|
General Information
|
|
Yangzhou, where Marco Polo once served as a municipal
official, is a city with a history of 2,500 years, tracing back to the Spring
and Autumn Period when it was called Guangling.
The city was one of ten cities in the world around 1800 A.D, which had a
population of over half million.
The city has been well known with
its once brilliant historic role in Chinese history and one of the first 24
cities that were announced as the Historical and Cultural Cities in
China. Until the 19th century, Yangzhou acted as a major national
political, financial and trade center and a transport hub duo to its
excellent location at the junction of the Yangtze, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River. This historical period had left Yangzhou
a large number of treasures including valuable architectures and arts,
splendid culture and well-known celebrities.
Situated in the middle part of Jianghuai Plain and on the north bank of lower reaches
of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou has now been one of national tourist centers
and has attracted tourists worldwide. As a prefecture-level city
jurisdiction, Yangzhou governs three urban districts and four satellite
cities/county now.
The flower emblematics
of the city were approved by the city council in 1985 and 2003 and two
flower species, viburnum and herbaceous peony,
were selected. The city tree is Ginkgo.
|
|
Geography,
Resources and Climate
|
|
Situated on the northern bank of
Yangtze River, Yangzhou is located in the middle of Jiangsu Province. The
Grand Canal flows through the Yangzhou jurisdiction from north to south and
merges into the Yangtze River at the southern boundary of Yangzou. Yangzhou borders two jurisdictions of Taizhou and Yancheng on the
east, Nanjing and Tianchang of Anhui Province on
the west and Huai¡¯an on the west. Yangtze River
divides Yangzhou, facing Zhenjiang across the river.
Yangzhou has 81 km of the
riverbank of Yangtze River and two of its districts, Hanjiang
and Jiangdu, and Yizheng
city are located along the river. There are four major lakes in the
territory of the jurisdiction, including Beima
(White Horse), Baiying, Gaoyou
and Shaobai lakes, which are the most important
water resources for the region. Other natural resources include crude oil,
coal, natural gas, hot spring and other minerals.
The city has a subtropical
monsoon climate with humid and changeable wind. The average temperature is
15¡ãC with the hottest 39.8¡ãC in July and the coldest -19¡ãC in January in
record. The raining season is from the middle of June to July and the
annual average rainfall is 1,030 mm.
|
|
|
|
Yangzhou jurisdiction
includes 7 county-level divisions, of which three are districts, one is
county, three are cities. The three districts are
the old urban areas of Yangzhou while the county and cities are recently
designated as county-level districts being considered as suburbs and
governed by the city administration. The Yangzhou jurisdiction includes 97
towns and the municipal government stations in Weiyang
District.
- Guangling District
- Hanjiang District
- Weiyang District
- Baoying County
- Gaoyou City
- Jiangdu City
- Yizheng City
|
|
Area and Population
|
|
As a prefecture-level
jurisdiction, Yangzhou has a population of 4.6 million and a land size of
6,634 square kilometers. including three districts
and four cities/county. The municipal area is connected to the rest of the
province by water, land and air communications, and is about one hour of
driving distance to Nanjing.
|
|
Economy,
Industry and Environment
|
|
Yangzhou was once the economic,
business and trade hub in China during the Ming and the Qing Dynasties when
the waterway was a major tool for transportation at the ancient time. Along
with the thriving of railway and highway, Yangzhou¡¯s significance
nationwide was shrunk in the contemporary time.
Industrial sectors include
automobile, shipbuilding manufacture, electrical cable, chemical, textile
and food manufacture. Recent intense investments have added the new three
pillar industries to the city: electronics/IT, new material and
biotechnology. Traditional agriculture now takes only less than 10% of the
city¡¯s GDP. As a historical and cultural city, Yangzhou has a spectacular
tourist industry and 13 million of tourists visited the city in 2006.
Yangzhou have
spent significant funds over years to protect its land and water resource.
Many investment projects along Yangtze River have shown significance in
environment pollution. The local government has been putting stiff
environmental policies into practice and polluters are facing the tough
inspection. The city has been awarded numerous national titles in
environment protection, tourist attraction, courtesy, biological
construction, etc.
|
|
Transportation
and Tourism
|
|
Until the 19th century, Yangzhou
acted as a transport hub duo to its excellent water transportation
advantage at the junction where three water bodies meet including the
Yangtze River, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe
River. With the thriving of railway and air passages early of 19th centary, Yangzhou¡¯s significance in transportation was
shrunk.
Before 2002, Yangzhou¡¯s
transportation was dependent upon its road and waterway network. The
Yangtze River provides the city a traffic tool to travel and transport, however, in a large vision the river was a
major natural obstacle that blocks the north of Jiangsu to communicate the
south of the province, an economically booming region. The city could only
use the ferry or make a detour using Nanjing Yangtze Bridge. There was no
single railway available. The history was forever changed when the Ningqi (Nanjing-Qidong)
Railway opened to the public in 2002.
The opening of Runyang (Zhenjiang-Yangzhou) Yangtze River Highway
Bridge has further improved the transportation situation of Yangzhou. The
bridge is the fourth Yangtze River bridge in this river¡¯s Jiangsu section.
The bridge connects the Runzhou District of
Zhenjiang on the south bank of the river to Yangzhou City on the north. The
bridge opened to the public in May 2005, bringing tremendous traffic
convenience to Yangzhou to communicate the south of th
province.
Today, Yangzhou is a middle size
of Chinese cities which has owned a remarkable transportation network
including highways, expressways, railway and waterway. There is only one
hour of driving distance to the Nanjing Lukou
International Airport.
In the inner city, the public
transportation including bus, taxi and cargo transport, shuttle buses to
near cities or towns, provides convenience to the city¡¯s commuters and
visitors.
As a historical and cultural
city, Yangzhou is a great city for tourists. There are more 500 historical
relics dotted in the everywhere of the city. Its cultural heritages,
including lacquerware, paper cut, jade carvings,
embroidery, have been selected by the Cultural Ministry of the State
Council as China¡¯s Non-material Culture Heritage. Most famous tourist
destinations include Slender Western Lake, old residential structure Wang
Residence, four public parks with a national reputation (Heyuan, Geyuan, ancient moated town, Puhading
Cemetery), Daming Temple, etc.
Yangzhou is a city where the
ancient historical relics and residences are well under protection by the
municipal government to prevent from dismantling the city¡¯s ancient
structures with a construction excuse. The city was awarded the Habitat
Scroll of Honor in 2006 by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme.
Each year since 2000, Yangzhou
has sponsored two festivals to promote the city's popularity: the Flowery
March Tourist Festival from the middle of April to the middle of May, the
other, the Moon Cultural Festival from September 8 to October 8.
Today, Yangzhou is recognized as
the most aspiring city of prosperity and civilization in the southeast of
China and welcomes all visitors and investors around the world.
|
|
|
|
Yangzhou University is a
prestigious higher learning institution and has its primary campus in
Yangzhou. Yangzhou Radio & TV University is a branch of China Radio
& TV University, which is a vocational
university and a far distance school using TV and radio.
Yangzhou has well instituted
compulsory primary education system, nearly all of school-age children are
enrolled in schools. The secondary schools including high schools achieves
significant graduate rate.
|
|
Culture and Folklore
|
|
Talking about Yangzhou, you would
never forget its cuisine, the Huaiyang Cuisine
originating from Yangzhou, one of the four best known cuisines in China.
The cuisine emerged in the Sui Dynasty (581 AD - 618 AD) and has a history
spanning 1,200 years. Yangzhou Fried rice is a popular course in many
overseas Chinese restaurants, plus many other famed dishes including
Yangzhou Pickles, dumpling, sliced tofu, etc.
Survival local traditional arts
include popular Yangzhou Ballad Singing, Puppet Show and Yang Opera. These demonstration arts have been popular since Tang Dynasty,
with a history of more than a thousand years, but is on the wane
over years. They are listed on the National Non-material Culture Heritage.
|
|
Notable Personage
|
|
Most famous people for Yangzhou
in its history are the so-called Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou throughout
China. The eight eccentrics were all innovative painters or calligraphers
during the Qing Dynasty, including Shi Tao, Zheng
Banqiao, etc.
Many well-known peots lived in Yangzhou during The Tang, Ming, Qing
dynasties, including Li Bai, Su Dongbo, etc.
The city was the birthplace for
the formal Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, who
was born in Yangzhou and had his early school life there.
Source: http://yangzhou.jiangsu.net/
|
|
|