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A park view of the city
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The City of Xuzhou |
General Information
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Situated in the northwest of Jiangsu, Xuzhou City is one of Chinese most well-known transportation hubs, in which China's two most important rail lines, Beijing-Shanghai that runs north-south direction, and Lianyungang-Urumqi that goes from east to west, meet here.
With a history of 2,600 years, Xuzhou is a historical city with the critical strategic importance from military views. It is known as a notable battlefield in China's history, from ancient dynasties to modern republics. There were more than two hundred famous battles once taken place on this land and total forces engaged in both military sides in each battle reached between 10,000 to a million in order to control the area.
Regardless of these devastating combats, Xuzhou still remains relatively intact and a large amount of historical attractions and beautiful scenic sites were magically preserved without massive damages. The town was once named Pengcheng during the Qin and Han dynasties and was the hometown for Liu Bang, the first emperor of the Han. After ascending the throne, Liu Bang granted this land, the Chu State, to his brother who finally became the King of the state and Pencheng became its capital city.
Xuzhou City is one of Jiangsu thirteen prefecture-level cities which administers five old municipal districts and six county-level cities or counties.
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Geography, Resources and Climate
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Xuzhou is situated in the Northern China Plain, almost in the middle between Beijing and Shanghai, about 600 km to each of the two metropolises, and about 300 km to the provincial capital, Nanjing. The city and its jurisdiction lie in the extreme west corner of the province, bordering Anhui and Shandong provinces.
About 10% of its land is hilly area occupying the middle and eastern portions of the city, with the highest point 361 m, the summit of Dadong Hill. Thevcity's elevation is gradually reduced from its middle and east to the west and south, with 30-50 m in average over the sea level.
The city has abundant water resource, with more than 213 rivers flowing within its boundary, including the Grand Canal. In its jurisdiction, there are two major lakes, Lake Luoma and Lake Weishan, plus 91 artificial reservoirs. Another important natural resource is coal, with a production of 2.5 million tones annually.
The city experiences a mild climate with distinct seasons, and its springs and autumns are short while the summers last very long. Precipitation is lower than the average level of its Jiangsu neighbors, only 800-950 mm annually. |
Jurisdiction
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Xuzhou jurisdiction includes 11 county-level divisions, of which five are districts, four are counties, and two are cities. The districts are the old urban areas of Xuzhou while the four counties and two cities are recently designated as county-level districts being governed by the Xuzhou city administration. The special industrial zones are specifically designated as new investment areas.
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Area and Population
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Xuzhou jurisdiction has a population close ten million and its physical land mass is 11,260 square kilometers. Xuzhou, the city itself, has a population of close 2 million, including about a million living in unban area. |
Economy, Industry and Environment
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Xuzhou, together with its subdivision cities and counties, was ever considered as an agricultural land. In the past, the agricultural income occupied a major portion of the city's economy, but it has been remarkably shrinking over years. Now the agricultural earning fills up only 3% of the GDP of the city. The principal farming products include rice, wheat, cotton, oil seed, fruit, vegetable, etc. For Pizhou, a city under the jurisdiction of Xuzhou, garlic is one of its major products. Xuzhou is intensifying new efforts to boost its green agriculture, organic food and tree plantation. The city is also honored as a region for the harvest of apple and ginkgo.
Xuzhou has been an industrial center since the past decades and the recent investments has added more industrial sectors. Due to the improvement of its industrial infrastructure, the city’s industrial GDP has experienced a strong growth of 14-17% each year in the past five years. The city has become one of the most critical cities in the economic development region, the Huaihai (Huai River) Economic and Development Zone that involves four provinces in the East of China: Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Anhui. The city was ranked at the 42nd by Chinese Academy of Social Sciences for its conprehensive competence for investment attraction in China's major cities in 2006.
The city has abundant coal mineral, one of the largest nature resources in this region. Coal has become one of the important fuels in Xuzhou in producing electricity and other energies. Other natural resources are marble, lime, salt, etc.
Industrialization and the use of coal as fuel have brought a remarkable pollution to the city for its air and environment. Contaninants entering rivers, from nearby paper-making factories, poison farmers's fish stocks and affect residents' drinking water supplies. The municipal government has made tough environmental policies and has spent significant funds over years to protect its air and environment. Many polluters have been shut down or entaered in monitory process. At present, the city’s urban tree coverage rate reach 38% and many facilities have been set up in order to monitor air quality. |
Transportation and Tourism
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The city is one of major traditional transportation hubs in China, in which two most important trunk railway lines cross the city, one east-west railway Longhai (Lianyungang-Lanzhou) Railway, the other north-south trunk railway Jinghu (Beijing-Shanghai). There are total five national and 20 provincial highways/expressways in the region, making Xuzhou one of the most powerful transport networks in China. There is only 200 km of driving distance to either Lianyungang seaport or Xuzhou Guanyin Airport that provides a convenient access to air passengers. The Grand Canal and Old Yellow River are two major waterways for Xuzhou, plus other 51 rivers as supplementary shipping channels.
Xuzhou is well known for its heritage and the Han culture and there are an enormous number of historical or cultural relics left by the ancient dynasty everywhere in the city. Recent archaeological excavations have added more unbelievable cultural relics. The excavation in the Lion Mountain in 1995 has been entitled as one of the 100 most important archaeological excavation findings in the 20th Century of China.
Xuzhou sponsors an international festival in October each year for the Han Culture for tourism and research. |
Education
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Xuzhou has well instituted compulsory primary education system. The secondary schools education achieves a significant graduate rate.
There are totally 11 higher learning institutions stationed in Xuzhou, including China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou Normal University, Xuzhou Institute of Technology, etc.
China University of Mining & Technology is a top university in China, which is selected by the national Project 211. The university has two campuses, one in Xuzhou for undergraduate programs, the other in Beijing as the university’s graduate school and research facility. |
Culture and Folklore
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The natural beauty of Xuzhou mixes with characters from both the North and South of China. The old Yellow River flows through the city by which the Grand Canal passes. Surrounding the city are the green hills and bodies of water connecting the whole city and forming the special sceneries. The enriched cultural soil and delightful natural scenery make Xuzhou one of the wonderful tourist-attracting cities.
Xuzhou is well known for its heritage and cultural relics for the Han Culture, which is honored the best city to search or eye-view these splendid items, displaying in its museums. There are total more than 200 Han tombs discovered, with thousands of unearthed priceless funerary objects and terracotta warriors. |
Notable Personage
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Many prominent people are natives of Xuzhou and most of them are historically famous, including Liu Bang, the first emperor, Xiang Yu, the King of Chu State, Zhang Daoling, the Daoism founder, etc. |
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