Yangzhou
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Administration Type | Prefecture-level city |
| City Seat | Guangling District ( ) |
| Area - Total - Urban center |
6,634 km² 988.81 km² |
| Population - Total - Urban center |
4,536,100 (2003) 1,125,200 (2003) |
| GDP - Total - Per Capita |
¥64.722 billion (2003) ¥14,300 (2003) |
| Major Nationalities | Han - 99.57% Hui - 0.28% |
| County-level divisions | 7 |
| Township-level divisions | 98 |
| CPC Committee Secretary | Ji Jianye (季建业) |
| Mayor | Wang Yanwen (王燕文) |
| Area code | 514 |
| Postal Code | 225000, 225100 (Urban center) 225200, 225600, 225800 (Other areas) |
| License Plate Prefix | 苏K |
Yangzhou (Simplified Chinese: 扬州; Traditional Chinese: 揚州; pinyin: Yángzhōu; former spellings: Yang-chou, Yangchow; literally "Rising Prefecture") is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu province, People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across the river to the south.
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[edit] Administration
The prefecture-level city of Yangzhou administers 7 county-level divisions. There are 3 districts, 3 county-level cities and 1 county:
Guangling District (广陵区) Weiyang District (维扬区) Hanjiang District (邗江区) Jiangdu City (江都市) Gaoyou City (高邮市) Yizheng City (仪征市) Baoying County (宝应县)
These are further divided into 98 township-level divisions, including 87 towns and townships, and 11 subdistricts.
[edit] History
Yangzhou has a history of almost 2,500 years, being founded in the Spring and Autumn Period when it was called Guangling (廣陵, Kuang-Ling). In 590 AD, Guangling began to be called Yangzhou, which was the traditional name of what was then the entire southeastern part of China.
Located by the Yangtze river and Jinghang (Grand) Canal, it has been a leading economic and cultural center and major port of foreign trade and external exchange since the Tang Dynasty (618-907).
The city, still known as Guangling, was briefly made the capital of the Wu Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.
Marco Polo served there under the Mongol emperor Kubilai Khan in the period around 1282-1287. Although some versions of Polo's memoirs imply that he was the governor of Yangzhou, it is more likely that he was an official in the salt industry.
Yangzhou was the scene of a ten-day massacre in 1645 by the Qing army. An account of the massacre can be found in the Yangzhou shiri ji, recounted by Wang Xiuchu
Until the 19th century Yangzhou acted as a major trade exchange center for salt, (a government regulated commodity), rice and silk. The Mings (1368-1644) are largely responsible for building the city as it now stands and surrounding it with 9 km of walls.
From the time of the Taiping Rebellion (1853) to the end of the Communist revolution (1949) Yangzhou was in decline, due to war damage and neglect of the Jinghang Canal as railways replaced it in importance. With the canal now partially restored, Yangzhou is once again an important transportation and market center. It also has some industrial output, chiefly in cotton and textiles. In 2004, a railway linked Yangzhou for the first time with Nanjing.
[edit] Geography and climate
Rivers: the Yangtze River, Jinghang Canal, Baoshe River, Datong River, Beichengzi River, Tongyang Canal, Xintongyang Canal, Baima Lake, Baoying Lake, Gaoyou Lake, Shaobo Lake.
Local landscape: Slender west lake, Ge garden, He garden, Da ming temple, Phoenix island, etc.
Subtropical monsoon climate with humid changeable wind; longer winters for about 4 months, summers 3 months and shorter springs and autumns, 2 months respectively; frost-free period of 222 days and annual average sunshine of 2177 hours. Average temperature: 15 °C annually; the hottest in July of 27.6 °C and the coldest in January of 1.7 °C; maximum temperature of 39.8 °C and minimum −19 °C Rainfall: annual average of 1030 mm; rainy season from the middle of June to July
[edit] Culture
Yangzhou dialect is classified as Lower Yangtze Mandarin.
During a period of prosperity and Imperial favour, the arts of storytelling and painting flourished in Yangzhou. The innovative painter-calligrapher Shitao lived in Yangzhou during the 1680s and again from 1697 until his death in 1707. A later group of painters from that time called the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou are famous throughout China.
Former President of China Jiang Zemin was born and raised in Yangzhou. His middle school is located right across from the public notary's office in Yangzhou.
Yangzhou is famous for its carved lacquerware and jade carvings.
Poet Li Bai (c.700-762) wrote in Seeing Meng Haoran off to Yangzhou from Yellow Crane Pavilion:
At Yellow Crane Pavilion in the west My old friend says farewell; In the mist and flowers of spring He goes down to Yangzhou; Lonely sail, distant shadow, Vanish in blue emptiness; All I see is the great river Flowing into the far horizon.
[edit] Local highlights
Yangzhou pickles, Ｂaozi,Gansi(sliced Tofu),sticky candy, ginkgo, Qionghuayu liquor, Nanshan green tea, Baoying lotus root starch, Jiangdu short pastry, lacquerware, jadeware, embroidery, paper-cut, art & crafts velvet flavers.
The city is famous for its public bath houses.
"Yangzhou fried rice" (Simplified Chinese: 扬州炒饭; Traditional Chinese: 揚州炒飯; pinyin: Yángzhōu chǎofàn) is a dish popular all over China, originating from Yangzhou.
The city was awarded Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2006.
[edit] Tourism
Tourist sights include Slender Western Lake (瘦西湖) and old residences in the moated town, such as the Wang Residence.
[edit] Sister cities
Yangzhou is twinned with ten cities around the world.
[edit] External links
- Government website of Yangzhou (available in Chinese and English)
- Yangzhou city guide with open directory (Jiangsu.NET)
- An introduction to a cultural history of Yangzhou
- A trip to Yangzhou
