Yangzhou

Yangzhou (zh-stp|s=linktext|扬|州|t=linktext|揚|州|p=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.

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 (linktext|广|陵|区)
*Weiyang District (linktext|维|扬|区)
*Hanjiang District (linktext|邗|江|区)
*Jiangdu City (linktext|江|都|市)
*Gaoyou City (linktext|高|邮|市)
*Yizheng City (linktext|仪|征|市)
*Baoying County (linktext|宝|应|县)

These are further divided into 98 township-level divisions, including 87 towns and townships, and 11 subdistricts.

History

Yangzhou has a history of almost 2,500 years, being founded in the Spring and Autumn Period when it was called Guangling (linktext|廣|陵, Kuang-Ling). It was called Hancheng during Warring States Period (403-221 BC) (Perkins). In 590 AD, the city began to be called "Yangzhou", which was the traditional name of what was then the entire southeastern part of China.

Under the 2nd Emperor Yangdi (604-617) of the Sui Dynasty (581-617), was the southern capital of China and called Jiangdu upon the completion of the Jinghang (Grand) Canal until the fall of the Dynasty. It has been a leading economic and cultural center and major port of foreign trade and external exchange since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). There lived many Arab and Persian merchants, but they were massacred in 760 AD during the An Shi Rebellion (Perkins).

The city, still known as Guangling, was briefly made the capital of the Wu Kingdom during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period.

In 1280 AD, Yangzhou was the site of a massive gunpowder explosion when the bomb store of the Weiyang arsenal had caught fire accidentally. This blast killed over a hundred guards, launched debris of the buildings into the air that landed 10 li away from the site of the explosion, and could be felt 100 li away as tiles on roofs shook (refer to gunpowder article).

Marco Polo served there under the Mongol emperor Kubilai Khan in the period around 1282-1287 (to 1285, according to Perkins). 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, as it is very unlikely that a foreigner would be made a governor of one of the most important cities in the country. The discovery of the 1342 tomb of Katarina Vilioni, member of an Italian trading family in Yangzhou, suggests the existence of a thriving Italian community in the city in the 14th century.

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.

The Yangzhou riot in 1868 was a pivotal moment of Anglo-Chinese relations during the late Qing Dynasty that almost led to war. [Austin (2007), p. 129] The crisis was fomented by the gentry of the city who opposed the presence of foreign Christian missionaries there. The riot that resulted was an angry crowd estimated at eight to ten thousand who assaulted the premises of the British China Inland Mission in Yangzhou by looting, burning and attacking the missionaries led by Hudson Taylor. No one was killed, however several of the missionaries were injured as they were forced to flee for their lives. As a result of the report of the riot, the British consul in Shanghai, Sir Walter Henry Medhurst took seventy Royal marines in a Man of war and steamed up the Yangtze to Nanjing in a controversial show of force that eventually resulted in an official apology from Viceroy Zeng Guofan and financial restitution made to the injured missionaries.

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; unfortunately, initial plans for railways connecting Yangzhou were deemed to be unimportant, and its status as the leading economic centre of China declined rapidly into a city of little 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.

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 °CRainfall: annual average of 1030 mm; rainy season from the middle of June to July

Culture

Yangzhou dialect is called Yangzhou Hua 扬州话 and is moderate understandable by an outsider as it does differ a lot from 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.

Some of China’s most creative and eye catching dishes come from the Yangzhou school of cuisine called Huaiyang (also commonly known as the Weiyang school). Along with Sichuan cuisine, Cantonese cuisine, and Shandong cuisine, Huaiyang cuisine (淮扬菜) is a distinctive and masterful skill that locals are quite proud of.

The city is famous for its public bath houses, lacquerware, jadeware, embroidery, paper-cut, art & crafts velvet flavers. The city was awarded Habitat Scroll of Honour in 2006.

Yangzhou is also very famous for its toy industry (especially stuffed animals). Many tourists from neighboring cities travel to the city for its good-quality and low-priced toys.

It is worth mentioning that the city is also famous for an ancient folk art called Yangzhou storytelling (扬州评话), which is like Xiangsheng - the traditional Chinese comedic performance. It rose as a performing act during the Ming Dynasty. In the performance, the artist details an interesting historical story to audiences, using Yangzhou dialect. These stories have been edited by artists, so they sound very soul-stirring and funny. The most well-know artist of Yangzhou storytelling was Wang shaotang. His most famous works are The 10 chapters of Wu Song (武十回), The 10 chapters of Song Jiang (宋十回), The 10 chapters of Lu Junyi (卢十回), and The 10 chapters of Shi Xiu (石十回).

hopping

Compared with the neighbouring cities of Nanjing and Shanghai, Yangzhou cannot be called a shopping paradise. Perhaps due to its history of more than 2500 years, the Yangzhou city government is fairly strict with new construction proposals in the city center. Consequently, most builings in downtown area are not taller than 6 stories, which is a big restriction for the development of large department stores. Nonetheless, you can still find some grand shopping centers around #Wenchangge; the de facto city center. For those fans of big expensive brands, Golden Eagle Shopping center, Wanjiafu department store and Times Square are the easy choice.THe new built Living Mall in west end of Yangzhou aims at a higher end of market, which could be seen from the sellers inside, for example, Starbucks,Diary Queen and etc.

Yangzhou Golden Eagle Shopping Center-Located on the south-west corner of Wenchang Pavilion Roundabout, Yangzhou Golden Eagle Shopping Center is the most up-market store in the city center and features a wide variety of clothes, electronics and jewellery.

Wanjiafu Department Store-Situated diagonally across Wenchangge from Golden Eagle, Wanjiafu Department Store boasts a favourable geographical position. It has a business area of 18,000 square meters with a good selection of clothes.

Times Square-Located on the west side of the Golden Eagle Shopping center, Times Square attracts thousands of citizens and covers an area of 23,000 square meters. Compared with the previous two shopping centers, Times Square is more like an "American" style mall, with a wide variety of clothing stores, appliances, restaurants, and a cinema. Many young people shop in the basement for cheap fashion. Also, a large book store is located on the top floor. English books could also be found. However, they are not orginals.

Living Mall or Living City-Recently Yangzhou did get an "American" style mall known as: Living City. The mall is located in the west of city, about 1 kilometre east of the railway station, across from the Yangzhou Museum. Living City targets high market customers with many global brands. This is perhaps the easiest place in Yangzhou to meet foreigners, what with a Starbucks, Dairy Queen and the highest concentration of restaurents catering to western tastes.

Besides big stores, there are many small clothing outlets lining most of the streets in the city center. Unlike the stores listed above, here you can bargin with the shopkeeper for a better price, and usually the prices are cheaper than for like items in Nanjing or Shanghai.

Tourism

Tourist sights include Slender Western Lake (linktext|瘦|西|湖) and old residences in the moated town, such as the Wang Residence and the Daming temple. Yangzhou is famous for its many well preserved Suzhou style gardens.

lender Western Lake

Named after Hangzhou's famous West Lake, this long, narrow stretch of water which meanders through Yangzhou's western limits is a well-known scenic spot. A long bank planted with weeping willows spans the lake; at its midpoint stands a square terrace with pavilions at each of the corners and one in the center. Around the lake is a park in which are found several attractions: Lotus Flower Pagoda (Lianhua SO, a white structure reminiscent of the White Pagoda (Baita) in Beijing's Beihai Park; Small Gold Mountain (Xiao Jin Shan); and the Fishing Platform (Diaoyutai), a favorite retreat of the Qing emperor Qian Long. The emperor was so gratified by his luck in fishing at this spot that he ordered additional stipends for the town. As it turns out, his success had been augmented by local swimmers who lurked in the lake busily attaching fish to his hook.

Da Ming temple

Located on Shugang Hill, in the city's northwest, is Fajing Temple, formerly known as Daming Temple. The original temple was built by jian Zhen some 1,500 years ago. In the latter years of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), a nine-story pagoda, the Qilingta, was built on the temple grounds. A recent addition to the temple complex is the jian Zhen Memorial Hall, built according to Tang Dynasty methods and financed with contributions raised by Buddhist groups in Japan.When Qing Emperor Qian Long visited Yangzhou in 1765, he was troubled by The temple's name Daming (which literally means "Great Ming') fearing that it might revive nostalgia for the Ming Dynasty, which was overthrown by his Manchu predecessors. He had it renamed Fajing Temple.The temple was seriously damaged during the Taiping Rebellion at the beginning of the 20th century. The present structure is a reconstruction dating from the 1930s.

Flat Hills (Ping Shan) Hall

Built by the Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu when he served as prefect of the city, this hall stands just west of Faji,g Temple. Looking out from this hall, the mountains to the south of the Yangtsc River appear as a line at the viewer's eye level, hence the name Fiat Hills Hall. When Ouyang Xiu's student Su Dongpo moved to Yangzhou, he too served as prefect of the city. He had a hall built directly behind the one erected by his master, and called it Guling Hall.

Pavilion of Flourishing Culture (Wenchang Ge, 文昌阁)

This round, three-story pavilion in Yangzhou's eastern sector was built in 1585 and celebrates the city's rich cultural traditions. It is also the de facto center of the city.

Built during Ming dynasty, it is located on the cross of Wengchang Road and Wenhe Road. The whole building is about 79 foot high, and looks like Temple of Heaven in Beking. Today, boarded by many shopping stores, Wenchange had been a symbol of commercial center to residents.

tone Pagoda (Shita)

Standing west of the Pavilion of Flourishing Culture is a five-story Tang Dynasty pagoda. Built in 837 AD, it is the oldest pagoda still standing in Yangzhou.

Tomb of Puhaddin (Puhading Mu, 普哈丁墓)

This is essentially a Ming Dynasty graveyard that includes the tomb of Puhaddin ( _zh. 普哈丁, Puhading). According to information at the tomb, he was a 16th generation descendant of Muhammad, The Prophet. The tomb is on the eastern bank of the (Old) Grand Canal in the eastern sector of the city and is adjacent to a mosque which houses a collection of valuable materials documenting China's relations with Muslim countries. [ [http://www.fodors.com/world/asia/china/beijing-to-shanghai/review-434792.html Garden Tomb of Puhaddin] ]

Ge Garden (Ge Yuan)

The entrance to this typical southern style garden with its luxuriant bamboo groves, ponds, and rock grottoes is on Dongguan St. in the city's northeast section. Designed by the great Qing Dynasty landscape painter Shi Tao for Wang Yingtai, an officer of the Qing imperial court, this garden takes its name from the shape of bamboo leaves which resemble the Chinese character ge, meaning "a" or "an."

He Garden (He Yuan)

Built by He Zhidiao, a 19th century Chinese envoy to France, this garden is famous for a 430m. (1,377 ft.) two storied winding corridor, the walls of which are lined with stone tablets carved with lines of classical poetry, In the garden is also an open air theater set on an island in the middle of a fish pond.

Yechun Garden (Yechun Yuan)

In this garden, which lies on the banks of the Xiading River at the city's northern limits, the Qing Dynasty poet Wang Yuyang and a circle of friends used to gather to recite their works. The thatched roofs of the pavilions in this garden give it a quaint, rustic air.

Yangzhou Museum

Situated by the west side of the bright moon lake of Yangzhou, China Block Printing Museum and Yangzhou Museum looks into the distance of Yangzhou International Exhibition Centre and covers an area of 50000 square meters ,with an construction space of 25000 square meters, and an exhibition area of 10000 square maters. Its unique architectural form embodies the harmony of man nature, structure and natural environment.In August, 2003, over 300000 ancient books blockings were collected from Guangling Press of Yangzhou and China Block Printing Museum was established under the approval of the State Council, over 300000 ancient book blockings collected by Guangling Press of Yangzhou were included in the new museum.website:www.yzmuseum.com

Jiangdu Water Control Project

Construction of this multiple-purpose water control project, the biggest in China, started in 1961 and was completed in 1975. The project includes facilities for irrigation, drainage, navigation, and power generation. It consists of four large modern electric pumping stations, six medium sized check gates, thrice navigation locks, and two trunk waterways.

Yangzhou‘s three knives

Kitchen knife, Scissors, hair knife were Yangzhou‘s traditional products. the Qianlong Emperor had been hair care right here and famous with hair knife and skill .

Education

*Yangzhou University

Cuisine

* Fu Chun Teahouse

ister cities

Yangzhou is twinned with:
*flagicon|South Korea Jeju, Jeju, South Korea
*flagicon|USA Kent, Washington, U.S.
*flagicon|Canada Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
*flagicon|Italy Rimini, Italy
*flagicon|Bulgaria Razgrad, Bulgaria
*flagicon|Belgium Bree, Belgium
*flagicon|Japan Karatsu, Saga, Japan
*flagicon|New Zealand Porirua, New Zealand
*flagicon|England Colchester, Essex, England [ [http://www.essex-china.org/about-jiangsu/] ]

References

*
* "Yangzhou." "Encyclopedia of China". ed. Dorothy Perkins. Chicago: Roundtable Press. 1999. ISBN 1-57958-110-2

Notes

External links

* [http://www.yangzhou.gov.cn Government website of Yangzhou] (available in Chinese and English)
* [http://yangzhou.jiangsu.net Yangzhou city guide with open directory] (Jiangsu.NET)
* [http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~asiactr/publications/pdfs/Finnane%20Chapter%20One.pdf An introduction to a cultural history of Yangzhou]
* [http://www.synotrip.com/yangzhou A trip to Yangzhou]
* [http://www.yzu.edu.cn/english/abyzu/index.htm Yangzhou University Homepage]
* [http://www.chinahotelsreservation.com/China_Yangzhou_travel.html Yangzhou Travel]