Maanshan City of Anhui Province started its bidding invitation for its Urban Planning Exhibiiton Hall on December 11th of 2009. On February 5th of 2010, all the five invited companies had attended the bid opening and presented their own design proposals. The tender working team and the specialists team were very strict in all the relevant process, and on site they announced the final points for each companies. This initial selection made by the specialists came to the end, when as always two or three of the proposals would be presented to the municipal government and the munucipal Party Committee, where the final choice would be made.

The five invited included the most well-known firms in the field such as ABLUES Design, Haihua Exhibitions, Xingzhongchuang Internaitonal Exhibitions etc.

As the construction of the building itself was delayed and not completed until October 2010, Skyline was finally announced to be the winner of the bidding until the end of September. This proved that Skyline, small as it is for the present, is already taking the lead in terms of the design concept and the overall strength.

The photo was taken on December 20, 2009. The left side was the construction site for the building, which was hardly started yet. Far across are the Museum, the Grand theater and the Municipal Park(from right to left)!

The rendering of the front facade of the Building.

Maanshan is a prefecture-level city situated in eastern Anhui province. Covering an area of 1686 square kilometers, with a population of 1.2 million, Maanshan is an industrial city located on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, Maanshan borders Chaohu to the northwest, Wuhu to the southwest, and Nanjing to the east. The city gains many geographic advantages by its unique location, it is a Chinese National Garden City as well as one of five major tourist cities in Anhui province..

The name Ma'anshan means "Horse Saddle Mountain" in Chinese. According to legend, the name came to be when the Western Chu Conqueror Xiang Yu was fleeing from the Battle of Gaixia. Rather than to be captured, the defeated general killed himself at the area now known as Ma'anshan after ensuring that his beloved horse would be ferried across the river to safety. Upon seeing his master die, the grief-stricken horse leapt into the river and was drowned. As a tribute, the boatman buried the horse's saddle on a nearby hill, giving Ma'anshan(the Horse Saddle Mountain) its name. There is a memorial to the famous Chinese poet, Li Bai (a.k.a. Li Po c.700-762), just west of Ma'anshan. Li Bai is said to have drowned at Ma'anshan after attempting to embrace a reflection of the moon.

China's first poetry festival was to be held in Ma'anshan from October 25-30 2005. The theme of the festival, sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the Chinese Writers Association, and the Anhui provincial government, is "Poetic China, Harmonious China."