Meaning of the name
"Southern Opening", perhaps from its position near the mouth of the Chang Jiang (Yangzi River).

The charming city of Nantong is located at the northern part of the Yangtze Delta. With Yangtze River to the south and the Yellow Sea to the east, the city has won the names of "pearl on the Yangtze River and the Yellow Sea", No.1 window of the Yangtze River". It is one of the 14 coastal cities first opened to the outside world by the country.
The city of Nantong was first set up in 958 AD. With a mild climate, thousands of miles of level land, rich resources and abundance of people's life, it was called "a place of perfect happiness around Chongchan". The municipality administers four cities and two counties including Qidong, Rugao, Tongzhou, Haimen, Hai'an, Rudong and three economic and technical development zones (Chongchuan, Gangzha and Fumin Port) and Langshan tourist resort.
The picturesque Nantong city is surrounded by an ancient moat, and dotted with pavilions, towers and bridges of various kinds. As one of the eight famous Buddhist mountains, Langshan Mountain attracts an influx of tourists. After the reform and opening policy was adopted, the municipal government has made long-sighted cross-century strategies. It has strengthened the leading power regarding the city construction, mobilized all social forces to take an active part in the city construction with the priority on speeding up the infrastructure construction. The newly finished four railways linking the west and the east and another four linking the north and the south have waved a net of transportation. The supply of water, gas, electricity and communications capacity has doubled. The target of "different looks with each passing year and a great change every three years" has been basically realized.
As more efforts are made for the city construction, both the urban and the rural areas have taken on a new look, hence the improvement of its investing environment. Nantong, a young city with a long history, is ushering in a new century.

Population: 7,860,000

Area: 8,000 sq km

Location
Near the north shore of the Chang Jiang (Yangzi River), 100 km northwest of Shanghai. The Chang Jiang is 18 km wide at Nantong.

History
Because the coast of the East China Sea is constantly moving eastward as the Yangzi River adds silt to its delta, Nantong was much closer to the seashore in ancient times. From the time of the Han dynasty through to the Tang dynasty, what is now called Nantong was a minor county subordinate to Yangzhou. By 958 AD a city of sufficient importance had developed for a new, independent prefecture called Tongzhou to be created. The increasing wealth of Yangzhou caused it to once again eclipse Tongzhou as an administrative center in 1368. When Tongzhou finally regained prefecture status in 1724, it was renamed "Southern Tong" to avoid confusion with another Tongzhou, located near Beijing.

The prosperity of Nantong has traditionally depended on salt production on the nearby seacoast, rice and cotton agriculture, and especially the production of cotton textiles. A local statesman and industrialist named Zhang Jian (Chang Chien) founded Nantong's first modern cotton mills in 1899, then developed an industrial complex that included flour, oil, and silk reeling mills, a distillery, and a machine shop. He also founded a shipping line and reclaimed saline agricultural land to the east of Nantong for cotton production. By 1911, Nantong was commonly called "Zhang Jian's Kingdom".

Although suffering from the economic depression of the 1930s and the Japanese occupation of the 1930s and 40s, Nantong has remained an important center for the textile industry. Because of its deep-water harbour and connections to inland navigational canals, it was one of 14 port cities opened to foreign investment in the recent economic reforms.

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

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 center.

Folklore
East of Nantong is Lang Shan (Wolf Hill), believed to be haunted by the spirit of a white wolf. 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.