Hefei in the context of "Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak"

As of 2023, the five largest cities in China by population are Chongqing (31.91 million), Shanghai (24.87 million), Beijing (21.86 million), Chengdu (21.403 million) and Guangzhou (18.827 million). As of 2024, there are 18 megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million), including Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Xi'an, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Linyi, Dongguan, Qingdao, Changsha and Hefei.

Among them, the total permanent population of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu is above 20 million. Shanghai is China's most populous urban area, while Chongqing is its largest city proper, the only city in China with the largest permanent population of over 30 million.

Anhui is an inland province located in East China. Its provincial capital and largest city is Hefei. The province is located across the basins of the Yangtze and Huai rivers, bordering Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the east, Jiangxi to the south, Hubei and Henan to the west, and Shandong to the north. With a population of 61 million, Anhui is the 9th most populous province in China. It is the 22nd largest Chinese province based on area, and the 12th most densely populated region of all 34 Chinese provincial regions. Anhui's population is mostly composed of Han Chinese. Languages spoken within the province include Lower Yangtze Mandarin, Wu, Hui, Gan and small portion of Central Plains Mandarin.

The name "Anhui" derives from the names of two cities: Anqing and Huizhou (now Huangshan City). The abbreviation for Anhui is Wǎn (皖), corresponding to the historical Wan state [zh], and is also used to refer to the Wan River and Mount Tianzhu. The provincial government of Anhui includes a Governor, Provincial Congress, the People's Political Consultative Conference, and the Provincial Higher People's Court. Aside from managing local government departments, the Anhui provincial government manages 16 cities, 62 counties, 43 county-level districts and 1,522 townships. Anhui's total GDP ranked 14th among China's 31 province-level regions as of 2022.

Huainan (Chinese: 淮南; pinyin: Huáinán) is a prefecture-level city with 3,033,528 inhabitants as of the 2020 census in north-central Anhui province, China. It is named for the Han-era Principality of Huainan. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south, Lu'an to the southwest, Fuyang to the west, Bozhou to the northwest, Bengbu to the northeast and Chuzhou to the east. Huainan is one of the core cities of Hefei Metropolitan Circle and is known for its coal industry and thermal power plants. Its built-up area made of 4 urban districts (all but Panji not yet conurbated) and Fengtai County largely being urbanized, was home to 1,868,944 inhabitants as of 2020. Its city flower is the Chinese rose (Rosa chinensis) and its city tree is the Old-World Plane Tree (Platanus orientalis). It is also considered to be the hometown and birthplace of tofu.

Chuzhou (Chinese: 滁州; pinyin: Chúzhōu) is a prefecture-level city in eastern Anhui Province, China. It borders the provincial capital of Hefei to the south and southwest, Huainan to the west, Bengbu to the northwest, and the province of Jiangsu to the east. According to the 2010 Chinese census, the city of Chuzhou has a registered population of 3,987,054 inhabitants, of whom 1,198,719 live in the built-up (or metro) area made of two urban districts, with Lai'an County now largely being urbanized. Nevertheless, 7,260,240 persons declared to be permanent residents.

Lu'an (Chinese: 六安; pinyin: Lù'ān), is a prefecture-level city in western Anhui province, People's Republic of China, bordering Henan to the northwest and Hubei to the southwest. As of the 2020 census, it had a total population of 4,393,699 inhabitants whom 1,752,537 lived in the built-up (or metro) area made of Yu'an and Jin'an urban districts. Neighbouring prefecture-level cities are the provincial capital of Hefei to the east, Anqing to the south, Huanggang (Hubei) and Xinyang (Henan) to the west, and Huainan and Fuyang to the north. Although the character 六 (literally: "six") is normally pronounced "Liù", in this case it changes to "Lù" on account of the historical literary reading.

Lu'an, also known as "Gaocheng". Located in the west of Anhui Province, between the Yangtze River and the Huaihe River, at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountains, "Western Anhui" in the geographical sense refers specifically to Lu'an. Lu'an has beautiful mountains and clear waters, and beautiful natural scenery. You can not only enjoy flowers and birds, but also mountain climbing and rafting. At the same time, Lu'an has many cultural relics and historic sites, as well as talented people. Good generals and prime ministers, literary heroes, party history heroes, and political figures are like stars in the sky, shining through the past and present.

Chao Lake (Chinese: 巢湖), also known by its Chinese name Chao Hu, is a lake wholly situated in Hefei, the capital of Anhui Province. It is the largest lake in Anhui and one of the five major freshwater lakes in China.

Duan Zhigui (simplified Chinese: 段芝贵; traditional Chinese: 段芝貴; pinyin: Duàn Zhīguì; IPA: [tu̯àn ʈ͡ʂīku̯èi̯] 1869 – March 1925) was a Chinese general. Born in Hefei, Anhui, he attained the post of Heilongjiang governor in the late Qing dynasty and between 1912 and 1913 was governor of Chahar and the military governor of Hubei between 1914 and 1915, as well as military and civil governor of Fengtian in 1915–16.

A staunch supporter of Yuan Shikai, he was nicknamed the "Adopted Prince", and when Duan Qirui, a fellow Hefei native, took the Beijing government in 1917, Duan was made a Minister of War; however, with Duan Qirui's defeat by 1920, Duan Zhigui fled to the Japanese embassy. He was remitted in 1922 and lived in Tianjin until his death there in 1925.

Wang Yitang (Chinese: 王揖唐; pinyin: Wáng Yītáng; Wade–Giles: Wang I-T'ang; October 17, 1877 – September 10, 1948) was a politician and military leader in the Qing Dynasty and Republic of China. He belonged to the Anhui clique and formed the Anfu Club (安福俱樂部). Later he became an important politician in the Provisional Government of the Republic of China and the Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China (Wang Jingwei regime). His former name was Zhiyang (志洋) and his courtesy names were Shenwu (慎吾) and Shengong (什公). Later, his name was changed to Geng (賡) while his courtesy name was changed to Yitang (一堂). He was also known by his art name Yitang (揖唐). He was born in Hefei, Anhui.