With ancient names of Shouchun, Shouyang and Shouzhou, Shouxian is located in the middle of Anhui Province and the south bank of the Huaihe River, with 32 towns and villages under its jurisdiction.

The seat of Shouxian was once the capital of the Kingdom of Cai, the Kingdom of Chu, the Kingdom of Huainan in the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-8AD) and Yuanshu Establishment in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and the Song Kingdom in the Nanchao Period.

Shouxian has many historic sites. Some 30 kilometers south of the city of Shouchun is the Anfeng Pond (called Shaopi in ancient times), the so-called biggest pond of China, which was built by Sun Shu'ao, the Prime Minister of the Chu Kingdom in the Spring and Autumn Period 2,500 years ago. A government official of the United Nations praised it as the oldest of China and the biggest of the world. Close to the city is Bagong Mountain Forest Park. The mountain is so strategic that it is always the focus of fighting. The major battlefield of the famous Battle of the Feihe River was just at the foot of Bagong Mountain. Though not as elegant as Huangshan Mountain, Bagong Mountain is still well known both at home and abroad, for it is the place of the tombs of the famous warrior Lian Po and the King of Huainan, Liu An. The Bao'en Temple Museum, situated in the northeast of the city, was first built in the Zhenguan reign in the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It is one of the largest temples in the Huaihe region with an area of 14,700 square meters.

Endowed by nature with a rich reserve of minerals, Shouxian is also one of the bases of commodity grains of China. Grain, oil and fish output are quite important to the economy of the county. Shouxian is the birthplace of the Chu culture and the origin of bean curd. The State Council proclaimed it as a historical and cultural city in 1986.