Hotels in Nantong, China

A little about Nantong...

Nantong is a prefecture-level city in Jiangsu province, People's Republic of 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 to the south across the river, and the East China Sea to the east.

Education:
The "King of Nantong", Zhang Jian, founded the first teacher-training schools in China at Nantong. These eventually merged with his agricultural, industrial, and medical schools to become Nantong University. Zhang also founded museums, libraries, and theatres, making Nantong into an important cultural centre.

Local Dialect - Nantong natives speak a Northern Wu Chinese dialect; some natives in southern parts speak similarly to that of nearby Shanghai.

Nantong city and its 6 counties (or county-level cities) are rich in its diversity of languages. People in the city of Nantong speak a unique dialect which sounds nothing like Mandarin or any other dialects, and it is also distinctively different from any surrounding dialects. About 2 million people in southern parts of Tongzhou, Haimen and Qidong speak the Wu dialect, which is often referred to as "Qi-hai Hua", meaning Qidong-Haimen speech. It is about the same as the dialect spoken on the island of Chongming, which is a part of Shanghai city. People in northern parts of these counties speak "Tongdong Hua" (tōngdōnghuà), meaning Eastern Tong Talk. People in Rugao, Hai'an speak other dialects.

Some people believe criminals who were living in Mongolia or Tibet moved to Nantong when the land was first formed hundreds years ago. Hence it is said that a small group in Mongolia or Tibet speak the same dialect as people in the city of Nantong do.

Tourism: The Haohe River, known as the Emerald Necklace of Nantong, surrounds the old city with a total length of 15km. Most scenery lines this river.

Popular tourist sites include Langshan ("Wolf hill"). This hill of about 110 metres elevation right next to the Yangtze River is worth a visit. On top of the hill is a Buddhist temple dedicated to a Song dynasty monk. Because of the monk's legendary powers over water demons, sailors pray to him for protection on their voyages.

The Cao Gong Zhu Memorial Temple commemorates a local hero who defended the city against Japanese pirates in 1557.