Historically, Yizheng was established during the Western Zhou Dynasty, nearly 3000 years ago. Yangzhou was built in the Spring and Autumn period, 2500 years ago. Without the great disaster of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, the cultural relics of Yizheng would be no less than those of Yangzhou. In the Song Dynasty, Yizheng was one of the three major garden cities (Zhen, Su, Hang) in China without Yangzhou. Yizheng is backed by mountains and surrounded by water, with fertile soil and prosperous people, rich in culture and talent. Since ancient times, it has been known for its salt transportation development and as a famous city in southern Huai, earning the title of "the first state of Huai". It has always been an excellent choice for building gardens and residences. Since the construction of Dongyuan in Zhenzhou during the Northern Song Dynasty, until the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were about forty large and small gardens. Among them, the most important one should be Wuyuan.
Wuyuan was built by Ji Cheng during the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty. The springs, rocks, pavilions, and terraces within the garden are deep and vast, resembling the artistic conception of Jing Hao and Guan Tong's landscape paintings. Ji Cheng also organized his gardening experience in Huyezhang within the garden, writing the three-volume "Yuan Ye", which became China's first classic of gardening and also the pioneering work of world gardening. Of all the gardens built by Ji Cheng throughout his life, only four can be verified today: Wuyuan of Wang family in Changzhou, Wuyuan of Wang family in Zhenzhou, Yingyuan of Zheng family in Yangzhou, and Shicao Yuan of Ruan Dacheng in Nanjing.
To the east of the city where water converges, there is Lifang Garden. Two miles southeast of the city by the river, there are Lijiang Garden and Chengjiang Garden. Ten miles east of the city along the riverbank, Jiang Shanqing of the Ming Dynasty once built Xiuyuan Garden, which had eleven scenic spots including a small mountain path, Feili Pavilion, Ziwēi Pavilion, Huichuan Pavilion, Wenxing Pavilion, Zhuli Pavilion, Qiangwei Cottage, Baipíng, Platform, and Square Pond. The bamboo and trees were lush, and the pavilions were faintly visible. Ten miles to the east of the city, in the new town with bright peach blossoms in spring, there are Jiang Garden and Le Kang Garden. Within Le Kang Garden, there is a large pool called Zuo Gong Chi covering several acres, as well as An Yi Hall and Yan Fang Pavilion. On the riverside southeast of the Doutian Temple in the new city, there was a famous garden built by Zheng Zhaoxin, a salt merchant during the Kangxi period, called Baisa Cuizhu Jiangcun.
Ouyang Xiu once wrote "Zhenzhou Dongyuan Ji" as proof. Yizheng has one of the three surviving drum towers in Jiangsu Province from the Ming Dynasty. Yizheng has Tian Ning Pagoda, the tallest pagoda in Jiangsu Province built during the early Tang Dynasty. Yizheng was historically known as Zhenzhou and was at the same administrative level as Yangzhou during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. People all know that Yangzhou's prosperity was due to the Grand Canal, but they don't know that the key chokepoint was in Zhenzhou, through which one quarter of the country's grain transport passed.
People in Yangzhou speak Yangzhou dialect of the Jianghuai Mandarin. People in Yizheng speak Yizheng dialect, mainly Huai Eastern Mandarin, Han dialect, partially Huai Western Nanjing Mandarin (internally divided into Zhenzhou dialect, Mountain area dialect, and West countryside dialect). Many famous scholars and poets in ancient Yangzhou were actually from Yizheng. Works of Qing dynasty Confucian master Ruan Yuan were signed as 'Ruan Yizheng', but now he is considered as 'Yangzhou Gongdao'... There are too many examples, I won't go on!
Economically, the chemical park is built in Yizheng and managed by Yizheng. Years ago, when pollution was a concern, a document was issued to relocate the park to Yizheng without seeking the consent of the people of Yizheng. However, the GDP is counted under Yangzhou city. Yangzhou city's total GDP is just over 60 billion yuan (excluding newly merged Jiangdu district), while a single chemical park accounts for 30 billion yuan of industrial output. They want everything good about Yizheng. Puxi gave you land for your development zone, Xinji will give you land too. Now even Liuji wants to be given away! Do you know what Liuji looks like now? How much investment has been made in new rural construction? Every household lives in uniformly planned villas. Is it for your Shuangang Ecological City? Are you going to take Baiyangshan, the largest forest park in northern Jiangsu? Yizheng is already small with only 500,000 people, it cannot withstand such treatment.
Yizheng's famous tea, Luyangchun, won the national premium tea gold award, holding the same status as Tieguanyin. However, the trademark was seized by Yangzhou Forestry Station through dirty tricks and they refuse to return it.
Yangju Opera could only be revived thanks to talents from Yizheng, otherwise it would have disappeared long ago.
Yangzhou has Asia Star, which has been making buses for years. Yizheng used to be a small repair shop, becoming Dawn Automobile Factory. In the 1990s, Dawn brand hardtop jeeps were the largest domestic jeep manufacturers nationwide, supplying the entire public security system. Now the former Dawn Automobile Factory, Yiqi, belongs to SAIC, producing Roewe cars. Yizheng also has Huizhong producing Estana. And the fifth factory of Shanghai Volkswagen, a global benchmark factory of Volkswagen, started production this year. Yizheng's annual production is expected to exceed 600,000 vehicles. Yangzhou Asia Star's annual production is only 10,000 vehicles...
Adding Yizheng Chemical Fiber, the upcoming largest solar cell project in Asia by China Electric, Philips Lighting China, Jinling, Guoyu, Shuntian shipyards producing ten-thousand-ton ships, miscellaneous industries in the chemical park, Zhaolinwan ecological tourism area under construction, and the Chinese National Grand World Amusement Park under construction, etc. Within a few years, the total GDP is expected to exceed 150 billion yuan, and the industrial output value will exceed 400 billion yuan. With only 500,000 people in Yizheng, entering the top three in provincial per capita GDP is not impossible. Currently, the top three cities, Jiangyin and Kunshan, have a total GDP of just over 2 trillion yuan, Zhangjiagang has 1.6 trillion yuan, but their populations are around 1.5 million each.
Yangzhou, what's so great?
When others ask me where I'm from, I always say I'm from Yizheng. Please take pride in being from Yizheng, and shame in being from Yangzhou!