Lying in the center of Jiangsu Province, Yangzhou borders the bank of the Yangtze River on the south, Huaihe River on the north and with the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal running across in the middle.
With a long history and flourishing culture, it is blessed with pleasant weather and elegant natural landscapes. The city, rich in numerous cultural and historical sites and ample tourist resources, is one of the 24 cultural and historical cities first approved by the State Council as an important open and tourist city along the Yangtze River Delta.
The local tourist industry began in 1978. Since implementing the policy of reform and opening up, the local authorities have accelerated the development pace and made remarkable progress in the construction of scenic spots and landscape areas, infrastructure and transportation.
Now, the city has 20 tourist hotels, 13 of them star-rated hotels, comprising one four-star, five three-star, six two-star and one one-star-rated hotel. The construction of another batch of multiple star-rated hotels has begun.
The number of various travel agencies in the city has risen to 28, three of which are international travel agencies. There are 15 designated restaurants, shopping centers and enterprises for tourists coming to Yangzhou.
Yangzhou has a great many cultural relics left by history, with one scenic spot at State level, three key units of cultural relics under State protection, 11 units of cultural relics at provincial level and 133 at city level.
In recent years, the local government has restored certain gardens and historical sites including the Twenty-four Bridge Scenic Spot, Running Water Flowing from Stone Cliffs, Granite-Built House, Bright Moon Tower, Rockery Garden.
In 1998, it began renovations and improvements on 10 scenic areas and opened them to the public, including the Museum of Han Grave, Tomb of Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the Memorial Hall of the Eight Eccentric Artists, Gaomin Temple, Longevity Temple, Puhading Tomb, Heyuan Garden, Geyuan Garden, Lotus-Pond Park and Qiong Flower Temple.
The local tourist organizations respectively Introduced some eight itinerary routes entitled Emperor Qianlong's Lake Cruise, ancient Grand Canal Cruise, Religious Cultural Tour, Tour to Appreciate the Culture of A Dream of the Red Mansions, Adventure Tour of the Eight Eccentric Artists of Yangzhou, Tour to Ancient Gardens and Forests. Of them, the Emperor Qianlong's lake cruise was designated as the key itinerary line throughout the country by China National Tourism Administration.
In order to offer convenience for free and individual travelers, the local authorities set up the Two-day Tour Co., in conjunction with sightseeing buses and standardized services to create an atmosphere for urban tourism.
In conjunction with the China Ecotour'99, the local government developed the Happy Fisherman Tour of Gaoyou Lake, introducing a series of recreational items including herding wild ducks, observing birds tour on fishing boats, roaming by motor boats and tour to log cabins in the forest.
Furthermore, it has conducted investigations to outline certain new tourist items on the basis of the above-mentioned items: (1) a newly built landscape belt of the ancient Grand Canal so as to perfect the itinerary; (2) the Zhuyu Bend Tourist Resort; (3) A Museum of the Ruins of Yangzhou City in the Tang Dynasty; (4) plan to build museums of the development and taxation of salt industry.
With the continuous development of the local tourist industry, the number of travelers to Yangzhou has increased year by year. In 1998, the city received overseas travelers totaling 74,500, an increase of 16.16 percent over 1997, 4.6145 million travelers from the mainland, a 33.75 percent rise. The foreign exchange from tourism came to US$31.08 million, 29.66 percent more than 1997. Income from domestic tourism was 3.207 billion yuan, a growth of 47.92 percent.
Yangzhou, among the first batch of Top Tourist Cities of China and also the hometown of President Jiang Zemin of the CPC Central Committee, taking advantage of its beautiful environment and new outlook, welcomes domestic and overseas tourists to come for visits and sightseeing.