Yangzhou, a City Full of Charm in China

ocated in central Jiangsu Province where the Yangtze River and Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal meet， Yangzhou is a major city in the Nanjing-Zhenjiang-Yangzhou City Belt and a nodal city of the Shanghai Economic Circle and Nanjing Metropolitan Circle， both of which are part of China’s most dynamic Yangtze River Delta Economic Circle. The city has jurisdiction over one county， two county-level cities and three districts and covers a total area of 6，634 km2 with a population of 4.6 million.

A City with Rich Cultural Heritage

Yangzhou was founded about 2，500 years ago， but the area enjoys a civilization history of over 6，000 years. As early as 1982， Yangzhou was listed by the State Council as one of the first batch of 24 historical cultural cities in recognition of its rich natural， cultural and intangible cultural heritage. The ancient city ruins of the Tang Dynasty（618 - 907 CE） and the ancient city of the Ming （1368 - 1644CE） and Qing（1636 - 1911 CE） Dynasties covering an area of 5.09 km2 have been well preserved. In the city proper alone there are more than 500 historical buildings， more than 500 traditional streets and alleys， and 168 cultural relic protection units including nine units under national protection and 16 under provincial protection. The Slender West Lake and the historic residential blocks have been included in the tentative list China had prepared for World Heritage Site listing. Yangzhou School of Paintings， Yangzhou gardens， Yangzhou arts and crafts， and Yangzhou style cuisine， which roughly represent the city’s culture， occupy a unique place in Chinese history. Huaiyang cuisine is one of China’s four major cuisine styles and Yangzhou style bonsai is one of five bonsai art schools in the country. Lacquer ware， jade carving， embroidery and other craftsmanship are well known all over the world. Currently， Yangzhou Paper-cutting， Woodblock Printing， and Yangzhou guqin （a sevenstringed plucked musical instrument） have been included in the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Sixteen projects including Yangzhou Opera， Yangzhou Ballad， jade carving， lacquer-ware and paper-cuts are listed as national intangible cultural heritage items. There are 94 cultural facilities in Yangzhou including Yangzhou Historical Museum Yangzhou China Block Printing Museum， Yangzhou Arts and Crafts Gallery， and Museum and Memorial Hall of Yangzhou School.

An Ecological City with Beautiful Environment

Fascinated by Yangzhou’s beautiful scenery， the literati of different dynasties wrote many poems in its praise. In recent years， efforts have been made to promote a conservation culture. The city has carried out environmental management projects such as channeling flowing water into the Slender West Lake and remedial work on the urban section of the Grand Canal， and restored ecological vegetation by building parks including Shugang Xifeng Ecological Park and Runyang Forest Park. With an annual increase of urban green area of 1 million m2 ， the city’s green coverage rate is now 43.34% and the number of days of excellent urban air quality remains at 320 days or more a year. The city now presents a pleasant view of greenery with picturesque gardens. It has won many titles such as National Civilized City， National Forest City， China’s Excellent Tourism City， National Sanitary City， National Garden City， National Model City for Environmental Protection， National Demonstration City for Ecology， China Habitat Environment Prize and the United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honor.

A City with Vibrant Economic Development

The construction of major transport links such as the Runyang Yangtze River Highway Bridge， Yangzhou Railway Station on the Nanjing-Qidong Railway， Yangzhou Taizhou Airport， etc. provide strong support for economic development. In the next few years， the completion and opening to traffic of the Nanjing-Qidong Railway （double line） and the Lianyungang-Huai’anYangzhou-Zhenjiang High Speed Railway will further integrate the city into the economic circle of the Yangtze River Delta. It now has a State-level export processing zone， a State-level economic and technological development zone， a provincial-level high-tech zone and eight provincial-level development zones. The city has maintained sustainable development in its five major industries—automobiles， shipbuilding， machinery， petrochemicals， new energy and new lighting sources， while promoting rapid development of its tourism， software， information services， modern logistics and other new service sectors， and steady growth of its modern and high-efficiency agriculture. Yangzhou’s foreign economic cooperation has been strengthened. World top 500 companies including MercedesBenz from Germany， Colgate from the U.S.， Pirelli from Italy， Texas Instruments from the U.S. and Philips from the Netherlands have opened branches or set up joint ventures. Last year the city’s GDP reached 295 billion Yuan， an 11.5% increase over the previous year； its fiscal revenue reached 55.451 billion Yuan and public budget revenue 22.5 billion Yuan； its tax revenue was 18.061 billion Yuan， up 16.2%； and its per capita GDP exceeded US$10，000.

An Open and Inclusive City

Yangzhou became a flourishing town in the Western Han Dynasty （206 BCE - 24 CE） and a prosperous metropolis in the Tang Dynasty， and reached its heyday in the Qing Dynasty. In the Tang Dynasty， being the largest city in Southeast China， one of the four major ports for exchanges with the outside world， and a junction of the Maritime Silk Road and the land Silk Road， it enjoyed great prosperity， attracting over 10，000 foreign merchants. During the reigns of Emperor Kangxi， Emperor Yongzheng and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty， Yangzhou became one of the world’s top 10 metropolitan cities with a population of more than 500，000. Korean scholar Choe Chiwon， Arab missionary Puhaddin and Italian traveler Marco Polo all left their footprints. Yangzhou， where ancient culture and modern civilization add radiance to each other， has cultivated a city spirit of “respecting different cultures and esteeming virtues， and being open-minded and inclusive， innovative and creative， and loving and caring”. It has established friendship-city relations with 19 cities of 11 countries in Asia， Europe， America and Oceania， friendly-exchange ties with 29 foreign cities， and trade and cultural contacts with 163 countries and regions. More than 1，600 foreign-funded enterprises from 93 countries and regions have their factories or offices in the city.