Danyang Travel Guide

 

The cultural and historical city of Danyang (丹阳) was one of the fifteen counties designated by the Qin Dynasty in 221 BC. At that time it had been called Quhe and later Yunyang. In Chinese, alder tree is read as chiyang (赤杨), which means red poplar, chi (red) can also be written as dan (丹), yang (杨/阳) as "the sun". During the Tang Dynasty there had been a lot of alder trees growth here, so since the year 742 AD the city had been renamed Danyang. It was the hometown of the two great emperors of China's Southern Dynasty (420 - 589 AD). Today cultural and historical relics are found in Danyang, such as the stone carvings from the Southern Dynasty, the only hand writing document left by Confucius, "The First Bell of the Lower Reaches of Yangtze River" made in 883 AD and so on.

Danyang is also a land for fostering excellent and famous people. Ma Xiangbo (马相伯), the educationist and the founder of Shanghai Fudan University, social scientist Dai Botao (戴伯韬), fine art educationist Lv Fengzi (吕凤子) and famous philologist Lv Shuxiang (吕叔湘), as well as many prominent Chinese Communist revolutionists were born here. During the Anti-Japanese War (1937 - 1945), the Chinese forces set up strongholds in Danyang and adjacent areas in order to beat the militarist army effectively. Plans had been designed in Danyang by the revolutionists and generals of the CPC, to command the liberation fighting in Shanghai in spring 1949. Cadres and officials were also being trained at that time.

Today's Danyang is the

Town of Glasses

in China, about 600 glasses manufacturers set up with 30,000 workers have been engaging in the industry. The town produces around 70 per cent and 45 per cent of China's and the world's total lens output respectively, thus it is the world's largest lens producing base and Asia's glasses product manufacture area.

Actually Danyang's location is at the southeast of Zhenjiang city in southern Jiangsu, 68 km to the east of provincial capital Nanjing and 200 km to the west of Shanghai Municipality. The highest point is Shuijing Shan (Crystal Hill), 166m above sea level, located in the northwest of the city. This ancient city has a total area of 1059 sq. km and the registered local population about 810,000. Now Danyang has been one of the best economic performance cities in Jiangsu Province. Convenient traffic has made the city easily accessible that Changzhou Airport is quiet near the city center, and the two international airports in Shanghai are within two-hour drive. The very old and scenic Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal flows through the east of Danyang.

Like Suzhou and Shanghai, the climatic characteristics are distinctive in four seasons, bright sunshine and abundant rainfall.