What is Jiangsu? The 101 on its 13 Cities

Provinces nationwide in China adopt an alphabetically-based prefix to their vehicle number plates as a means to identify their city of registration. They’re a nod to a city’s import and significance, from an administrative and historical standpoint. 中国全国各省的车牌采用字母前缀，以此来识别其注册城市。 从行政和历史角度来看，它们是对一个城市的重要性和重要性的点頭。 Wuxi’s is “B”, just one step down...

Regarded by some as the “Athens of the Orient” on account of its profound historical heritage and numerous historical sites, Xuzhou is today an important communications hub and a node city in China’s Belt and Road Initiative. 徐州因其深厚的历史遗产和众多的历史遗迹被一些人视为“东方的雅典”，如今是中国“一带一路”倡议的重要交通枢纽和节点城市。 Surrounded by mountains on three sides, Xuzhou is the...

As a relatively young city compared to many others, Changzhou dates back only a little more than 2,000 years, to the beginning of the Qin Dynasty. Historical records put a date for the first settlement in the area at 221 BCE. 与其他许多城市相比，常州是一个相对年轻的城市，其历史仅为2000多年，即秦朝初期。 历史记录将该地区的第一个定居点定于公元前221年。 While the city developed as...

Once upon a time, Suzhou typified the water towns of Jiangnan, the area south of the Yangtze River home to villages interlaced by canals, rivers and lakes. Today, at the far end of the spectrum, what was 30 years ago a large but sleepy...

In the history of modern China, Nantong set records as a kind of “city of firsts”. The new nation’s first museum, first textile school, first embroidery school, first drama school, and the first Chinese-run school for the blind and non verbal; all were established...

Lianyungang City in northeastern Jiangsu derives its name from Lian Dao, the largest island in Jiangsu, and Yuntai Mountain, the highest in the province. 江苏东北部的连云港市得名于江苏最大的岛屿连岛和全省最高的云台山。 The former is remarkable, the latter less so, for it being eclipsed by the home to Sun Wukong, commonly known as...

Smack bang in the middle of Jiangsu Province, the city of Huai’an has witnessed the birth of the truly great; the most famed and respected of Chinese leaders, as well as the author of one of the nation’s most celebrated books. 在江苏省中部，淮安市见证了真正伟大的人的诞生；中国领导人中最著名和最受尊敬的，也是全国最著名的书籍之一的作者。 First and foremost, that...

Known for its salt, Yancheng’s name in Chinese literally means “Salt City”. Here, humans carved out salt and timber works over 2,100 years ago as mudflats formed along the coastline.  盐城以其盐而闻名，中文名字字面意思是“盐城”。 在这里，当沿着海岸线形成泥滩时，人类在2100多年前雕刻了盐和木材工程。 Yancheng takes up approximately half of the Jiangsu coast along the East China Sea...

Nanjing’s neighbouring city of Yangzhou is stereotypically famed for two things; pretty ladies and fried rice. While there is a lot to be said for both, in the bigger scheme of things, the city of Yangzhou was, historically, one of the wealthiest in China,...

Zhenjiang is Jiangsu’s smallest city jurisdiction, at just 3,840 square kilometres. But size is no measure of quality; Zhenjiang was in fact capital of Jiangsu Province between 1928 and 1949, when Nanjing served as the capital of the Republic of China. 镇江是江苏最小的城市辖区，面积只有3840平方公里。 但规模并不能衡量质量；1928年至1949年期间，镇江实际上是江苏省的省会，当时南京是中华民国的首都。 Located in the northwest of...

Sleepy may be perhaps once have been the best word for laid-back Taizhou in Jiangsu Province. 困倦可能曾经是江苏省悠闲的台州的最佳词。 More than 700 years ago, Marco Polo toured Taizhou and praised as a city which is is “not very big, but where there is much earthly happiness”. Indeed, even...

With its vehicle license plate prefix being 苏N, Suqian ranks bottom in Jiangsu Province from an administrative and historical perspective. Indeed, the city was largely forgotten about until the 21st century, except that is, for those with a taste for the national spirit, baijiu....