Fushun

Fushun is a city in Liaoning, China, about 45 km from Shenyang, with a population about 2.3 million and an area of 10,816 km2, including 675 km2 of the city proper. It was formerly called Fouchouen in French. The film The Lover starring Tony Leung Ka Fai described a love story between a young French woman and a young man from Fouchouen. The city was occupied by Russia until 1905 and by Japan until 1945.

Fushun is a highly industrialized area. It has developed as a thriving center for fuel, power and raw materials but is also offering more and more opportunities in textiles and electronics. It is connected by rail with nearby Shenyang and with Dalian. The world's largest artificial pit, known as the Magnificent West Pit, is located not far from the downtown. It is an open-pit coal mine, being in operation since about the 12th century. Fushun has a major aluminum-reduction plant and factories making automobiles, machinery, chemicals, cement, and rubber.

Resources
Fushun is rich in many types of resources including wood, coal, oil shale, iron, copper, magnesium, gold, marble, titanium, and marl. Hydraulic and thermal power is also an important locally available resource.

Fushun is known as "the capital of coal". The main coal and oil shale company is Fushun Mining Group, which produces about 6 million tons of coal per year, mainly blending coking coal and steam coal. The company has also coalbed methane resources around of 8.9 billion cubic meters. In addition, it owns geological reserve for high grade oil shale about 3.5 billion tons, of which exploitable reserve is 920 million tons.

Tourism
Fushun is a famous tourist centre in Northeast China. With high mountains and thick woods giving 40% forest coverage, the city has a developed strong tourist industry. Houshi National Forest Park, about 55 km from Fushun city centre, is rated by the central government as an AAAA tourist attraction. Saer Hu Scenic Area covers some 268 square kilometres. Within this lies the 110 square kilometre, Dahuofang Reservoir, which is the largest man-made lake in Northeast China.

There are a number of historic and cultural sites within the area. Fushun's recent success in applying for two World Heritage sites will surely attract more tourists. Within Fushun is the origin of Qing Dynasty, at a site known as Xing City was the first capital of the Late Jin dynasty dating to 1616. Beside the ancient city are the Yongling tomb containing several members of the royal household. Both of these are now UNESCO listed.

In more recent times, Fushun was where Lei Feng was stationed as a soldier and died, and a memorial museum telling his life story is a poplar attraction. It was also in Fushun that the last emperor, Puyi, was imprisoned after the end of the second world war. The prison building is now converted into a museum (Currently closed. According to the warden it will reopen May 1, 2010). Another memory of war, the Pingdingshan Tragedy Memorial Hall Ruins tells the story of a massacre of Chinese people by the Japanese in 1931.