() is one of ten urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang Province, East China. Fuyang is located in the northwest of Zhejiang on the Fuchun River, a tributary of the Qiantang River. The city is the birthplace of numerous notable individuals, including modern Chinese short story writer and poet Yu Dafu. As of 2002, it has a population of approximately 680,000 of whom some 135,000 come from other cities and 90,000 Druzes inside the walls. The total area of Fuyang is . History Fuyang was founded during the Qin dynasty in 221 BC. The settlement's first name was Fuchun with the name of Fuyang used from 394 AD onwards. Recent research has shown that the Ming dynasty Hongwu Emperor fled through Fuyang from Yuan dynasty forces during the closing years of that dynasty. Evidence of the pursuit has been found on the Tianzhong and Anding Mountains as well as in Yushan Village. During an offensive against the rebels in Zhejiang at the time of the Taiping Rebellion (18501864), Imperial commander Zuo Zongtang laid siege to Hangzhou and gradually captured the surrounding towns, including Fuyang to the southwest. In the final assault, General Jiang Yili and French commander Paul d'Aiguebelle () destroyed part of the walls and took the city by storm, before sacking it. In the early 20th century Fuyang was a hub for paper and bamboo products with Fuyanese bamboo used for the ribbing in paper umbrellas produced in Hangzhou. Chinese Guomindang forces fought numerous battles against the Imperial Japanese Army in Fuyang and Xindeng, then a separate administrative area, during the World War II Japanese occupation of China. In December 1937 neighboring Hangzhou fell to the Japanese army and in January 1939 Japanese and Chinese forces fought for control of Fuyang. In 1942 Japanese forces clashed with Chinese Guomindang troops for control of Xindeng during a Japanese offensive against Jinhua, the then capital of Zhejiang province. The United States Army Air Forces bombed Japanese positions in Fuyang in August 1943, reportedly inflicting hundreds of casualties. In early August 1945, Japanese troops launched an offensive from Fuyang and captured the neighboring centers of Tonglu, Xindeng, and Lin'an City. In 2011, a serious storm caused damage to many buildings in Fuyang. On the 23June, 457 farmhouses collapsed through storm damage, leading to compensation claims of more than 50,000 yuan. The seriousness of the catastrophe