Yangzhou, formerly romanized as Yangchow, is a prefecture-level city in central Jiangsu province in the People's Republic of China. Sitting on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, it borders the provincial capital of Nanjing to the southwest, Huai'an to the north, Yancheng to the northeast, Taizhou to the east, and Zhenjiang across the river to the south. Its population is 4,414,681 at the 2010 census and its built up area is home to 2,146,980 inhabitants including three urban districts plus currently in the agglomeration.Historically it is one of the wealthiest of China's cities, known at various periods for its great merchant families, poets, painters, and scholars. Its name refers to its former position as the capital of Yangzhou prefecture in imperial China.
