Yangzhou

Canal port in Jiangsu province, east China, on the Chang Jiang River; population (1995 est) 489,000. It is an ancient city, first settled before the 5th century BC. The completion of the Grand Canal in 610 AD helped the city to become an important communications centre and during the Tang period (618–906 AD) it greatly increased in size and wealth, becoming a centre for the salt trade, shipbuilding and the arts. Now it is an artistic centre for crafts, jade carving, and printing, and among its features are gardens and pavilions.

A Tang dynasty temple, Fajing Si, is now a museum. Between 1961 and 1975 China's largest water control project, for irrigation, electricity generation and flood management, was completed in the area.