Left to right, top to bottom: Zhenhuailou Tower above the city gate, the skyline of Huai'an, Huai'an tram line 1, the Zhou Enlai Memorial Hall, night view of Hexia old town.
Huai'an, formerly Huaiyin,is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu Province in Eastern China. As of 2020,the built-up area (metro) of its 3 central urban districts had 2,544,767 inhabitants and the prefecture-level city as a whole had 4,556,230 inhabitants,down from 4.8 million in 2010.
Huai'an is the atonalpinyinromanization of the Mandarin pronunciation of the Chinese name 淮安 (Huái'ān),the name of the River Huai and the Chinese word for "peaceful" or "pacified". The apostrophe is necessary because the second character begins with a vowel and pinyin generally avoids hyphens.[3] The same name was previously romanized as Huai-an in Wade-Giles.
For much of the 20th century,Huai'an was officially known as Huaiyin in pinyin,Huai-yin in Wade-Giles,and Hwaiyin in Postal Map,all romanizing the Chinese name written 淮陰 in traditional characters and 淮阴 in simplified ones,meaning "area on the yin,shady,or south bank of the Huai".
Geography
Huai'an lies on the Huai River in the alluvialJianghuai Plain. The area is very flat with only a few notable hills in Xuyi County. The highest altitude in the municipality is 200 meters (660ft). The area is notable for its large number of lakes,rivers,and canals. The Grand Canal connects with the Huai in the city. Hongze Lake,the fourth-largest freshwater lake in China,is southwest of the urban districts. Towards the south,there are also several smaller lakes. Huai'an is situated almost directly south of Lianyungang,southeast of Suqian,northwest of Yancheng,and north of Yangzhou and Nanjing in Jiangsu and northeast of Chuzhou in Anhui.
Climate
The climate in Huai'an is mild,generally warm and temperate. Winters are much drier than summers. Its Köppen climate classification is Cwa:humid subtropical climate with dry winters.
Climate data for Huai'an (1991–2020 normals,extremes 1981–2010)
Huai'an Prefecture's central offices in imperial timesWentong Pagoda
Under the Qin,the area of present-day Huai'an was administered as the counties or districts of Huaiyin (with its seat at present-day Matou in Huaiyin),Xuyi,and Dongyang (with its seat at present-day Maba in Xuyi). Its people joined the rebels who overthrew the Qin,prominently including Han Xin.
Under the Han,the counties of Huaipu (with its seat in western Lianshui),Sheyang (with its seat in southeastern Huai'an),and Fulin (with its seat now under the waters of Hongze Lake) were added.
Under the Sui,the Hangou Canal was expanded north and south to establish the Grand Canal,increasing traffic and trade through the city. Emperor Yang was also responsible for changing Pofu's name to the present-day Hongze Lake out of his delight at rainfall there,encountered after an inspection tour through drought-afflicted areas.[8]
During the Song,Kaifeng's governor Du Chong(杜充,DùChōng,d.1141) breached the levees holding back the Yellow River in 1128 as part of the ongoing wars with the JurchenJin further north. A series of massive floods,manmade and natural,then caused it to capture the Si River and begin flowing into the lower reaches of the Huai. The massive amounts of silt greatly expanded the farmland to the east of Huai'an but also greatly expanded Hongze Lake[9] and caused repeated and disastrous floods despite centuries of attempts at river management by Pan Jixun and similar viceroys,[7] often based within modern Huai'an.
The Ming Dynasty Ancestral Tomb (明祖陵,Míngzǔlíng) is located in Xuyi. Now part of Huai'an,the area around it was administered as the separate Sizhou Prefecture during the Yuan,when it was the home of the family of the future Hongwu Emperor Zhu Yuanzhang. Although his family moved to Fengyang in present-day Anhui before his birth,he erected a large mausoleum in honor of his grandfather,great-grandfather,and great-great-grandfather after his establishment of the Ming. The site's was entirely submerged—along with the entire city of Sizhou—in 1680. It did not reappear above water until the early 1960s.[10]
After the Japanese surrender,on 1st November 1945,the Suwan Border Region Government was established by the Communists in Huai'an. At this time the Suwan (or Su-An) Border Region extended as far as the north bank of the Yangtze River,opposite the Republican capital,Nanjing. Currently some of the buildings occupied by the Regional Government are tourist attractions in the city.[11]
Presumably at some point,the city was recaptured by the Nationalists,because,during the closing phases of the Chinese Civil War,it fell to the Communistarmy in December 1948. On 21 April 1949,the area was reorganized as Huaiyin District and divided into the 10 counties of Guanyun,Huaiyin,Huaibao (western Huai'an and Baoyin with its seat at Chahe),Lianshui,Pisui (southern Pixian and northern Suining with its seat at Tushan),Shuyang,Siyang,Suining,Suqian,and Xin'an (parts of Shuyang and Suqian with its seat at Xin'an).
On 12 May 1950,Huaibao County was divided between Huaiyin County,Huai'an County in Yancheng District,and Baoyin County in Yangzhou District. On December 18 of the same year,the urban area of Huaiyin was separately organized as Qingjiang City,which became the seat for the district. Huaiyin District joined Jiangsu upon its reestablishment in January 1953. Xin'an County was renamed Xinyi and the seat of Pisui County was moved to Yunhe. Later the same year,Pisui,Suining,and Xinyi Counties were placed under the administration of Xuzhou District. Qingjiang was separately elevated to a prefecture-level city despite still being subordinate to Huaiyin District. Shortly thereafter,the district added Huai'an County from Yancheng,Sihong County from Suxian,and Xuyi County from Chuxian District in Anhui. In 1956,Hongze County was established from parts of Huaiyin,Sihong,and Xuyi Counties,with its seat at Gaoliangjian. In 1957,parts of Guanyun and Lianshui Counties were organized as the Xian'an Administrative Office,which shortly became the separate Guannan County. In 1958,Qingjiang absorbed the surrounding more rural Huaiyin County but was renamed Huaiyin City.
In 1964,Huaiyin County was again separated but kept its seat in the urban area,which again became Qingjiang. In 1966,Xuyi County was transferred to Luhe District.
In 1970,Huaiyin District became the Huaiyin Region. The next year,Xuyi was transferred back from the Luhe Region. Luhe also yielded Jinhu County. In 1975,Huaiyin County's administration moved from Qingjiang to Wangyin.
In 1983,the Huaiyin Region became the directly administered Huaiyin City,with its urban core losing the separate name Qingjiang and being instead divided into Qinghe and Qingpu Districts. Most of the Huaiyin Region's counties—Guannan,Huai'an,Huaiyin,Hongze,Jinhu,Lianshui,Shuyang,Sihong,Siyang,Suqian,Xuyi—were placed under the city's administration while the last—Guanyun County—was placed under Lianyungang. In December 1987,Huai'an and Suqian Counties were promoted to county-level cities.
In 1996,the county-level city of Suqian was promoted to prefecture-level,taking Sihong,Siyang,and Shuyang Counties along with it. Guannan County was separately placed under the administration of Lianyungang.
On 21 December 2000,the prefecture-level city of Huaiyin was renamed Huai'an. The Huaiyin County and the county-level Huai'an City became Huaiyin and Huai'an Districts and the various districts' and counties' borders slightly adjusted in different ways. In October 2016,Qinghe and Qingpu reunited to form the city's current Qingjiangpu District.
The city is also served by nearby Huai'an Lianshui International Airport. Currently the airport is served by China Eastern Airlines,which offers flights to Beijing-Capital,Chongqing,Guangzhou,Shanghai-Hongqiao,Shanghai-Pudong,Wenzhou,Wuhan,Xiamen,and Xi'an. Several other airlines offer domestic flights to cities such as Nanning and Zhengzhou. The airport is located 22km (14mi) from central Huai'an in Lianshui county.
Public transportation includes a tram system that connects the city center with the southeastern side of the city.
Notable people
Han Xin (died 196 BC),late Qin dynasty military general under Liu Bang,enfeoffed the Marquess of Huaiyin.
Danielson, Eric N. (December 2008), "The Ming Ancestor Tomb", China Heritage Quarterly, Canberra: Australian National University, archived from the original on 2013-09-27, retrieved 2023-03-02.
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