Danyang () 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 ...

located on the southwest (right) bank 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 ...

, and is under the administration of

Zhenjiang Zhenjiang, alternately romanized as Chinkiang, is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu Province, China. It lies on the southern bank of the Yangtze River near its intersection with the Grand Canal. It is opposite Yangzhou (to its north) and ...

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. It is noted for the production of optical lenses used in sunglasses and eyeglasses. Danyang has a total area of and a population of roughly 988,900 in 2020. Danyang locals speak a dialect of

Wu Chinese , region = Shanghai, Zhejiang, southern Jiangsu, parts of Anhui and Jiangxi provinces; overseas and migrant communities , ethnicity = Wu , speakers = million , date = 2021 , ref = e27 , fa ...

, and the city is on the linguistic borderline between Wu Chinese and Jianghuai Mandarin.

History

During the period of the Eastern Jin and four

Southern Dynasties The Northern and Southern dynasties () was a period of political division in the history of China that lasted from 420 to 589, following the tumultuous era of the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Eastern Jin dynasty. It is sometimes considered as ...

(Nan Chao) from 420 to 589 A.D. when China's national capital was in

Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was the capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (265–420), Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Ch ...

(modern

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 ...

), Danyang was the hometown of the emperors of the

Southern Qi Qi, known in historiography as the Southern Qi ( or ) or Xiao Qi (), was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the second of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties era. It followed the Liu Song dynasty and was succee ...

(479-502) and Liang Dynasties (502-557), who were buried in the countryside outside the city. Today 11 of these Southern Dynasties imperial tombs can still be found to the east and northeast of the city. They are notable for their unique stone statues of mythical animals marking the sacred way (圣道, sheng dao) leading to each imperial tomb.

Administrative divisions

At present, Danyang City has 13 towns and 1 other under its jurisdiction. ;13 towns ;1 Other * Danyang Economic and Technological Development Zone ()

Climate

Economy

As one of the key cities 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 ...

open to foreign trade, Danyang has shown strong economic and standard-of-living growth since 2000. In 2007, the GDP and per capita GDP of Danyang reached 35.7 billion yuan (US$4.7 billion) and 44,242 yuan (US$6,061) respectively. Danyang's economy was 16th in a 2010 ranking of China's top county-level cities. Businesses from 32 countries and regions have invested in Danyang with accumulated paid-in capital of US$1 billion. As a developing city within the

Shanghai Shanghai, Shanghainese: , Standard Chinese pronunciation: is a direct-administered municipality and the most populous urban area in China. The city is located on the Chinese shoreline on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the ...

economic sphere of influence, Danyang has attracted domestic and foreign businesses. The main industries in Danyang are prescription eyewear, tools and hardware, and automobile parts.

Spectacles City

''The Spectacles City'', located in Danyang, is one of the largest eyeglass merchandise centers in China. Built in 1986, the market center's construction occurred in three phases. It subsequently merged with the Huayang Spectacles and Yunyang Spectacles markets. It covers an area of over 344,445 square feet (32,000 square meters).

Education

Schools

* Jiangsu Danyang Senior High School

Transport

* China National Highway 312

Railway stations

There are three railway stations in Danyang: * Danyang Railway Station, actually two separate, adjacent, but unconnected stations. The old station is served by regular trains on the Huning Railway. The new station is served by high-speed trains on the Huning Intercity High-Speed Railway (between Nanjing and Shanghai). * Danyang North Railway Station, north of the city, which is served by high-speed trains on the Jinghu High-Speed Railway (between Shanghai and

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 ...

). Danyang North station is at the beginning of the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge, currently the longest bridge in the world. The high-speed trains (typically, listed in schedules as G-series or D-series trains) take about an hour and a half to get to

and about 30 minutes to get to

, the provincial capital. Direct service to Beijing from Danyang North Station takes about 4 hours and 30 minutes.

Local food

Danyang is known for its barley gruel and

huangjiu ''Huangjiu'' () is a type of Chinese rice wine (''mijiu'') most popular in the Jiangnan area. ''Huangjiu'' is brewed by mixing steamed grains including rice, glutinous rice or millet with ''qū'' as starter culture, followed by saccharifica ...

(yellow wine), which has traditional medicinal properties.

Tourist attractions

Kaitai Bridge is a historic stone arch bridge in the city, which was built during the Wanli era.

References

External links

Government website of Danyang

Danyang City English guide
(Jiangsu.net) {{Authority control Cities in Jiangsu County-level divisions of Jiangsu Zhenjiang National Civilized City