with a
roughly circular plan, crisscrossed with
older canals, the main canal still seeing
heavy barge traffic.
Wuxi itself is on an alluvial plain of
deep sedimentary deposits cut between
limestone foothills, making it one of the
sources for “scholar’s rocks”, the intri-
cately weathered stones which were
used as devices for contemplation.
无
Wuxi ranges from a very hot summer
to a chilly winter, having an average
annual temperature of 18 °C, though it
seldom sees snow. Because of its prox-
imity to the East China Sea, it has a
monsoon season and receives 100 cm of
rain annually.
锡
History
City Seat: 31°34′N
120°17′E Wuxi was founded 3,000 years ago
by two fugitive princes, Taibo and
Zhongyong, of Zhou from northern Chi-
Area: 4,787.61 km² na, who intended to give their brother
－NoTin
“Jili” the throne. The two princes set-
Population: 4,471,900 tled down in “meili”, which is believed
(2004) to be today’s Meicun of Wuxi (albeit
some historic records lead to some-
where in today’s Suzhou). They helped
GDP : ¥385.8 billion (2007) developing local agriculture and wa-