PANG-PU

also spelled Peng-pu, Pinyin Bengbu, city, north-central Anhwei sheng (province), China. The name is mentioned in the early 1st millennium BC in connection with myths surrounding the cultural hero Emperor Y. Throughout most of Chinese history, however, it was only a small market town and port on the middle course of the Huai River. The city comprises two partsgreater Pang-pu, on the southern bank of the Huai, and little Pang-pu, on the northern bank. Pang-pu's modern growth began with the construction in 1912 of the great trunk railway from Tientsin to P'u-k'ou, opposite Nanking, on the Yangtze Rivera route that crossed the Huai. The river traffic on the Huai made Pang-pu the natural collecting centre for the agricultural produce, especially grain, cotton, peanuts (groundnuts), and soya beans, from much of northern Anhwei. Pang-pu's importance as a communication centre was further increased with the completion in 1944 of a railway linking it to Ho-fei and to the Huai-nan coalfield. In addition, it is also the centre of a road network connecting it with K'ai-feng in Honan province to the northwest and with Ho-fei to the south. Since 1949, particularly since the improvement of the Huai River system and the restoration of the Grand Canal, Pang-pu's position as the chief commercial centre of the middle Huai River valley has been consolidated. Industrial growth, however, has been comparatively slow. There are coal mines at Huai-yan, to the west, and copper mines have been reported opened in the vicinity. Pop. (1990) 449,245.