Nantong

Nantong (Chinese: 南通; pinyin: Nántōng; former names: Nan-t'ung, Nantung, Tongzhou, or Tungchow; Qihai dialect: [nie tʰoŋ]) is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north, Taizhou to the west, Suzhou and Shanghai to the south across the river, and the East China Sea to the east. Its current population is 7,282,835 at the 2010 census, 1,994,708 of whom live in the built-up area made up of three urban districts.

History

Because the coast of the East China Sea is constantly expanding eastward as the Yangtze River adds silt to its delta, the distance between Nantong and the seashore is getting longer than it once was in ancient times. From the Han dynasty up until the Tang dynasty, what is now called Nantong was a minor county subordinate to Yangzhou. By AD 958, a city of sufficient importance had developed for a new, independent prefecture called Tongzhou ("Opening Prefecture", possibly from its position near the mouth of the Yangtze) to be created. The increasing wealth of Yangzhou caused Tongzhou to be once again eclipsed as an administrative center in 1368. When Tongzhou finally regained prefecture status in 1724, it was renamed Nantong ("Southern Tong") to avoid confusion with another Tongzhou, located near Beijing.