Yangzhou 扬州
—  Prefecture-level city  —
扬州市
Five Pavilion Bridge at Shouxi Lake
Yangzhou's location within Jiangsu province
Yangzhou Location in China
Coordinates: 32°24′N 119°25′E / 32.4°N 119.417°E / 32.4; 119.417Coordinates: 32°24′N 119°25′E / 32.4°N 119.417°E / 32.4; 119.417
Country	People's Republic of China
Province	Jiangsu
County-level divisions	6 (3 Districts, 2 County-level cities, 1 County)
Government
• CCP Yangzhou	Xie Zhengyi (谢正义) Committee Secretary
• Mayor	Zhu Mingyang (朱民阳)
Area
• Prefecture-level city	6,678 km2 (2,578 sq mi)
• Metro	2,310 km2 (890 sq mi)
Population (2010 census)
• Prefecture-level city	4,459,760
• Density	670/km2 (1,700/sq mi)
• Metro	2,146,980
• Metro density	930/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
	Includes only those with Hukou permits
Time zone	Beijing Time (UTC+8)
Telephone	+86 (0)514
Licence plate prefixes	苏K

Yangzhou (simplified Chinese: 扬州; traditional Chinese: 揚州; pinyin: Yángzhōu; former spellings: Yang-chou, Yangchow, Yang-chow; 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. Historically it is one of the wealthiest of China's cities, known at various periods for its great merchant families, poets, painters, and scholars.

Its population is 4,414,681 at the 2010 census and its built up area is home to 2,146,980 inhabitants including three urban districts plus currently in the agglomeration.

Administration[link]

The prefecture-level city of Yangzhou administers seven county-level divisions. There are three districts, two county-level cities and one county:

• Guangling District (广陵区)
• Hanjiang District (邗江区)
• Jiangdu District (江都区)
• 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.

In November 2011, Weiyang District (维扬区) was merged into Hanjiang District, while the former county-level Jiangdu City was renamed Jiangdu District.^[1]

History[link]

The first settlement in the Yangzhou area, called Guangling (廣陵, Kuang-Ling) was founded in the Spring and Autumn Period. After the defeat of Yue by King Fuchai of Wu a garrison city was built 12 metres (39 ft) above water level on the northern bank of the Yangtze River c 485 BCE. This city in the shape of a three by three li square was called Hancheng.^[2] The newly created Han canal formed a moat around the south and east sides of the city. The purpose of Hancheng was to protect Suzhou from naval invasion from the Qi. In 590 CE, the city began to be called Yangzhou, which was the traditional name of what was then the entire southeastern part of China.

Under the second Sui Dynasty (581–617 CE) Emperor Yangdi (r. 604–617), Yangzhou was the southern capital of China and called Jiangdu upon the completion of the Jinghang (Grand) Canal until the fall of the dynasty. The city has remained a leading economic and cultural center and major port of foreign trade and external exchange since the Tang Dynasty (618-907). At one time many Arab and Persian merchants lived in the city in the 7th century but they were massacred in the thousands in 760 CE during the An Shi Rebellion by the Tian Shengong's (T'ien Shen-kung) 田神功 rebel insurgents during the Yangzhou massacre (760).^{[3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]} During the Tang Dynasty many merchants from Korea's Silla Dynasty also lived in Yangzhou. There were also Arabic inscriptions from the 1200s and 1300s.^[14]

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 accidentally caught fire. This blast killed over a hundred guards, hurled debris from buildings into the air that landed ten 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 claimed to have served in Yangzhou under the Mongol emperor Kubilai Khan in the period around 1282-1287 (to 1285, according to Perkins^[3]). 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, if indeed he was employed there at all. Chinese texts offer no supporting evidence for his claim. The discovery of the 1342 tomb of Katarina Vilioni, member of an Italian trading family in Yangzhou, does, however, suggest the existence of a thriving Italian community in the city in the 14th century.

During the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) until the 19th century Yangzhou acted as a major trade exchange center for salt (a government regulated commodity), rice, and silk. The Ming were largely responsible for building the city as it now stands and surrounding it with 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) of walls.

A late Qing artist conception of the Yangzhou massacre.

After the fall of Beijing and northern China to the Manchus in 1644, Yangzhou remained under the control of the short-lived Ming loyalist government of the so-called Hongguang Emperor, based in Nanjing. The Qing forces, led by Prince Dodo, reached Yangzhou in the spring of 1645, and despite the heroic efforts of its chief defender, Shi Kefa, the city fell on May 20, 1645, after a brief siege. A ten-day massacre followed, in which, as it was traditionally alleged, 800,000 people died. Shi Kefa himself was killed by the Manchus as well, after he refused to switch his allegiance to the Qing regime.^[15]

The city's rapid recovery from these events and its great prosperity through the early and middle years of the Qing dynasty were due to its role as administrative center of the Lianghuai sector of the government salt monopoly. As early as 1655, the Dutch envoy Johan Nieuhof described the city (Jamcefu, i.e. Yangzhou-Fu, in his transcription) commented on the city's salt trade as follows:^[16]

This Trade alone has so very much enrich'd the Inhabitants of this Town, that they have re-built their City since the last destruction by the Tartars, erecting it in as great splendor as it was at first.

Famed at that time and since for literature, art, and the gardens of its merchant families, many of which were visited by the Kangxi and Qianling emperors during their Southern Tours, the Qing-era Yangzhou has been the focus of intensive research by historians.

The Yangzhou riot in 1868 was a pivotal moment of Anglo-Chinese relations during the late Qing Dynasty that almost led to war.^[17] 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 Grand Canal as railways replaced it in importance. During the anti-Japanese War it endured eight years of enemy occupation and was used by the Japanese as a site for internment camps. Hundreds of civilian "aliens" from Shanghai were transported here in 1943, and located in one of three camps (A, B, and C). Camp C, located in the former American Mission in the north-west of the city, was maintained for the duration of the war.

Among early plans for railways in the late Qing was one for a line that would connect Yangzhou to the north, but this was jettisoned in favour of an alternative route. The city's status as a leading economic centre in China was never to be restored. Not until the 1990s did it begin to regain some semblance of prosperity, benefitting from national economic growth and a number of targeted development projects. With the canal now partially restored, and excellent rail and road connections, 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[link]

An ancient construction over Shouxi Lake.

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

The annual average precipitation is 1,030 mm, and about 45 percent of rainfall is concentrated in the summer. The rainy season known as "plum rain season" usually lasts from mid-June to late July. During this season, the plums are ripening, hence the name plum rain.

Transportation[link]

Airport[link]

The Nanjing Lukou International Airport is over 100 km away, and it takes one hour and 40 minutes to get there. There are over 10 airline ticket offices in the city, providing convenient service for foreign and domestic tourists.

Railway Station[link]

Until 2005, Yangzhou had no railway station. The new station, located on the western outskirts of the city, is served by the Nanjing-Taizhou-Nantong railway line, and provides direct passenger service not only to these three cities, but also to a number of major cities to the west, north, and south (such as Xi'an, Wuhan, and Guangzhou), including an overnight Z-series express train to Beijing.^[18] There is no direct rail service between Yangzhou and Shanghai, however; to travel to Shanghai, or elsewhere in the Yangtze Delta regions, passengers cross the Yangtze over the new Runyang Bridge to Zhengzhou (frequent commuter bus service is available) and take a train from the Zhenjiang Railway Station, which is located on the main Nanjing-Shanghai rail line.

Prior to the bridge's completion, round-the-clock ferry services operated across the river; it took about 40 minutes to reach the Zhenjiang Railway Station from Yangzhou.

Harbour[link]

The modern route of the Grand Canal passes within a few kilometers east of the city's main urban area

Yangzhou harbor, 11.5 km south from the city center, is located at the junction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Canal and the Yangtze River. The average water depth is 15–20 meters. In 1992, the State Council approved it to become a first-grade open state harbor, and General Secretary Jiang Zemin inscribed its name. Now, it has developed into a comprehensive harbor, integrating passenger, freight, container transportation and harbor trade, and has become the main distribution center of northern Jiangsu province, eastern Anhui Province and southeast Shandong Province. There are several dozen categories of goods including iron and steel, timber, minerals, coal, grain, cotton, container, products of light industry and machinery. The passenger routes reach Nanjing, Wuhu, Jiujiang, Huangshi and Wuhan in the west, and Nantong and Shanghai in the east. Some well-known luxury international liners also anchor here. The harbor has greatly promoted the development of exports and the overall local economy.

Entry/Exit of Expressways[link]

The Ningyang (Nanjing-Yangzhou) Expressway has the Bazi Bridge as its entry/exit to the southern part of Yangzhou while the Ningtong (Nanjing-Nantong) Expressway entries and exits Yangzhou in Liaojiagou. In recent years, the Yangzhou municipal Party committee and the local government have attached great importance to the development of the tourist industry, in conjunction with a greater effort dedicated to the improvement of the local road transport system. With a total investment of 680 million yuan, the Yangzhou section of the Ningyang Expressway was completed on December 18, 1998 and opened to traffic at the end of June 1999.Stretching nearly 18 km, the section of the expressway starts from the Bazi Flyover as the entry/exit, via the Yanggua Highway, the Tonggang Highway, an ancient canal, the Yangwei Highway, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangling Highway, to Liqojiagou Entry/Exit of Yangjiang Highway. It then passes the Jiangdu Flyover to directly link up with the Huaijiang Expressway. In addition, the section of Huaijiang Expressway within the territory of Yangzhou began construction on March 22, 1997, which will be commonly used by the state planned Tongjiang-Sanya and Beijing-Shanghai trunk lines. The section of Huaijiang Expressway in Yangzhou totals 112.04 km in length, starting from Jinghe Town of Baoying in the north to the entry/exist of Zhuanqiaozhen Flyover of Jiangdu in the south. It then links with Ningtong Expressway, passing by three counties (cities) such as Baoying, Gaoyou and Jiangdu and 26 towns, at a total cost of 3.7 billion yuan. It is expected to be open to traffic by the year 2000.

Intercity bus service[link]

During the daytime, frequent bus service operates between Yangzhou and nearby cities. There are several bus stations on the city's outskirts; most of the buses from Nanjing (Nanjing West Bus Station) and Zhenjiang (where the bus station is adjacent to the Zhenjiang Railway Station) arrive to Yangzhou South Bus Station, located a few kilometers southwest from downtown. Most of the intercity bus service stops in the early evening.

Transportation in the Urban Area[link]

The city is served by an extensive network of public bus routes.

Yangzhou's taxi industry began in 1982, and has developed rapidly since 1993. the city has over 40 taxi companies of various ownerships, with a total of 1,571 vehicles. Parking lots were established at key stations and hotels, and eight taxi companies have opened round-the-clock telephone service. The construction department of the municipal government has strengthened the management of taxi services, providing education in the relevant laws, professional ethics and safety aspects.

Tourist Transportation[link]

To develop Yangzhou tourism, sightseeing buses have been introduced in the city run by Tianma Travel Agency Co. Ltd, under the Yangzhou Tourist Bureau. There is a tour guide on each bus. The route, starting from Yangzhou station, has eight stops, and goes by such scenic spots of the Slender West Lake, Daming Temple, Imperial Dock, Siwang Pagoda, Wenchang Pagoda and Shita Temple. Yangzhou Public Transport Company also operates No.1, No.5 and No.2 special public tourist lines. No.1 bus starts from the bus station and goes by the Slender West Lake, Shigong Temple, Geyuan Garden and Heyuan Garden; No.5 bus starts from the bus station and goes by the Crane Temple, Wenchang Pagoda, Slender West Lake, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and Pingshan Hall. A sight-seeing route on Slender West Lake has opened, connecting Imperial Dock, Yichun Garden, Hong Garden, Dahong Bridge, Xiaojinshan, Diaoyutai, Five-Pavilion Bridge, and the 24-bridge, finally reaching Daming Temple and Pingshan Hall.^[19]

Cuisine[link]

Yangzhou dishes may be one of the reasons why the people of Yangzhou are so infatuated with their city. They have an appealing color, aroma, taste and appearance. The original color of each ingredient is preserved after cooking, and no oily sauce is added, so as to retain the fresh savor of the food.

In Yangzhou all dishes, whether cheap or expensive, are elaborate. Cooks will not scrimp on their work, even with Zhugansi (stewed sliced dry bean curd), a popular dish that costs only a few yuan. Dry bean curd is made by each restaurant that serves it, so the flavor is guaranteed. The cook slices the 1-cm-thick curd into 30 shreds, each one paper-thin but none broken, and then stews them for hours with chopped bamboo shoots and shelled shrimps in chicken soup. In this way the dry bean curd shreds can soak up the flavor of the other ingredients, and the soup is clear but savory. It is not only Yangzhou cooks but also the ordinary people who are conscientious about cooking.

• Fu Chun Teahouse

Culture[link]

Children's Library building, on the premises of Yangzhou Public Library

The Yangzhou Dialect (Chinese: 扬州话, Yangzhou Hua) is moderately understandable by an outsider as it does differ a lot from Modern Standard Chinese. The Yangzhou Dialect is considered to be the representative dialect of Jiang-huai dialect group 江淮话 within the Mandarin language family. It is regarded by linguists to be very close to the official Mandarin (based on Nanjing dialect) spoken during Ming dynasty and early Qing dynasty.

Dialect has also been used as a tool for regional identitity and politics in the Jiangbei and Jiangnan regions. While the city of Yangzhou was the center of trade, flourishing and prosperous, it was considered part of Jiangnan, which was known to be wealthy, even though Yangzhou was north of the Yangzi river. Once Yangzhou's wealth and prosperity were gone, it was then considered to be part of Jiangbei, the "backwater". After Yangzhou was removed from Jiangnan, its residents decided to replace Jianghuai Mandarin, which was the dialect of Yangzhou, with Taihu Wu dialects. In Jiangnan itself, multiple subdialects of Wu fought for the position of prestige dialect.^[20]

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 General secretary of CPC, 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 best known 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).^[21]

Shopping[link]

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 buildings 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, such as Starbucks and Dairy Queen.

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.

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.

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 originals.

Jinghua 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 the city, about 1 kilometre east to 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[link]

Tourist sights include Slender West Lake (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. Most of the Historic city is in the Guangling District.

Slender West Lake (shòuxīhú)（瘦西湖）[link]

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.

• 

  Study hall

• 

  Four bridges in rain and mist

• 

  Imperial birthday celebration stage

• 

  Mao Zedong's calligraphy of Tang dynasty poet Du Mu poem

• 

  24 ancient beauties played flute on this bridge

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  Entrance to a garden

• 

  The jinjingge bridge

• 

  The Xu Garden

Daming temple (大明寺）[link]

Located on Shugang Hill, in the city's northwest, is Fajing Temple, formerly known as Daming Temple. The original temple was built in Liu Song Dynasty (420-479 CE). A nine-story pagoda, the Qilingta, was built on the temple grounds in the year of Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE ) . 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.

• 

  Da Ming Temple

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  Memorial Hall of monk Jianzhen

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  Da Ming temple pagoda

Flat Hills (Ping Shan) Hall[link]

Built by the Song Dynasty writer Ouyang Xiu when he served as prefect of the city, this hall stands just west of Fajing Temple. Looking out from this hall, the mountains to the south of the Yangtze 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)[link]

Wenchang Ge

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 Wenchang Road and Wenhe Road. The whole building is about 79 foot high, and looks like Temple of Heaven in Beijing. Today, bordered by many shopping stores, Wenchange had been a symbol of commercial center to residents.

Stone Pagoda (Shita)(石塔）[link]

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)[link]

The mosque complex at the tomb of Puhaddin

This is essentially a Ming Dynasty graveyard that includes the tomb of Puhaddin (Chinese: 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.^[22]

[edit] Ge Garden (Gè Yuán)(个园）^[23]

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."

[edit] He Garden (Hé Yuán)（何园）^[24]

this garden, also called Jixiao Shan Zhuang, was built by He Zhidao, a 19th century Qing government official, this garden home 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)[link]

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 & Yangzhou Block Printing Museum （扬州博物馆 & 扬州中国雕版印刷博物馆)[link]

Yangzhou Museum / China Block Printing Museum

Situated by the west side of the Bright Moon Lake of Yangzhou, China Block Printing Museum and Yangzhou Museum look into the distance of Yangzhou International Exhibition Centre and covers an area of 50000 square meters, with a construction space of 25000 square meters, and an exhibition area of 10000 square metres. 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.

Jiangdu Hydro Project[link]

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[link]

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

Education[link]

• Yangzhou University

International relations[link]

Twin towns — Sister cities[link]

Yangzhou is twinned with:

• Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan since 1984
• Jeju, Jeju, South Korea
• Kent, Washington, U.S.
• Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
• Rimini, Italy
• Razgrad, Bulgaria
• Bree, Belgium
• Karatsu, Saga, Japan
• Nara, Nara, Japan
• Porirua, New Zealand
• Colchester, Essex, England^[25]
• Breda, Netherlands
• Balashikha, Russia
• Yangon, Myanmar^[26]
• Herzliya, Israel
• Westport, Connecticut, U.S.

References[link]

• Austin, Alvyn (2007). China’s Millions: The China Inland Mission and Late Qing Society. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans. ISBN 978-0-8028-2975-7. 
• Finnane, Antonia (2004). Speaking of Yangzhou: A Chinese City, 1550 - 1850. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Asia Center. ISBN o-674-01392-1. 
• Hay, Jonathan (2001). Shitao: Painting and Modernity in Early Qing China. New York: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-39342-6, 9780521393423. 
• Ho, Ping-ti (1954). "The Salt Merchants of Yang-chou: A Study of Commercial Capital in Eighteenth-Century China,"Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 17: 130-168. 
• Hsü, Ginger Cheng-chi (2001). A Bushel of Pearls: Painting for Sale in Eighteenth-Century Yangchow. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN o-8047-3252-3. 
• Meyer-Fong, Tobie (2003). Building Culture in Early Qing Yangzhou. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN o-8047-4485-8. 
• Olivová, Lucie, and Vibeke Børdahl (2009). Lifestyle and entertainment in Yangzhou. Copenhagen: NIAS Press. ISBN 978-87-7694-035-5. 
• "Yangzhou." Encyclopedia of China. ed. Dorothy Perkins. Chicago: Roundtable Press. 1999. ISBN 1-57958-110-2
• Schinz, Alfred (1996). The magic square: cities in ancient China. Edition Axel Menges. pp. 428. ISBN 3-930698-02-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=qhcRYkz-I3YC. 

Notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Yangzhou

• Government website of Yangzhou (available in Chinese and English)
• Yangzhou city guide with open directory (Jiangsu.NET)
• [4] Yangzhou Club
• An introduction to a cultural history of Yangzhou (Finnane, Speaking of Yangzhou)
• Yangzhou: A Former Rival to Suzhou

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Jolin Tsai 蔡依林
MTV Asia Awards 2006, Bangkok, Thailand
Chinese name	蔡依林
Pinyin	Cài Yīlín (Mandarin)
Birth name	蔡依林
Ancestry	Fujian, China
Origin	Republic of China (Taiwan)
Born	(1980-09-15) September 15, 1980 (age 31) Xinzhuang, Taipei County, Taiwan
Occupation	Singer, Dancer, Actress, Designer, Model, Spokesperson
Genre(s)	Mandopop, Dance
Instrument(s)	Piano
Label(s)	Universal Music Taiwan (1998–2001) Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) (2002–2006) EMI Music Taiwan (2006–2008) Warner Music Taiwan (2008–present)
Years active	1998–present
Official Website	Jolin@Warner Music Taiwan
Awards Golden Melody Awards Best Female Mandarin Artist (2007) Dancing Diva Most Popular Female Artist (2007) MTV Asia Awards Style Award (2006)

Jolin Tsai (Chinese: 蔡依林; pinyin: Cài Yīlín; Wade–Giles: Tsai I-lin; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chhoà I-lîm; born September 15, 1980) is a Taiwanese Golden Melody Award-winning Mandopop singer, dancer and actor. Tsai was the second top earner among Taiwanese singers in 2010 behind Jay Chou (周杰倫), with earnings of US$14.51 million that year.^[1] She is managed by Mars Entertainment Ltd (天熹娛樂).^[2]

Early life[link]

Though Tsai was introverted and shy as a child, she studied English intensively during her youth and eventually majored in English Literature at Fu Jen Catholic University. During her childhood years, Tsai developed an interest in singing and experimented with different vocal techniques after listening to the songs of popular female singers such as Teresa Teng and Faye Wong.^{[citation needed]}

Musical career[link]

Universal Music Taiwan (1998–2001)[link]

Tsai first started her singing career by taking part in an MTV singing competition at the age of 18. She won the top prize at the competition with her rendition of Whitney Houston's #1 hit "Greatest Love of All". She was then signed by Universal Music.

In July 1999, her first single "Living With the World" (和世界做鄰居) was released. It was sold in convenience stores and was a tremendous success,^[3] which led to the release of her first album, Jolin 1019, in September 1999. At that time, she was promoted as "The Girl Next Door," and was an instant hit with teenagers, earning her the title "Teenage Boy Killer"^{[citation needed]}. Jolin 1019 ended up selling more than 400,000 copies in Asia. With the success of her first album, she released her second album in May 2000, Don't Stop. Many of the hits from that album were well known throughout Asia as the album also became a tremendous success.^{[citation needed]} She also released her first photobook with pictures mainly taken in Hawaii.

Nearing the age of 21, Tsai changed her image in her third album, Show Your Love. The album was considered more mature and soothing.^{[citation needed]}, but it did not sell as well as her previous two albums. Her fourth album, Lucky Number, also failed to match the sales of her first two albums. Tsai's music career came to a halt when conflicts surfaced between her and her music company.^{[citation needed]} At the end of 2001, Tsai's contract with Universal Music ended and her first greatest hits compilation, Together was released. Tsai did not release any albums the following year, but she did release her second photo book, with photos taken in Thailand.

Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) (2002–2006)[link]

Tsai signed with Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan) that year and got the biggest break of her whole career. Her first single with Sony Music "Spirit Of The Knight" (騎士精神) became a big hit that led to the highly anticipated release of her fifth album Magic (看我72變). The album topped the Taiwan album charts for three months. More than 300,000 copies were sold in Taiwan alone, and over a million copies were sold in Asia.^[4] The album contained many of her most well-known singles, including the hit dance song "See My 72 Changes" (看我72變) that brought Tsai back to the top of the charts, a song which some suggested was named after The Monkey King's 72 transformations.^[5] Other songs from the album, such as "Say Love You" (說愛你) and "Prague Square" (布拉格廣場) were penned by fellow Taiwan star Jay Chou. Her more dance-oriented album marked her first release in two years following her hiatus in 2002.

Tsai's sixth album Castle (城堡), released in 2004, was just as popular as "Magic" and became a top album in many Asian countries.^{[citation needed]} Just as with Magic, many songs on this album were written by Chou, her rumored boyfriend at that time.^{[citation needed]} The playful song "It's Love" (就是愛) and the rock ballad "Rewind" (倒帶), became two of Tsai's biggest hits. Prior to the album's release, she showcased her single "Pirates" (海盜), another song composed by Chou, at a mini-concert. She subsequently filmed one of the most expensive music videos in Taiwanese history for that song.^{[citation needed]}

Between Castle and her next studio album, Tsai released a remix album of her most popular dance songs called J9 New + Party Collection. Tsai featured two new songs in the CD, including the hit song "Signature Pose". Tsai sang the Mandarin version of "Mirage (Warriors In Peace)", the theme song for the film Warriors of Heaven and Earth.

On April 25, 2005, Tsai seventh album J-Game was released, become the longest running album on the Taiwanese album charts in 2005, with over 1 million copies sold throughout Asia in just a little over a month.^[6] The album featured many more hip-hop influenced tracks than before, though it retained the dance pop and love ballads in her previous albums. Tsai supposedly broke up with Chou around the time the album was recorded, but she was able to find other writers and producers, including Leehom Wang, another pop star who composed "Exclusive Myth" (獨佔神話). The first single of the album "Barbaric Game" (野蠻遊戲) was a huge hit across Asia^{[citation needed]} and it was followed by other singles including "The Greek Girl Next To The Wishing Pond" (許願池的希臘少女) (composed by rising Hong Kong singer Ivana Wong), "Sky" (天空), "Repeat Signs" (反覆記號), "I Really Miss You" (好想你) and "Eyes Half Shut" (睜一隻眼 閉一隻眼). During this time, Tsai rapped in the duet "真命天子" [Destined Guy] with fellow artist Show Luo, which was featured on his album Hypnosis Show. She performed that song with Show in his first solo concert at the Taipei Arena.

Late in 2005, Tsai released her J1 Live Concert DVD, presenting performances of hits from her albums Magic (看我72變) and Castle from a late-2004 concert in Taipei. Show Luo made a guest appearance in the performance of "Prove It". The DVD did not include Jay Chou's guest appearance in her concert, in which he danced together with Tsai. It was later placed in the DVD for her greatest hits compilation, J-Top.

In early 2006, it was announced that Tsai would be leaving Sony Music Entertainment (Taiwan), to join Capitol Music Taiwan, which released under the name EMI Music Taiwan.^[7] To prepare for her new album, Tsai worked to perfect her dancing and change her style again.^{[citation needed]} She won the Style Award at the 2006 MTV Asia Awards, where she performed her new single "Dancing Diva" (舞孃) with elements of yoga and various props including a ball and a ribbon.^[8]

In May 2006, Sony released a greatest hits compilation album called J-Top, which included two CDs and a DVD with two previously unreleased music videos and a 70 minute documentary on Tsai's time at Sony. In one of the two music videos, Tsai looks back on all her previous music videos.

EMI Music Taiwan's label-Capitol Records (2006–2009)[link]

In concert during 2007 in Singapore.

After the release of J-Top, her first album with EMI Music Taiwan Dancing Diva was released on May 12, 2006. This album became Tsai's biggest album yet, selling over 2 million copies in Asia.^[9] The album featured her released single "Dancing Diva" (舞孃) along with "Pulchritude" (玩美), "Mr.Q" (The music video for this song shows Tsai getting intimate with Hong Kong pop star Edison Chen.), and the bonus track "Attraction of Sexy Lips"(唇唇欲動) (a song she did as part of an endorsement deal with MaxFactor similar to Anita Mui's song "Hot Red Lips"). The album also featured two of the biggest hits in Asia during the year^{[citation needed]}: the upbeat "A Wonder in Madrid" (馬德里不思議) and the love ballad "Pretence" (假裝). She collaborated with friend and label partner Stanley Huang on the song "Nice Guy" (乖乖牌), which he also helped to write. Tsai had some writing duties on the album, writing the lyrics for the song "The Prologue" (開場白), which many speculated was written about Chou. The album was re-released in July as the "Perfect Celebration Edition" with a DVD featuring music videos of all eleven of the songs on the album. She has done the same thing for Magic, Castle, and J-Game as well.

During the fall of 2006, Tsai began her Dancing Forever World Tour, performing concerts to sellout crowds in Asia and then to audiences in North America and Australia. The huge opening concert in Hong Kong, which took place on her birthday, featured many special guests, including one of Hong Kong's top male artists Eason Chan, Taiwan's rising pop princess Rainie Yang, and Show Luo. Show and Huang also made surprise appearances in other stops of her tour. In the most shocking moment of her tour, she kissed fellow Taiwanese star Elva Hsiao on the lips during one of her concerts. Tsai made guest appearances at her friend Stefanie Sun's concerts, while she and Singaporean male artist JJ Lin took turns appearing at each other's concerts.^{[citation needed]}

Tsai released her third remix album, Dancing Forever (唯舞獨尊) in October 2006, which contained two CDs and a DVD. The first disc contained all new material, including the title track and theme for her tour "Dancing Forever", covers of songs by Chinese singers Sandy Lam and Faye Wong, and the duet "Marry Me Today" (今天你要嫁給我) that she recorded with her idol and mentor David Tao. In this album, she experimented with two other Chinese dialects — Taiwanese and Cantonese (the Canto version of "Pretence" is on the album). Up to this point, she had only released music in Mandarin and English. The second disc included remixes of three dance hits from Dancing Diva, while the DVD featured the LUX-sponsored mini-concert she performed in the summer in Kaohsiung where Huang and Taiwanese boy band Energy also performed.

A month later, Sony released another two-CD compilation album called Jolin Favorite Live Concert Music Selection. This album consisted of remixes of popular songs Tsai recorded under Sony, as well as rare live tracks.

Tsai ended 2006 performing hits like "Mr.Q", "A Wonder in Madrid", "Pretence" and "Dancing Diva" at several New Year countdown parties in Taiwan. According to G-music, Dancing Diva became the biggest selling album of the year in Taiwan, while Dancing Forever reached #15 on the year-end album sales charts.^[10] Dancing Diva accounted for 4.26% of all Mandarin album sales in Taiwan for the year, ahead of Jay Chou's Still Fantasy, which accounted for 3.50%. Tsai's popular duet with Tao was considered by many lists to be the #1 song of the year in Taiwan^{[citation needed]}. Singles like "Dancing Diva," "Pretence," and "A Wonder in Madrid" also won many song awards between 2006 and 2007.^{[citation needed]}

On June 8, 2007, Tsai released her second DVD The Acquired Talent (地才), which featured performances from her latest world tour and documented her work in preparing for the tour. The DVD shows footage of her performing dance sequences with concert guests Luo, Huang, and Hsiao. The DVD opened at the top of the Taiwanese audio/video charts and stayed there for thirteen weeks.^[11]

On June 16, Tsai won the Most Favorite Female Artist and the Best Mandarin Female Singer Award for the first time at the 18th Golden Melody Awards.^[12][13] Her duet with David Tao won the Best Song Award. Tsai's win for Best Mandarin Female Singer drew criticism from netizens and industry critics, who believed her voice was not as strong as the other nominees (A-mei, Sandy, Angela Chang, and Penny Tai). However, many said that she won due to her all-round talent, hard work, and universal pop appeal.^[14] Regardless of the controversy surrounding this award, she won the Most Favorite Female Artist award following a fan vote conducted for a few months prior to the awards show, beating out many other artists such as A-mei, Fish Leong, Hsiao, Sun, Twins, and Yang.

Just a few days before the release of Tsai's new album at EMI Music Taiwan, Sony released another compilation album, Jolin's Final Wonderland (Jolin夢綺地精選). This collection featured almost all the songs Tsai released during her time at Sony in three CDs (The songs were separated into dance songs, cute songs, and love ballads.), as well as a DVD with 22 music videos and a 52-page photo book.

Jolin Tsai became the online game spokeswoman of "We Dancing Online" after the CD album release of "Dancing Forever".

Tsai's second album with EMI Music Taiwan, titled Agent J (特務J), was released on September 21, 2007. The album featured eleven new tracks - the title track "Agent J" (特務J), the ballads "Alone" (一個人) and "Fear Free" (怕什麼), the dance tracks "Bravo Lover" (愛無赦) (best known for its often-imitated dance steps^{[citation needed]}) and "Tacit Violence" (冷‧暴力), and the bonus track "Let's Move It," which was used as a promotional track in commercials for Toyota. The deluxe version of the album contained a 3-part 70-minute music movie filmed in France, London, and Bangkok. The movie, which cost NT$50 million to film, stars Tsai as the leather-clad Agent J and features popular Korean actor Kim Jae Won and Hong Kong stars Stephen Fung and Carl Ng.^[15][16] During the filming of the movie, Tsai had to learn two new forms of dance in 10 days: aerial silk dancing and pole-dancing. She almost paralyzed her right arm and fainted in the process.^[17]

According to G-music Taiwan, the album accounted for 45% of album sales and over 65% of Mandarin album sales in Taiwan in its first week of release. Since its release, the album stayed at the number one position for two weeks.^[18] Tsai released two more versions of the album: the Champion Special Edition (featuring 10 music videos, 4 dance instruction music videos, and a remix of Bravo Lover) and the No. 1 Special Celebration Edition (featuring the "Let's Move It" music video and her "Agent J" celebration concert with the best male artist at the Golden Melody Awards Nicky Lee from Taiwanese hip-hop group Machi).

Tsai then collaborated with Australian pop queen, Kylie Minogue in a song called "In My Arms", which would be included in the Asian version of Kylie's album X. Tsai was invited to the world premiere of Kylie's movie 'White Diamond', where Tsai presented Minogue with her newest album and a jade bracelet which Tsai personally picked for her.

Soon after, Tsai traveled to Hong Kong for Christmas, attending various functions and performing and winning three awards at the 2007 Metro Showbiz Music Awards, before returning to Taiwan. Tsai again ended off the year performing hits in Taiwan to celebrate the end of 2007. For the second year in a row, Tsai had the best-selling album in Taiwan. According to g-music, sales of Agent J accounted for 3.08% of all album sales in Taiwan and 5.96% of Chinese albums for the year, even higher than the numbers for Dancing Diva a year ago.^[19] Agent J also topped the year-end album charts according to Five Music, while The Acquired Talent was the best-selling music DVD of the year.^[20][21][22]

Like the previous year, Tsai also topped the Hito Top 100 Singles chart for the year. This time her song "Sun Will Never Set" was voted Top Song of the Year by over 340,000 voters.^[23]

In April 2008, Tsai incorporated newly learned skills such as flying rings and pole dance in addition to her usual multi-style dances in her concert in Beijing's Workers' Gymnasium.^{[citation needed]}

References[link]