Yangzhou Travel Guide in China

 

Yangzhou is always considered as the gate of southern area of Jiangsu Province. It is the famous garden city. In historical record, it was the richest place with honey and milk in China. In ancient days, China was divided into nine areas, and we called them Jiuzhou, which today people use to represent China. Among these areas, Yangzhou was a famous one. Yangzhou is located in the center of Jiangsu province and has a common boundary wirh Taizhou and Yancheng. In the west area, it is linking with Nanjing city and some parts of Anhui Province. It is on the brink of Yangtze River and opposing to Zhenjiang( another greatly noted city in Jiangsu Province). The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal goes across the city and integrates with Yangtze River. Traditionally, it is the vital water channel.

The climate of Yangzhou belongs to the subtropical humid climate. The main characters of this climate are: the prevailing winds changes with the change of season. The north wind are dry and prevailing in winter and in summer the wind from southeast and east are hot and humid. Winter in Yangzhou is longer. Roughly 4 months, and then summer; spring and fall are short for 2 months respectively.

Yangzhou administrates three districts and four counties. The total area is 6638 square kilometers. The population in Yangzhou is also over 1000,000 many years ago. Yangzhou is one of the first 24 national famous cities for its culture and history. It is the first group of the excellent traveling cities, the model city of national ecological construction, the testing city of national information-based city, the national sanitary city and national model city of environmental protection and so on. The landscapes of Yangzhou are attractive in different season with different styles. It is as charming as Hangzhou and Suzhou, two golden cities and earthly paradise.

Yangzhou is an opening and modern city. In history, Yangzhou was the famous opening city. Yangzhou was the largest center in southeastern China (at that time, Shanghai was a small and devious place belonging to Suzhou) and one of the four largest Harbors for Sino-foreign exchange in culture and economy in Tang Dynasty. At that time the number of foreign businessmen in Yangzhou was over 10,000. There was a saying that the beautiful and elegant ladies are all from Yangzhou. To find a beauty in Yangzhou is truly easy. 

The city flower of Yangzhou is Qiong-hua Flower (a kind of rare flower). In 2005, peony was taken as another city flower of Yangzhou. Peony is considered as the auspicious and love flower. In historical record, Peony was much widely planted in Yangzhou.

The city trees of Yangzhou are gingko and willow. Gingko in China was taken as the national tree. The number of ancient gingko trees in China is largest in Jiangsu province. And in Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou owns many gingkos. The oldest gingko tree is one planted in Tang Dynasty (618-907). This gingko now becomes the city symbol. Willow could be the calling card of Yangzhou, because its name was from this city in Sui dynasty. Emperor Yang Gaung opened the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and planted willows on both side of waters. He also presented willow his family name Yang, so today people call it Yangliu in Chinese, which has the same pronunciation with Yangzhou. Traditionally, the scenery of Yangzhou is closely related with Willow. Willows are always the typical image of Yangzhou in culture and poem.

The city song of Yanhzhou is the folk song named Jasmine Flower，which was extensively sung in China, and many foreigners learn about that from the famous opera Toranto, which this songs was widely used and got a global influence.

Yangzhou is a famous ancient city with rich culture and time-honored history of 2500 years. The oldest section of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is here, many famous people’s residences, cemeteries, famous temples and architectures, famous heritages and sites are all could be found here. The endless culture charm and historical attractions draw a lot of learners and culture-lovers came here to have a dialogue with history and past. Heyuan Garden perhaps is the most typical one and widely-accepted building in Yangzhou by people from home and abroad. Yangzhou is a famous resort at home and abroad. It is famous for its strong tradition of learning and education, its long-term prosperity and the multiple places of interests as well as the numerous elegant gardens.

The West Lake of Hangzhou gives people the feeling of elegance, while the Slender West Lake of Yangzhou is the gem of Yangzhou and brings a lot of loveliness and vigor to this old but young city. The traditional style and layout of the scenic area will bring you back to those enchanting times. The temporary palaces for many emperors also could give you the feeling of magnifigance and grandness. This is city with the mixture of elegance and greatness. Yangzhou was the origin of local drama in history, and diversity of local dramas is widely welcomed by local people at present. The characteristic traditional arts and crafts such as Jade carvings, embroidery, lacquer-works have more than 2000 years history. Yangzhou is the center of southern China at that time; it is one of the 10 cities with the population of over 500,000 all round the world. In the middle period of Qing Dynasty it was the hub of inland water channels and China’s largest salt-business center. In Yangzhou, your first feeling is that this city is too old and has too many relics, sites and cultural and historical heritages. And the local residents are wise and lucky. They have the most valuable treasure from ancestry. Yangzhou is also one of the cultural and learner’s center. Many famous scholars or masters went out from this place. In Chinese painting history, the eight great but strange masters gather here and left us the great spiritual treasure. Visiting Yangzhou will be your largest award in spirit and appreciation.

What are the typical local products of Yangzhou? The answer will be snacks and leisure. Yangzhou cuisine belongs to Huai-Yang style (one authority in China’s four styles of cuisine). Fuchun Baozi is the most famous snack in Yangzhou. Yangzhou Fried Rice is always considered to the proudness of Yangzhou Cuisine.

Yanghzhou is the model city of environmental protection, the best city for residence in China. It is also the best city for residence recognized by United Nations.