With a reputation of being a foliage corridor, Yangzhou is a famous historical and cultural city in China, also a tourist city with a traditional characteristics, rated as a garden city at provincial level named by the Jiangsu provincial government in February 1997.
By the end of 1998, the green coverage of the city was 1,657.9 hectares, while the public green belt area was 328.8 hectares and its coverage rate amounted to 35.2 percent. The per-capita public green area was 8.16 square meters.
With unremitting efforts dedicated to the initiative of becoming one of the Top Tourist Cities of China, and setting an example as a sanitation city designated by the State, the local government has strengthened the construction of the city's infrastructure and sanitation facilities, while doing solid work in terms of the city's purification and beautification.
The rate of daily life waste treatment was over 80 percent. The noise level at scenic spots is on average lower than 60 db and the indices of air pollution in the city are all below 100. The rate of quality drinking water exceeds 96 percent.