Jiangsu province is one of my favourites places to visit in China. Slightly more than 102,000sq km, Jiangsu is the third smallest Chinese province but the fourth most populous with around 85 million people. (To put things in perspective, Peninsula Malaysia is 131,000sq km in size with population 20 million.)
Located at the eastern shoreline of China where the mighty Yangtze River meets the East China Sea. Jiangsu has everything - sea coast, rivers, wet lands, mountains, plains, history, heritage, culture, great food, great infrastructure, and more.
Indeed, Jiangsu cuisine popularly known as Huaiyang cuisine is recognised as the top of the Eight Great Culinary Traditions of China.
Jiangsu has 13 prefectures / divisions - so far, I have been to only 11. I have yet to visit Xuzhou and Lianyungang. In terms of land area, Jiangsu (102K sq km) is slightly smaller than Peninsula Malaysia (131K sq km). Blessed with great infrastructure like modern expressways and state-of-the-art high speed rail, it is perfectly feasible to explore Jiangsu province like the way we can do a round trip around the whole of Peninsula Malaysia by road and rail.
In this article, I am retracing my Jiangsu journeys starting from Nanjing the provincial capital, then head north to Yangzhou, take a clockwise route through the 11 prefectures, ending back in Nanjing.
Nanjing was one of the ancient capitals of China (together with Xi'an, Chang'an, and Luoyang). Nanjing was China's capital during the Six Dynasty period (220AD - 589AD). Nanjing was also the capital of China before Yongle Emperor moved the throne of Ming dynasty to Beijing in 1421 (after construction of the Forbidden City was completed from 1406 to 1420).
Today, Nanjing is the capital of Jiangsu province with a population of over 10 million people.
It's a great spot for period costume photography. Many people come here dressing up in Hanfu 漢服 or Han Dynasty era clothes.
When in Nanjing, visit the Da Bo'en Temple.
The famous Porcelain Tower of Da Bo'en Temple in Nanjing. This is a replica built in 2015. The original was destroyed during the Taiping Revolution in 1856.
The Porcelain Pagoda was considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Medieval World. There was even a reference to the Pagoda in Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Garden of Paradise (published 1839).
East Wind who flew home from China told his mother, The Wind: “I came back from China, where I danced for a while around the Tower of Porcelain and rang all the bells.”
牛首山 Niushou Mountain. In the background is the 88 metre tall Usnisa Pagoda.
The sanctuary, Great Usnisa Hall 舍利大殿 is deep underground. We took several escalators to get down 6 levels to the Hall.
One of my favourite places to eat in Nanjing is Impressions of Nanjing at Fuzimiao area. ION has a wide range of Jiangsu / Huaiyang dishes in its menu. Eat them all 😄
When in Nanjing try as many Huaiyang dishes as possible. One dish you need to try is Nanjing salted duck, Nanjing's answer to Peking duck. It is tender, moist, squeaky chewy, savoury salty with gentle Chinese spice taste. The subtle natural gaminess of the duck is also retained. (Nanjing salted duck is also known as Jin Ling salted duck, the latter being the old name of Nanjing.)
From Nanjing, we headed north to Yangzhou's Slender West Lake 瘦西湖. It was Qing Dynasty, Qianlong emperor's favourite retreat.
The lake was name Slender West Lake for obvious reason (this is a Qing Dynasty era map.)
Years later during the Qing Dynasty, an official 伊秉綬 enhanced the recipe with additional ingredients such as diced roast pork, wax sausage, even crab and lobster, etc. As this Qing official's hometown was Yangzhou, the enhanced "three fragrance rice" dish became known as Yangzhou fried rice. When you are in Yangzhou, you must of course try at least one serving of this food icon.
Next stop, Huai'an. Tried many Huaiyang dishes and got acquainted with cha shan 茶馓 or sanzi, which is crispy brown fried noodles wrapped in soft thin wheat crepe with aromatic fillings. Cha San is an interesting contrast of crispy, soft, tender, chewy, crunchy textures with a stack of savoury and umami flavours. I miss this delicious dish.
Next stop Suqian city, where we visited the hometown of Xiang Yu, the legendary hegemon emperor of Western Wu kingdom. Though emperor Xiang Yu lost the historic great war with Han Dynasty emperor Liu Bang, the hegemon king left a lasting legacy for his loyalty to his consort and his warriors, and for his valour.
三台山森林公园 Santaishan Forest Park in Suqian. Come here for the flower quilt made with patchwork of multicolour flower terraces. The best time to come here is during Spring when flowers are in full bloom.
In Suqian city, we had puffer fish. Actually, it was just me lah as the rest treasure their lives more 🤭 In Jiangsu, the most common way of eating puffer fish is by stewing in soy sauce 红烧. Soft and sweet white flesh balanced with gentle savouriness from the stewing sauce. The skin was quite thick but velvetly smooth (provided you just swallow it whole as it is covered with tiny spines which feel like sandpaper when you chew on it).
Anyway, I am still alive and will go for it again at the next opportunity 😄
Like Taiwan, Malaysia, etc., China also has buzzing night markets with plenty of food and drinks to try. This is in Suqian city. Similar format as their Southeast Asia counterparts but types of food are different.
Red crown crane sanctuary at Yellow Sea Wetland in Yancheng. There are only 3,000 wild red crown cranes left in the world. Half of them migrate to Yellow Sea Wetland in Yancheng during the winter. The sanctuary here breed and raise red crown cranes to beef up the wild stock.
Yancheng Watertown has wonderfully choreographed shows with amazing backdrops. They tell the story of Yancheng during it heyday as the main sea salt harvesting and trading town of Jiangsu / eastern China.
From Yancheng, we headed south to Qinhu National Wetland Park in Taizhou.
Standing at 81 meters (270 feet), this is the world's tallest Medicine Buddha built over water.
We took a boat ride to view Taizhou city from the 城河 city river (actually the city's defensive moat).
You know, in Singapore we have lim kopi (drink coffee), in Hong Kong they have yum cha (drink tea), and in Taizhou they have "skin wrap soup" for breakfast. A Taizhou breakfast has at least these three dishes - tofu noodle (fine slivers of julienned tofu), a steamed soup bao (bun) and fish soup noodle. This essential trinity is complemented by a variety of other small bites and snacks with tea (of course).
South of Taizhou is Nantong prefecture.
Nantong's Langshan 狼山 or Wolf Hill. Guangjiao Temple 广教寺 established in 669 during the Tang Dynasty (618 to 907) sits at the peak of Langshan.
South of Nantong, Suzhou is a city of canals and is often referred to as the "Venice of the East".
The Ruiguang Pagoda in Panmen is Suzhou's oldest tower, originally built by King of Wu in 247AD during the Spring and Autumn period of the Three Kingdoms. The present Ruiguang Pagoda was rebuilt in 1344.
Wuxi prefecture is west of Suzhou.
Grand Buddha at Ling Shan 灵山大佛 in Wuxi. The 65 metre tall Buddha at Lingshan is made wholly of copper.
Nian Hua Wan 灵山小镇·拈花湾 which was modelled after a Tang Dynasty town with Zen design in Wuxi.
常州东方盐湖城 Changzhou Oriental Salt Lake City which is modelled after a typical lake town in ancient China.
In Zhenjiang, we visited a vinegar brewery.
The vinegar I sampled though of average grade was viscous, tangy sweet, smooth without tannic taste or feel. I love it and good vinegar is now something I look forward to enjoy at every opportunity.
You may have heard the Chinese phrase "eat vinegar" which means to be jealous or envious. How did this phrase came about?
According to legend, the Ming emperor wanted to reward one of his ministers for his excellent work by gifting him a concubine. This, quite expectedly, met with strong objection from the minister's wife. To solve this, the emperor ordered the minister's wife to choose between accepting the concubine or drink poisoned wine. The minister's wife promptly gulped down the poison, which turned out to be vinegar.
Hence, the phrase "eat vinegar" 吃醋.
Xijindu Ancient Ferry Street in Zhenjiang. Xinjindu is where the Yangtze River meets the Grand Canal, the north-south connection between the two great rivers of China - Yellow River in the north and Yangtze River here in the south. Xijindu was the major ferry crossing point since Han Dynasty days.
Cishou pagoda in Jinshan Temple in Zhenjiang. According to legend, monk 法海 Fahai founded today's Jinshan Temple during the Tang Dynasty. At that time, the crumbling temples on Jinshan Mountain were abandoned, overgrown, and infested with snakes. According to legend, Fahai drove a white python hiding in a cave into the river, and he lived in the cave.
However, in the mythical (fictional) story of 白蛇傳 "The Legend of the White Snake", Fahai was made the villain who destroyed the happy marriage of White Snake Fairy 白娘子 and her husband 小青.
When in Zhenjiang, remember to taste their famous wok cover noodles.
How did this food icon came about?
According to legend, Qian Long emperor of the Qing Dynasty stopped at a noodle stall during one of his seven inspection tours of the south. Yes, Qian Long emperor made personal visits to his vast domain rather than just (sit in his Beijing palace) and rely on reports from his officials.
The stall holder Mdm Chang was so stressed by the emperor's presence that she forgetfully left an undersized fir wood wok cover floating inside the wok of churning, boiling, steaming hot water for cooking noodles.
Anyway, emperor Qian Long was accidentally served the noodle from this wok and he liked it so much that he personally requested for Mdm Chang to thank her for the delicious noodles. Since then, wok cover noodle became a food icon and daily staple of Zhenjiang.
Back in Nanjing, we visited the four layered forts / gates of the old Ming Dynasty which were impenetrable during its time. This is the Zhonghua Gate.
Back at the Confucius Temple or Fuzimiao area for last minute shopping, eating (must get that Nanjing salted duck, if you still haven't) and soak in the atmosphere of China's ancient capital city.
Back in Nanjing Lu Kou International Airport for the flight home ✈️ I shall be back as there are so much more to discover, see, do and taste in Jiangsu.
Read more 👉
Jin Ling Xiao Cheng Town Takes You Back 2000 Years to the Six Dynasties Era 金陵小镇
Porcelain Tower Pagoda of Nanjing
Usnisa Palace on Niushou Shan Mountain
Red crown crane in sanctuary Yancheng
Qinhu National Wetland Park in Taizhou
History of Yangzhou fried rice
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Written by Tony Boey on 9 Nov 2025
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