Changzhou is a prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province of China. It is one of the central cities in Yangtze River Delta, and famous for the advanced manufacturing industry and historic and cultural sites. It ranks high-up in the country in the index of security, good investment environment, and evolving development. Changzhou borders to the provincial capital of Nanjing to the west, Zhenjiang to the northwest, Wuxi to the east, and the province of Zhejiang to the south. As a part of the highly developed Yangtze Delta region of China, Changzhou has a total population of 4,708.000 presently and divides into five districts and one county-level city, they are Zhonglou District, Tianning District, Xinbei District, Wujin District, Jintan District and Liyang city. It is one of the places where Yangtze Culture and Wu Culture originated, the various historic sites and natural scenery enjoy a good reputation in China.
According to the archaeological discoveries, Changzhou has over 3000 years history and is the village ruins of the Neolithic Age. The earliest record of a settlement on the site of modern Changzhou is as a commandery founded in 221 BC at the beginning of the Qin Dynasty. Later in Sui Dynasty, Changzhou got its present name meaning” ordinary prefecture”. Following construction of the Grand Canal of China, which has been recorded in the World Heritage List for its largest scale, the earliest digging, and the longest length, Changzhou became a canal port and transshipment point for the production of rice, tea, silk, bamboo and fruit. Since then, the sustained advanced economy resided with the canal’s development. Unlike many Chinese cities, Changzhou continued to prosper even during the upheavals of the Cultural Revolution. Today, it is an important industrial centre for textiles, food processing, engineering(diesel engines, generators, transformers and other machinery), and high technology.
Along with the Grand Canal’s important function, Changzhou’s traditional role has been that of a commercial center and in particular a distribution center for agricultural produce, which was shipped by canal across China. In 1920s, it began to develop a cotton textile industry and established the cotton mills later. It also has large food-processing plants as well as flour-milling, rice-polishing, and oil-pressing industries. After 1949 it also developed as a centre of the engineering industry, one of the largest locomotive and rolling stock plants in China was settled here. Up until now, Changzhou has remained one of the most developed cities in Jiangsu province, as well as one of the top business cities in China. According to Forbes ranking, Changzhou was the 9th best business city in mainland China in 2008.
As the traditional transportation junction, Changzhou has an important function in north to south transportation. In the past, the great canal played a main role n shipping. Now, the railway, air travel, highways and metro accelerate the transportation development. Changzhou is situated on the main Shanghai-Beijing rail line, and the main stop on the Shanghai-Nanjing route with two stations located in Changzhou(Changzhou station and Qishuyuan station). Besides, Changzhou Benniu International Airport offers many flights to Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, and Dalian, regional flights to Taipei, Taiwan and international flights to South Korea, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia and Japan. Till now, Changzhou has four highways across China. And there are four metros are being constructed.
Benefiting from the long history, Changzhou enjoys a famous reputation in China for the abundant historic sites and natural scenery. It is home to the Tianning Temple- one of the largest Zen Buddhist temple and monasteries in China. Dongpo Park is a typical Jiangnan Garden composed of cultural sites and natural landscapes. It is named after the famous Chinese poet Dongpo Su who considered Changzhou as his home. Additionally, there is a unique man-made scene spots in Changzhou, that is China Dinosaur Park, which is rated as 5A spot in China. It has 50 various fossils and more than 30 amusement programs including the Brontosaurus Roller Coaster and the Whirling Dinosaur Carriage.
Changzhou has a typical sub-tropical maritime climate, along with the distinctive four seasons and ample rainfall. Summers can be as hot as 38℃ for a very short period, the air is usually very humid, and it is often rainy. Winters are mild but temperature can drop to -5℃ and it will sometimes even snow. The annual average temperature here is 15.8℃(60.4 F).
Population: 4.708 million
Temperature: average 15.8℃(60.4°F)
