【Honors of Changzhou】National Model City of Etiquette and Cultural Advancement, National Famous Historical and Cultural City, National Ecological City, National Forest City, National Pilot Low-Carbon City, China Habitat Environmental Award, Chinese Excellent Tourist City, “Tourism + Internet� Innovation Demonstration City, National Hygienic City, National Garden City, National Double-Support Model City, and National Advanced Area of Cultural System Reform.

【Annual Figures�

Total area:4,372.15 square kilometers

Urban area: 2,837.63 square kilometers

Resident population: 5.278 million

Local GDP: 880.76 billion yuan

Local GDP per capita (based on the resident population): 166,000 yuan

【Geographic Location� Changzhou, located in southern Jiangsu province, is seated in the center of the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region. The city borders the Yangtze River in the north and the Taihu Lake in the south. It is halfway between Shanghai and Nanjing and neighbors both Suzhou and Wuxi. The city tree of Changzhou is the southern magnolia, and the city flower is the Chinese rose.

Changzhou, belonging to the northern subtropical monsoon region, enjoys a warm climate, good weather and distinctive seasons. There is the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal passing through the city, and the West Taihu Lake, Tianmu Lake, and Changdang Lake scattered in-between like pearls. It is a land of fish and rice south of the Yangtze River, which connected waterways, lakes, and rivers.

【Administrative Divisions� Changzhou currently administers the county-level city of Liyang and the five districts of Jintan, Wujin, Xinbei, Tianning, and Zhonglou.

【History and Culture】Changzhou is an ancient city with a written history of over 3,200 years and more than 2,560 years of city governance, nurturing many famous people in various spheres of life.

There were 15 Zhuangyuan (No.1 Imperial Scholar), 11 Bangyan (No.2 Imperial Scholar), 15 Tanhua (No.3 Imperial Scholar), and 1,947 Jinshi (a degree offered by ancient Chinese Imperial Examination) coming from Changzhou. In the Qing Dynasty (1644-1912), the Changzhou School of Thought, Changzhou School of Painting, Yanghu School of Literature, and Menghe School of Chinese Medicine emerged and left a profound influence.

Changzhou is the hometown of some early leaders of the Communist Party of China (CPC) such as Qu Qiubai, Zhang Tailei, and Yun Daiying. The city has also nurtured masters in different disciplines, including Wu Jieping, Wu Zuguang, Hua Luogeng, Yuen Ren Chao, Zhou Youguang, Lu Simian, and Liu Haisu. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, there have been more than 60 academicians from the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering coming from Changzhou.

【Tourist Attractions】Changzhou has 36 national A-class scenic spots, including three 5A, eleven 4A, and fourteen 3A attractions. There are also six key villages for rural tourism at or above the provincial level.

【Cultural Heritage】In 2014, the Grand Canal was added to UNESCO' s World Heritage List. Thus, the Changzhou Section of the Grand Canal has become the city's first world-class heritage site. The city has also preserved the Yancheng Ruins, the Helu Ruins, and several national-level ancient towns or villages such as Jiaoxi and Yangqiao.

【Traditional Crafts】Among many of Changzhou’s folk crafts, there are 13 items on the list of national intangible cultural heritage, including Jintan paper-cutting, Changzhou comb, green-retaining bamboo carving, and random-stitch embroidery. Among them, Jintan paper-cutting has been inscribed onto the Representative List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.

【Local Foods】Changzhou cuisine, with stir-frying and stewing as the main cooking techniques, highly values the freshness of ingredients, the delicateness of each process and the perfect mix of different flavors. The local cuisine not only possesses the fresh, crisp and tender taste of Huaiyang food, but also integrates the salty, colorful style and thick juices of other cuisines. Changzhou’s catering industry stands out for the tasty dishes, integration of other food cultures, constant innovation and outstanding services.

The ten delicacies in Changzhou are: Tianmu Lake fish head in casserole, stir-fried rice with pickled radish, pork braised in distillers' grains, silver thread noodles, fried dough with red bean filling, bean-curd soup and sesame cake, simple sautéed celery,crystal shrimp meat, sweet taro with osmanthus flower and dried bean-curd in soy sauce soup.