Yangzhou promotes its charms

Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai famously wrote, "Go to Yangzhou in March, in the mist of the flowers of spring", evoking the romance of the city some 1,300 years ago.

On March 18 in New York, Xie Zhengyi, party secretary of Yangzhou, officially invited US tourists to travel to the city in Jiangsu province.

"Foreign tourists might be more familiar with mega cities in China like Beijing, Shanghai and Xi'an, but traveling to medium-sized cities in China like Yangzhou would help better experience Chinese people's daily life," Xie said on the opening day of Experience China: Yangzhou Impressions at the Chinese Consulate General in New York.

The City of Yangzhou is located in the middle part of Jiangsu, on the northern shore of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, at the confluence of the Yangtze River and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, connecting the Huaihe River in the north.

It is a city with 2,500 years of history along the Grand Canal. In 2014, the Grand Canal was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Legendary figures like Marco Polo from Italy and Puhaddin from Arabia were drawn to Yangzhou and enhanced the cultural heritages of the city.

Jan Berris, vice-president of the National Committee on US-China Relations, who has been to China more than 150 times, shared memories of her first visit to Yangzhou in July 1976.

When she and the delegation were walking along the side of the canal in the city, there was a full moon in the sky and whipping willow trees along the bank, which were reflecting in the water, she recalled, and there was a young man playing a Chinese flute on the bank.

"I thought we were all transported to the Tang Dynasty listening to the beautiful music and seeing the beautiful scenery," Berris said. "That's my favorite memory of Yangzhou, which always stays with me and always will."

Yangzhou also cultivates the skills of its artisans. It's refined culture has given rise to national treasures in the performing arts, woodblock printing, paper cutting and jade carving. Its Huaiyang cuisine is one of China's Four Famous Cuisines.

"You can find Yangzhou fried rice in every Chinese restaurant around the world," Xie joked.

During the event, the Yangzhou puppet show was performed by Yangzhou performing arts masters, and the knife skills of the Huangyang cuisine were displayed by chefs from Yangzhou to great applause. The guests were treated to a buffet of Huaiyang cuisine dishes.

"Yangzhou is a city with very rich historical and cultural heritage, and today we also see Yangzhou as a very modern city," said Zhang Qiyue, Chinese consul general in New York.

Situated in China's most dynamic Yangtze River Delta economic circle, Yangzhou serves as a node city of the economic circle of Shanghai and Nanjing metropolitan area.

With a rapid rise in construction, Yangzhou, like many medium-sized cities in China, has been connecting with the world in various fields.

Over the year, $1.5 billion in registered foreign funds was in place, and eight Fortune 500 companies set up in Yangzhou. The city recorded foreign trade volume of $610 million and a total export/import volume of $10 billion, of which 7.6 billion was derived from exports.

Yangzhou has established international friendly cities relationships with 19 cities in 11 countries (including City of Kent, City of Apollo and City of Stanford in the US) and established friendly exchange relationships with 27 cities from 20 countries.

"Today, the China-US relationship has become one of the most important bilateral relationships in the world. By the end of 2015, China has become the largest/No.1 trading partner for the United States, which is really a landmark," Zhang said.

"Besides the robust business ties, people-to-people exchanges are increasingly active: In last year alone, a number of mutual visits between our two countries hit a record high of 6.13 million. ... In other words, about 17,000 people travel across the Pacific every day, and there is a flight between China and the US every 15 minutes," Zhang said.