Gaoyou (), is a

county-level city A county-level city () is a County-level divisions of China, county-level administrative division of the China, People's Republic of China. County-level cities have judiciary, judicial but no legislature, legislative rights over their own local or ...

under the administration of

Yangzhou Yangzhou is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province, East China. Sitting on the north bank of the Yangtze, it borders the provincial capital Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou, Jiangsu, ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

province, China, located in the

Yangtze River Delta The Yangtze Delta or Yangtze River Delta (YRD), once known as the Shanghai Economic Zone, is a megalopolis generally comprising the Wu-speaking areas of Shanghai, southern Jiangsu, northern Zhejiang, southern Anhui. The area lies in the he ...

on the north side of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ) is the longest river in Eurasia and the third-longest in the world. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains of the Tibetan Plateau and flows including Dam Qu River the longest source of the Yangtze, i ...

History

Recent archaeological finds at the Longqiuzhuang site in Gaoyou has found evidence of rice growing dating back 5,500-7,000 years. Gaoyou ''ting'' (commune, ) located in this area was established in Qin dynasty. Then Gaoyou county whose seat was the former commune was established in BC 118. In 1353,

Zhang Shicheng Zhang Shicheng (; 1321－1367), born Zhang Jiusi (), was one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion in the late Yuan dynasty of China. Early life Zhang Shicheng came from a family of salt shippers, and he himself started out in this trade i ...

revolted and captured the walled city of Gaoyou. In the next year, Zhang established Kingdom of Dazhou, while Gaoyou functioned as its temporary capital until 1356. Later, the city withstood the siege led by Toqto'a, since the complicated politics severely reduced the cohesion of the Yuan army. At that time, it was one of the 46 important mail posts along the Grand Canal between

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

and

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

. It was in use until the

1911 Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China (ROC). The revolution was the culmination of a decade ...

. On 2 October 1939, the Japanese army captured the walled city. Three months after Japan's unconditional surrender on August 15, 1945, Gaoyou Japanese and fake troops, surrounded by the military and civilians in the liberated areas, resisted and refused to lay down their arms. At this time, there were two brigades and one artillery squadron of the 90th Independent Mixed Brigade of the Japanese Army stationed in Gaoyou city, with more than 1,100 men, as well as the 42nd Division of the False Second Front Army and the False County Security Brigade and Police Brigade with more than 5,000 men. In order to crush the plot of the Kuomintang army to collude with the Japanese and fake troops in Gaoyou to divide and attack the Central China Liberation Area, the Central Military Commission agreed on December 5 to launch the Battle of Gaoyou and seize Gaoyou City. The Battle of Gaoyou destroyed more than 1,100 Japanese troops, including 892 prisoners; destroyed more than 4,000 pseudo-army, including 3,493 prisoners; captured more than 80 artillery pieces and 6,000 guns. The Battle of Gaoyou was the last battle of the New Fourth Army against the Japanese invasion of China, and the last battle against the Japanese in Central China, ending with the surrender of the Japanese and the complete victory of the New Fourth Army. On 19 January 1949, the CPC controlled the walled city. The former site where the invading Japanese army surrendered to the New Fourth Army has been announced by the State Council as the second batch of 100 national anti-war memorial facilities and sites. The profound history and culture of Gaoyou fostered

Qin Shaoyou Qin Guan (; 1049 – ) was a Chinese Chinese poetry, poet of the Song Dynasty. His courtesy name was Shaoyou (). Taixu was also his courtesy name. His pseudonym was Huaihai Jushi () and Hangou Jushi (). He was honored as one of the "Four Scholar ...

, the well-known poet in the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, Wang Nianshun and

Wang Yinzhi Wang Yinzhi (; 1766–1834) a Qing dynasty philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties t ...

(father and son), the celebrated classics interpreters in the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

, Sun Yunzhu, the modern

paleontologist Paleontology, also spelled as palaeontology or palæontology, is the scientific study of the life of the past, mainly but not exclusively through the study of fossils. Paleontologists use fossils as a means to classify organisms, measure geolo ...

and Wang Zengqi, the contemporary writer. Gaoyou is also the hometown of the infamous

Wu Sangui Wu Sangui (; 8 June 1612 – 2 October 1678), courtesy name Changbai () or Changbo (), was a Chinese military leader who played a key role in the fall of the Ming dynasty and the founding of the Qing dynasty. In Chinese folklore, Wu Sangui is r ...

. A total of about 200,000 people drowned in their sleep in Gaoyou alone due to the devastating flooding of 1931.National Flood Relief Commissio
Report of the National Flood Relief Commission
Shanghai, 1932 Gaoyou was the most badly affected place during the floods. More than 30,000 people starved to death in Gaoyou county during the great famine, of which more than 10,000 were children.

Administration divisions

At present, Gaoyou City has 2 subdistricts, 10 towns and 1 ethnic township. ;2 Subdistricts * Gaoyou Subdistrict () - is upgraded from town. * Mapeng Subdistrict () - is upgraded from town. ;10 Towns -7 Former Towns are merged to other. ;1 Ethnic Township * Lingtang Hui Township () The sole ethnic township of Jiangsu, Lingtang Hui Ethnic township, is under the jurisdiction of Gaoyou, about a third of the township residents are Hui Chinese.

Geography and Climate

The name of Gaoyou comes from the building of Gaotai and Posting Pavilion during the reign of King Yingzheng of Qin dynasty. It is adjacent to Yangzhou in the south, to the

Huai River The Huai River, formerly romanized as the Hwai, is a major river in East China, about long with a drainage area of . It is located about midway between the Yellow River and Yangtze River, the two longest rivers and largest drainage basins ...

in the north, to the canal and Gaoyou Lake in the west, and to the water network of the Lixia River in the east, and is a

military town Military town or military city may refer to: * Amsar, a type of Arabic military town established during the Arabic expansion * Canaba, a type of town that emerged as a civilian settlement around a ''castrum'' in Ancient Rome *Cantonment *Cantonment ...

on the canal line and the gateway to the two Huai River. Now, Gaoyou is located in the central part of Jiangsu Province, which is also part of Yangtze River Delta. It borders Baoying and Jinhu to the north, Jiangdu to the south and Xinghua to east. There are over twenty townships, Lingtang Hui Ethnic Township is the only Minority Township in the province. The population in this county is approximately eighty-three thousand. The total area is 1963 square kilometres with 1175 square kilometres of land area and 788 square kilometres of water surface area. Gaoyou is a plain region which full of rivers and lakes. Gaoyou Lake is the third largest lake in Jiangsu, which closes to The Grand Canal from Beijing to Hangzhou. Geographical location provides important water resources and rich aquatic products for this county. Gaoyou is located at 32.79 degrees north latitude and 119.44 degrees east longitude. It belongs to the subtropical monsoon climate. The hottest in July is around while the coldest in January is about . The average annual temperature is . The wet-season is from mid June to July and the average annual rainfall is about . The average annual relative humidity is 67%, at the meantime, the frost-free season is more than 200 days. Gaoyou has the characteristics of mild climate, adequate rainfall, four distinctive seasons, sufficient sunshine and long frost free period. Unfortunately, Jiangsu province and Gaoyou in particular is China's "tornado hometown" and its climate and environment make the area highly susceptible to tornadoes such as an EF4 in 2016. {{Weather box , width = auto , metric first = y , single line = y , collapsed = Y , location = Gaoyou, elevation {{convert, 7, m, ft, abbr=on, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1981–present) , Jan high C = 6.5 , Feb high C = 9.2 , Mar high C = 14.2 , Apr high C = 20.7 , May high C = 26.0 , Jun high C = 29.1 , Jul high C = 31.8 , Aug high C = 31.3 , Sep high C = 27.4 , Oct high C = 22.3 , Nov high C = 15.8 , Dec high C = 9.0 , Jan mean C = 2.6 , Feb mean C = 4.8 , Mar mean C = 9.4 , Apr mean C = 15.5 , May mean C = 21.0 , Jun mean C = 24.8 , Jul mean C = 28.1 , Aug mean C = 27.5 , Sep mean C = 23.3 , Oct mean C = 17.8 , Nov mean C = 11.3 , Dec mean C = 4.9 , Jan low C = -0.4 , Feb low C = 1.4 , Mar low C = 5.5 , Apr low C = 11.1 , May low C = 16.7 , Jun low C = 21.2 , Jul low C = 25.0 , Aug low C = 24.6 , Sep low C = 20.1 , Oct low C = 14.2 , Nov low C = 7.8 , Dec low C = 1.7 , Jan record high C = 20.5 , Jan record low C = -10.7 , Feb record high C = 26.5 , Feb record low C = -10.1 , Mar record high C = 33.5 , Mar record low C = -6.3 , Apr record high C = 33.4 , Apr record low C = -0.7 , May record high C = 35.6 , May record low C = 5.6 , Jun record high C = 36.6 , Jun record low C = 11.5 , Jul record high C = 37.9 , Jul record low C = 16.8 , Aug record high C = 40.0 , Aug record low C = 17.4 , Sep record high C = 36.1 , Sep record low C = 10.2 , Oct record high C = 32.6 , Oct record low C = 1.3 , Nov record high C = 27.6 , Nov record low C = -5.2 , Dec record high C = 21.7 , Dec record low C = -10.3 , year high C = , year low C = , year high F = , year low F = , precipitation colour = green , Jan precipitation mm = 41.5 , Feb precipitation mm = 40.4 , Mar precipitation mm = 65.0 , Apr precipitation mm = 59.1 , May precipitation mm = 80.4 , Jun precipitation mm = 151.4 , Jul precipitation mm = 223.4 , Aug precipitation mm = 182.3 , Sep precipitation mm = 79.2 , Oct precipitation mm = 53.8 , Nov precipitation mm = 50.0 , Dec precipitation mm = 32.9 , Jan humidity = 72 , Feb humidity = 72 , Mar humidity = 70 , Apr humidity = 68 , May humidity = 69 , Jun humidity = 74 , Jul humidity = 79 , Aug humidity = 80 , Sep humidity = 78 , Oct humidity = 73 , Nov humidity = 73 , Dec humidity = 71 , unit precipitation days = 0.1 mm , Jan precipitation days = 7.9 , Feb precipitation days = 8.4 , Mar precipitation days = 9.1 , Apr precipitation days = 8.5 , May precipitation days = 9.5 , Jun precipitation days = 10.0 , Jul precipitation days = 13.2 , Aug precipitation days = 11.8 , Sep precipitation days = 8.0 , Oct precipitation days = 6.6 , Nov precipitation days = 7.4 , Dec precipitation days = 6.3 , year precipitation days = , Jan sun = 142.2 , Feb sun = 139.3 , Mar sun = 172.3 , Apr sun = 196.9 , May sun = 202.9 , Jun sun = 163.4 , Jul sun = 190.2 , Aug sun = 202.4 , Sep sun = 176.3 , Oct sun = 180.9 , Nov sun = 154.3 , Dec sun = 152.4 , year sun = , Jan percentsun = 45 , Feb percentsun = 44 , Mar percentsun = 46 , Apr percentsun = 50 , May percentsun = 47 , Jun percentsun = 38 , Jul percentsun = 44 , Aug percentsun = 49 , Sep percentsun = 48 , Oct percentsun = 52 , Nov percentsun = 50 , Dec percentsun = 49 , year percentsun = , Jan snow days = 3.7 , Feb snow days = 3.0 , Mar snow days = 1.2 , Apr snow days = 0.1 , May snow days = 0 , Jun snow days = 0 , Jul snow days = 0 , Aug snow days = 0 , Sep snow days = 0 , Oct snow days = 0 , Nov snow days = 0.5 , Dec snow days = 1.2 , year snow days = , source 1 =

China Meteorological Administration The China Meteorological Administration (CMA) is the national weather service of the People's Republic of China. The institution is located in Beijing. History The agency was originally established in December 1949 as the Central Military Comm ...

{{cite web , url=http://data.cma.cn/data/weatherBk.html , script-title=zh:中国气象数据网 – WeatherBk Data , publisher=

, language = zh-hans , access-date=25 June 2023all-time extreme temperature{{cite web , url= http://www.mherrera.org/temp.htm , title= Extreme Temperatures Around the World , access-date= 2025-05-11 , source =

Economy

Gaoyou was dependent on its agriculture and aquaculture sections financially. Primary agricultural products include rapeseed, rice, wheat, poultry and eggs. A variety of aquatic products contain fish, crab and shrimp. The environment in this county has been well protected by the government. The local government has closed many factories in order to protect the lakes.

Food

Gaoyou is famous for its

salted duck egg A salted duck egg is an East Asian preserved food product made by soaking duck eggs in brine or packing each egg in damp, salted charcoal. In Asian supermarkets across the Western world, these eggs are sometimes sold covered in a thick layer of ...

s.{{Cite web , last=Zhang , first=Megan , date=2021-05-14 , title=The Chinese county famed for its double-yolk duck eggs , url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/double-yolk-duck-eggs-gaoyou-china-cmd/index.html , access-date=2024-04-08 , website=CNN , language=en

Transport

Roads

Expressways

* G2 Beijing–Shanghai Expressway. It passes just to the east of the city.

National Highway

* China National Highway 233

Railway

The city is served by Gaoyou railway station and Gaoyou North railway station (located at Jieshou) on the

Lianyungang–Zhenjiang high-speed railway The Lianyungang–Zhenjiang high-speed railway is a high-speed railway in China. It has a design speed of . History In November 2014, construction was expected to take 4.5 years. The section from Lianyungang to Huai'an opened on 16 December 2019 ...

References

{{reflist

External links

{{wikivoyage, Gaoyou
Gaoyou Information WebsiteGaoyou City English guide
*{{in lang, en, zh}
"Illustrated Album of Yangzhou Prefecture"
from 1573 to 1620, has illustrations of Gaoyou {{Jiangsu topics {{County-level divisions of Jiangsu {{authority control Cities in Jiangsu County-level divisions of Jiangsu Yangzhou National Civilized City National Famous Historical and Cultural City