Yangzhou

Understand

thumb|A typical modern middle-class neighborhood in Yangzhou The city has a history of over 2,500 years and developed as a major trading center for salt, rice and silk. Marco Polo served as the city's governor (or possibly a Salt Official for the government, or he just stayed there for that period of time) for three years in the late 13th century. Yangzhou has a population exceeding 1,000,000.

Built on flat land a few miles north of the Yangtze River, Yangzhou is criss-crossed by a network of canals of all size, from the Grand Canal of China (which, actually, has two routes - the old, next to the city center, and the modern, a few miles to the east) to small neighborhood canals.

Several walled cities existed here over the two millennia, but even the last (Ming Dynasty) wall has been demolished long ago. Still, the contours of the Ming city wall are traced by the canals surrounding the two kilometer square in Yangzhou's city center. New neighborhoods have grown for about 5 km or more in all directions outside of the former walled city.

Yangzhou is the birthplace of former Chinese politician and CCP general secretary Jiang Zemin, the leader of the third Chinese generation.

Get in

thumb|Yangzhou Railway Station

Get around

City buses are reliable and cheap (typically ¥2 per ride), but the service of many routes ends at around 18:00-19:00, with several key routes operating until around 22:00 or the last train arrivals. Bus stops are well marked; bus schedules (in Chinese), with the list of stops along the route, are posted at bus stops.

The key east-west routes Z6, K1, and 88, along the city's central axis, Wenchang Rd, connect the two main railway stations in the city. The key "tourism" routes 游1/2/3 run through major tourist spots in town. Information on all the bus routes is available in major Chinese navigation apps (e.g., Amap and Baidu Maps).

Rideshare and taxi services are widely available. Pedicabs are also abundant in the old town (tourist area) for a leisure ride through the narrow alleys.

Bicycling around Yangzhou is fairly pleasant, as major streets usually have protected bicycle lanes with usually low traffic outside of the city center. Like in many other Chinese cities, cheap shared bicycles are ubiquitous in the urban area of Yangzhou. However, please be alert to the mopeds that often disregard traffic laws.

See

thumb|A Tang Dynasty dragon boat on display in Yangzhou Museum thumb|The warrior deity Zhenwu, assisted by the Snake General and the Tortoise General, in Yangzhou's Wudangxing Palace (武当行宫 Wudangxing gong), a Taoist temple in Dongguang St (东关街 Dongguan Jie) Ge Yuan 个园 A lovely garden with sections representing the four seasons and with pavilions, open 07:30-17:00 daily, discount with student ID. He Yuan 何园 This true scholar's garden is cleverly arranged garden with several tea houses, open grottoes, and pleasant view. One of the best gardens in Jiangsu Province. open daily 07:30-18:00, discount with student ID. Lu Shi Yan-shang Zhu-zhai (卢氏 盐商 住宅) A lavishly furnished home with 100 rooms that belonged to a local salt merchant, open daily 08:00-17:00. Marco Polo Memorial Hall is situated somewhat away from Tianning Temple (and not inside it!) at the corner of Tai Zhou Lu/Dong Guan Jie. The exhibition itself is an uncritical scenic description of Marco Polo's journey, which may be interesting for children, but does not meet academic standards. There are no remnants of Marco Polo's time in China on view (that would be a sensation anyway!), and at the end of the exhibition you find a whole isle dedicated to the twinning between Yangzhou and Rimini in Italy, which has nothing to do with Marco Polo. The impression you get is that Venice was not available for twinning, so just another Italian city had to fill in. Open 09:00-11:30 and 14:00-17:30.

Do

Stroll along the Xiaoqinhuaihe Canal (小秦淮河) that crosses the city's historical center, and the narrow lanes of the (few) surviving blocks of the old city nearby.

Go for some exercise in Songjiacheng Sports and Recreation Park (entry free; some sports facilities may require fees. Open 17:30-21:30). It's on an island east of the Slender West Lake Scenic Area. The park has an interesting past: farmers' fields and a few small villages were converted to a Wetlands Nature Park in 2005, then to Songjiacheng Archaeological Park around 2009, and finally to a sports park in 2015. Boardwalks through the marshes surrounding the island have been inherited from its Wetlands Park incarnation, while the four gate towers, from the Archaeological Park period. The rest of the landscaping apparently comes from the 2015 remodeling. One can enter the park from the Changchun Rd (via its southern or western gates), or from Shouxihu Rd (via the eastern gate). Bicycles are not allowed in the park, except for those rented in the park itself (at the rental station outside of the western gate); those can be used on the 3,200 m long bicycle trail around the park's perimeter.

On a summer day, walk on a boardwalk trail to Baozhang Lake (保障湖) a popular locals' swimming place, about 2 km north of downtown. The trail starts outside of the southern gate of Songjiacheng, and runs east and north outside of the park's borders (within a narrow strip of greenery that's separated from the Songjiacheng park by …

Buy

thumb|Hongyuan Market, a popular craft and antique market just north of the city center For goods and necessities, there are 2 RT-Mart(s) (大润发 da run fa) one on Hanjiang Road and the other on Wenchang Middle Road; several bus lines run there from downtown and from the local colleges. As far as Western products go, RT-Mart, Tesco (Hanjiang Rd, north of the old bus station) or Auchan (Jiangyang Rd, east of the old bus station), are good.

One major local industry is ceramics and teaware; a few big ceramics factories and showcases can be visited here.

Not a shopping mecca, however, there are a number of department stores in the city centre. Here you can find the Golden Eagle Shopping Centre (in the city's main square, facing the Wenchang Pavilion), Times Extra Mall and the Times Square Mall. If you feel the need for a more Western-style shopping experience, the Living Mall, in the new development zone, was completed in 2008 and is easily reached by taxi. Big name foreign and domestic designer brands, western style restaurants, K-TV bars and a cinema can be found here.

Eat

thumb|Baozi at the Fuchun Tea House The big-name local dish is Yangzhou fried rice 扬州炒饭, filled with fried egg, muer mushroom 木耳, ham, shrimp, scallions, peas, and carrots. It's representative of the Huaiyang cuisine. Other famous dishes include the Lion's Head 狮子头, which is a giant meatball made with pork and crab. Also suggested is; semisweet Thousand-layer cake 千层糕, steamed dumpling 蒸饺, amazing tofu noodles often like chicken soup 大煮干丝, delicious soup fill dumplings 小笼汤包, and stinky tofu 臭豆腐. For breakfast you'll be sure to find steamed filled buns (baozi)包子, steamed buns (mantou)馒头, rice porridge (zhou)粥, boiled eggs (zhujidan)煮鸡蛋.

If these choices look unappealing to you—or if they look appealing, but you just don't eat that stuff—try Damingsi Vegetarian Restaurant 大明寺素菜馆, 1802 Wenhui Road East. It's affiliated with the temple, and serves vegetable-matter simulacra of the local favorites for very reasonable prices.

Drink

thumb|Xiaohongqiao ("The Little Rainbow Bridge") over the not-so grand Xiaoqinhuaihe Canal in Yangzhou's old city The most popular beer is from Shenyang, called Snow 雪花啤酒, and costs around ¥3 for a large bottle. But should you want something with a stronger beer-flavor, the L-Mart at the Living Mall has Kirin Japanese beer, brewed in Taiwan, ¥5 a can. The Living Mall 京华城 also boasts a Starbucks 辛巴克, semi-conveniently placed between the train station and the RT-Mart.

Sleep

Unlike most Chinese cities, Yangzhou has little lodging available in the train station area, although a Hanting Hotel has opened in the new bus station building (next to the train station).

Although some hotels are found in major streets all over the city, they are mostly concentrated in two areas: around downtown, and within a few blocks of the old main bus station (Jiangyang Rd and Hanjiang Rd, a few km to the southwest of downtown). The demolition of the old bus station has not affected the hotels too much, since Jiangyang Rd is still the natural route for entering the city by car. As of 2017, room rates start from around ¥100 in both areas.

As elsewhere in China, some smaller hotels are closed for a few days around the Chinese New Year, while others raise their price around this and other holidays, when crowds of tourists from all over the country descend on the Slender West Lake area.

Go next

thumb|Public art in one of Yangzhou's new neighborhoods See the nearby city of Nanjing Visit the stunning Huangshan mountain area The city of Suzhou Gaoyou