2020 Yangtze River Cruise and Ferry Starting from 79 USD p.p.!
Yangzhou Introduction
There is a little verse, much quoted
in reference to Yangzhou, which goes something
like this:
Brilliant moonlight,
orioles, flowers and pavilions of jade,
All attest to the past
and present glories of Yangzhou.
To these glories might also be added
Yangzhou's tradition of producing beautiful
women.
Yangzhou was one of the most important
cities on the Grand Canal and is a delightful
place to
visit, retaining to some degree the
feeling of its rich cultural and historical
traditions. A vehicular ferry from Zhenjiang
crosses the Yangtze and from the north bank
the drive to Yangzhou takes half an hour. Many
traditional arts and crafts are still practiced:
lacquerware, paper-cuts, lanterns, embroidery,
penling (miniature gardens) and seal carving.
Yangzhou has one of the great cuisines
of China and every foreigner knows-indirectly
about it, for Yangzhou is the home of the worldwide
favourite Chinese dish of fried rice (Yangzhou
chaojan).
HISTORY OF YANGZHOU
The city's history began over 2,400
years ago in the Spring and Autumn period (722-481
BC), one of the early nine provincial areas
of China was called after it. The Sui emperor,
Yangdi, 
initiated the construction of the Grand
Canal here in 605, which eventually made Yangzhou
the hub of land and water transportation. Emperor
Yangdi visited the city three times in grand
dragon-boats. He built a palace, retired and
was buried here, after being assassinated in
6l8. Yangzhou was also a centre of classical
learning and religion. Emperors, prime ministers
and men of letters through the ages visited
Yangzhou and many held official positions, including
the great traveller Marco Polo, who was supposedly
governor general of the city for three years,
although no contemporary documents support this.
By the Tang dynasty (618--907) Yangzhou's
trading links with Arab merchants were well
established. A foreign community numbering about
a thousand lived in the city. It was said that
'at night a thousand lanterns lit up the clouds'.
The economy was based on the salt monopoly and
on grain shipments to the capital.
Yangzhou, along with so many other
middle and lower Yangtze cities, suffered badly
during the Taiping Rebellion in the mid-19th
century. In addition, the silting of the Yangtze
and the flooding of the Grand Canal gradually
undermined its entrep0t role, as grain shipments
were increasingly transported by sea via Shanghai,
rather than along the Grand Canal. Changes in
the salt administration and the arrival of the
railways were the coup de grace in Yangzhou's
decline.
During the late 18th century an
individualistic school of painters sprang up,
known as the Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou, whose
bold style has a strong following today.
• Yangzhou
• What
to See In Yangzhou
• Sailing
the Yangtze
