As the hometown of Zhou Enlai, the great man of our times, Huai'an is a city under the direct jurisdiction of Jiangsu Province. It is a Famous National Historical & Cultural City and a beautiful tourism city with numerous scenic spots.
Huai'an covers an area of 10.100 k㎡, of which the city proper covers 80 k㎡. The total population by the end of 2004 was 5.24 million, of which 895,200 were in the city proper.
In February 2001, our city changed its name from Huaiyin to Huai'an upon the approval of the State Council. Now Huai'an administers four districts of Qinghe, Qingpu, Huaiyin and Chuzhou, and four counties of Lianshui, Hongze, Jinghu and Xuyi.
Located in the transition area between warm temperate and subtropical zones, Huai'an enjoys the monsoon climate of the temperate zone, characterized by distinct seasons, pleasant weather and abundant rainfall. Huai'an also enjoys a distinct superiority in its location and it only takes 2 hrs, 4 hrs and 8 hrs from Huai'an to Nanjing, Shanghai and Beijing respectively.
With the nine rivers such as the Grand Canal, the Huaihe River and the Former Course of Yellow River passing through, Huai'an hosts one of the five largest freshwater lakes, the Hongze Lake, within its boundary. On this vast and fertile plain, abundant aquatic products, special fowls, vegetables, fruits, high-grade grain and edible oil and other farm and sideline specialties are produced.
Huai'an has become a famous national production, processing and marketing base for green farm and sideline products. Huai'an also boasts rich natural mineral resources. Among them, the proven reserve of rock salt reaches 130 billion tons, ranking first in the world, and that of attapulgite exceeds 70% of the whole country.