Xuzhou


Xuzhou, also known as Pengcheng, is a prefecture-level city in northwestern Jiangsu province, China. Located at the junction of four provinces—Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan, and Anhui—it occupies a natural geographic gap between the Shandong Hills and the North China Plain. As of the 2020 census, it had a population of approximately 9.08 million.
Xuzhou is a designated important node city of Belt and Road Initiative, a provincial sub-center of Jiangsu, and the central city of the Huaihai Economic Zone. As a major national transport hub, it serves as the strategic intersection of the north–south Beijing–Shanghai axis and the east–west Land Bridge corridor.
The city is the ancestral home of the Han dynasty imperial family, and its history is defined by its rich Han archaeological heritage. Formerly a regional coal-mining base, Xuzhou has transitioned into a center for heavy machinery manufacturing and new energy industries, and was awarded the United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honour award for its ecological restoration of mining areas.
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Romanization

Before the official adoption of Hanyu Pinyin, the city's name was typically romanized as Suchow or Süchow, though it also appeared as Siu Tcheou, Hsu-chou, Hsuchow, and Hsü-chow.

History

Early history

Prehistoric remains in the Xuzhou region are associated with Dawenkou culture, represented by the Liulin, Dadunzi, and Liangwangcheng sites. The Huating site indicates an early integration of Dawenkou and Liangzhu cultural elements.
During the Shang dynasty, Dapeng, a polity associated with the Dongyi, was the regional heartland. Archaeological evidence from the Qiuwan and Gaohuangmiao sites shows both Shang-style ritual remains and indigenous pottery, indicating cultural integration. The state was eventually subordinated following King Wu Ding's military campaigns.
Following the decline of the Shang, the state of Xu became a regional polity controlling the routes between the Central Plains and the southeast. King Yan of Xu is traditionally recorded as moving north to the area after conflict with the Zhou dynasty.
Pengcheng, named after the Dapeng, first appears in records in 573 BCE as a Song fortified city at the confluence of the ancient Bian and Si rivers. A strategic objective in the Chu–Jin rivalry, the city was briefly occupied by the official Yu Shi with Chu support before being recovered by a Jin-led coalition.
Around the 4th century BCE, Song had reportedly moved its capital to Pengcheng; however, the city's vulnerability was marked in 385 BCE when Duke Dao of Song was captured there by the State of Wei. Following Song's annexation by Qi in 286 BCE, Pengcheng served as a frontier stronghold until it fell to Chu and was eventually incorporated into the Qin Empire in 223 BCE.

Imperial China

Qin and Han dynasties

Following Qin unification, the region was organized as Sichuan commandery. During the Qin collapse, Pengcheng became a locus for Chu cultural revival: it was where Emperor Yi of Chu moved his seat in 208 BCE, and it was where Xiang Yu established the capital of Western Chu in 206 BCE, designating the area as his metropolitan base. Despite Xiang Yu's decisive victory at the Battle of Pengcheng, the city passed to Han control.
In 202 BCE, it became the capital of the Chu Princedom under Liu Jiao. In 154 BCE, Prince Liu Wu joined the Rebellion of the Seven Princes. Despite his defeat and subsequent territorial reductions, his Shizishan tomb reveals a scale exceeding standard sumptuary limits, notably containing gold-threaded jade burial suits.
Following Prince Liu Yanshou's failed conspiracy in 69 BCE, the princedom was briefly abolished but restored in 51 BCE. During the Eastern Han, it alternated between a princedom and commandery under various princes, including Liu Ying and Liu Qing. During this period, Pengcheng emerged as the site of China's earliest recorded Buddhist community.
In the 190s, Cao Cao's campaigns against Tao Qian devastated Pengcheng, forcing a Buddhist community of ten thousand—led by figures such as Ze Rong—to flee toward the Yangtze valley. After Lü Bu's defeat in 198 CE, the seat of Xu Province moved from Tancheng to Xiapi, and was finally fixed at Pengcheng under the Western Jin, cementing its regional primacy.

Medieval Period

In the early 4th century, Pengcheng became a critical defense for the southern dynasties. While territorial control fluctuated—falling to the Later Zhao in 324 and being reclaimed in 384—much of the local population fled to the lower Yangtze. Among the Beifu Army, an elite force recruited from such northern émigrés, provided the military ascent for Liu Yu of the Liu clan of Pengcheng. He utilized these troops as a power base to eventually found the Liu Song dynasty.
Administrative boundaries were frequently adjusted to reflect these military shifts. In 411, the Eastern Jin established North Xuzhou at Pengcheng, distinct from Xuzhou at Guangling, later Jingkou. By 421, the Liu Song dynasty restored the "Xuzhou" designation to Pengcheng and renamed its southern counterpart South Xuzhou. Although Pengcheng withstood a Northern Wei siege in 450–451, its capture by the Northern Wei in 466 ended southern dynastic rule over the Huaibei region.
Located at the junction of the Si and Bian rivers, Xuzhou was a critical transport hub, though navigation was hindered by the "Two Rapids"—the Xuzhou Rapids and the Lüliang Rapids . Due to these rocky obstructions, the Sui dynasty's Tongji Canal adopted a circuitous route to bypass the city.
During the early Tang dynasty, the region experienced significant demographic growth. The registered population of Pengcheng, Feng, and Pei counties rose from 21,768 individuals in 639 to 205,286 by 742.
Following the An Lushan Rebellion, Xuzhou served as a bulwark for the Bian Canal—the primary Jianghuai–Guanzhong logistics route. In 781, during the Rebellion of the Four Garrisons, the rebel Li Na seized the city to sever imperial logistics until the prefect Li Wei restored Tang control. In 788, the region was reorganized as a military circuit under Zhang Jianfeng, and was formally designated as the Wuning 'circuit in 805.
Subsequently, the circuit underwent a process of localization, evolving into a hereditary military interest group centered on the "Silver Sword" corps. Driven by their own strategic interests, this elite unit frequently prevented imperial governors from effectively exercising their mandates.
In response, the Tang court implemented a radical crackdown in 862, when Governor Wang Shi disbanded the garrison. This measure drove many displaced soldiers into banditry or long-term border service in Lingnan. In 868, citing grievances over delayed rotations, 800 Wuning soldiers mutinied in Guilin under Pang Xun. Exacerbated by regional famine, the rebellion swelled into a composite force—supposedly numbering 200,000—that seized Xuzhou.
The court deployed Shatuo Turk cavalry under Li Guochang to suppress the insurgency. Following a year of intense combat, the circuit was symbolically renamed Ganhua', signaling a moral break from its rebellious past. Nevertheless, Xuzhou maintained a state of de facto autonomy through the final years of the Tang dynasty.

Song to Qing dynasties

During the Northern Song, the Liguo Industrial Prefecture, north of the city, emerged as a major metallurgical center; it operated 36 private smelters with thousands of laborers, reaching an estimated annual capacity of several thousand tonnes.
Local hydrological instability following the 1077 Yellow River breach necessitated continuous fortification. Prefect Su Shi oversaw the construction of defensive "Su Embankment" on the city's western perimeter. As the Yellow River permanently captured the Huai River course, Xuzhou became a critical but flood-prone node for Grand Canal transit. In 1352, Yuan Chancellor Toqto suppressed the Red Turban forces led by "Sesame Li" in Xuzhou to secure imperial grain routes, briefly renaming the city Wu'an.
During the late imperial period, the city's historical significance rested on the intersection of Grand Canal logistics and the management of the volatile Yellow River.. Following the Ming capital's relocation to Beijing, the city hosted the major granary and one of the seven national customs barriers.
Yellow River management in the late 16th century prioritized imperial tribute and the Ming Ancestral Mausoleum over regional safety. The 1579 "flush silt with clear water" policy caused systemic riverbed elevation and culminated in the 1624 deluge that buried the walled city under four meters of water and sediment. To mitigate these navigational risks, the completion of the Jia Canal redirected the primary Grand Canal artery to the northeast, marginalizing Xuzhou's position within the imperial grain logistics system.During the Ming-Qing transition, Xuzhou was one of the Four Jiangbei Garrisons defending the southern bank of the Yellow River for the Nanjing-based Ming court.The city was taken by the Qing in mid-1645. Local gentry Yan Ermei and Wan Shouqi remained loyal to the Ming, refusing to hold office under the new dynasty.
The 1668 Tancheng Earthquake caused widespread destruction and heavy casualties throughout Xuzhou. In 1733, the Qing government restructured the administration of northern Jiangsu by converting the Independent Department of Xuzhou to Xuzhou Prefecture. Tongshan County—named after an island in the Nansi Lakes—was established as its seat-governing county, with jurisdiction over Xinyi, Pizhou, Suining, and Suqian.
In the 1850s, the Yellow River shifted northward, drastically changing the region. An 1851 breach flooded the western shores of the Nansi Lakes; when the river changed course again in 1855, the canal system was rendered defunct. As the water receded, the newly exposed land led to fierce competition between returning locals and Shandong migrants. These migrants organized paramilitary "Lakeside Communities", sparking long-term land disputes that still affect the Jiangsu-Shandong border today.
The economic collapse of the canal system and the devastation of the floods fueled large-scale rural insurgencies, most notably the Nian Rebellion, along with Big Swords Society later.

Modern China

Following the Revolution of 1911, the completion of the Tianjin–Pukou railway and Kaifeng–Xuzhou railways established Xuzhou as a junction, making it a perennial target for competing factions. General Zhang Xun utilized the city as a primary base; between 1916 and 1917, he convened four "Xuzhou Conferences" to consolidate the influence of the "Provincial Military Governors", and heavily influenced Beijing's policies.
In November 1921, the "Gate No. 8" Incident occurred at the Tongshan station locomotive shop. A strike erupted after French management restricted workers from leaving through the facility's exit to extend working hours, gaining solidarity across the entire Longhai Railway. This action facilitated the 1922 establishment of the first Communist Party branch in Jiangsu province at the Tongshan Station. In 1922, the Beiyang government formally designated Xuzhou as a commercial port.
Warlord factionalism persisted through the 1920s, with control shifting between Zhang Zongchang and Sun Chuanfang before Nationalist forces captured the city in June 1927 during the Northern Expedition. On June 20, Chiang Kai-shek met with Northwest Army leader Feng Yuxiang there to form an alliance. A subsequent counteroffensive by the Sun–Zhang coalition forced a brief Nationalist withdrawal and prompted Chiang's resignation, though the city was recaptured by the Nationalists in December.
During the Second Sino-Japanese War, Xuzhou became the target of a massive Japanese pincer movement, prompting Nationalist forces to evacuate on May 19, 1938. To impede the Japanese advance, the Nationalists made the strategic decision in June to breach the Yellow River dikes at Huayuankou, triggering catastrophic flooding across the regions west and south of Xuzhou.
Following the Japanese occupation, Catholic and Protestant missionaries established an International Refugee Committee and safety zones. A July 1938 U.S. diplomatic report, citing missionary A. A. McFadyen, characterized the military's conduct in Xuzhou as a "duplicate" of the occupation of Nanking.
In 1939, Xuzhou was established as a municipality from the urban areas of Tongshan County. It was initially administered by the North China Political Council, reorganized as the Su-Huai Special Region in 1942, and became the capital of Huaihai province in 1944 under the Wang Jingwei regime.
On 3 August 1945, the 1st Bomb Squadron of the Chinese-American Composite Wing raid targeting Xuzhou rail facilities reported a supposedly successful mission. However, the Nanjing authorities reported that the bombs struck Nanguan, about one mile away. The strike on dense crowds resulted in roughly 2,300 casualties, including approximately 700 civilian fatalities.
The Nationalist government resumed control in September 1945 and hosted the "Committee of Three" for ceasefire negotiations in 1946. By June 1948, the city became the seat of the Nationalist "Bandit Suppression" Headquarters, commanding 800,000 troops. Following the decisive Huaihai Campaign, Communist forces took control on December 1, 1948—an outcome that facilitated the eventual capture of the Nationalist capital, Nanjing.
Administered by Shandong after 1949, Xuzhou reverted to Jiangsu in 1953. Following the 1955 transfer of Dangshan and Xiao counties to Anhui, the region maintained a dual-track administration—comprising a Municipality and a Prefecture —for three decades.
In 1975, Minister Wan Li intervened to resolve severe transport blockages in Xuzhou caused by late-Cultural Revolution factionalism. By restoring centralized ministerial control and suppressing local factions, Deng Xiaoping established the "Xuzhou Experience" as the national template for the "all-round readjustment" of the Chinese economy.
In 1986, 15 prefectures and cities formally established the Xuzhou-centered Huaihai Economic Zone, a pioneering case of trans-administrative integration in contemporary China. On April 22, 1993, the State Council ratified Xuzhou as a "Larger Municipality" with independent legislative power.

Administration

The prefecture-level city of Xuzhou administers ten county-level divisions, including five districts, two county-level cities and three counties.
These are further divided into 161 township-level divisions, including 63 subdistricts and 98 towns.

Geography

Xuzhou is situated at the southeastern extremity of the North China Plain, serving as a geographical transition zone between the Yellow River's alluvial fan and the Huai River basin. The landscape comprises an undulating plain underlain by of deep alluvial deposits from historical Yellow River migrations.
This terrain is punctuated by limestone inselberg that rise abruptly from the floodplain, including Yunlong Mountain and the region's highest point, Dadong Mountain . Geologically, these formations constitute the Xuzhou–Huaibei fold-thrust belt at the southeastern margin of the North China Craton.
Tectonic activity along the Tancheng–Lujiang fault zone led to the formation of the Xuzhou and Feng-Pei coalfields. By the late 1990s, the region's proven coal reserves reached 3.94 billion tonnes—accounting for over 93% of Jiangsu province's total.
Intensive coal mining has caused landscape fragmentation and subsidence-induced flooding. Through the closure of small-scale mines and ecological restoration—including the conversion of waterlogged subsidence areas in northern Xuzhou and Jiawang into the Jiuli Lake and Pan'an Lake artificial wetlands—the local environment has partially recovered.
The regional hydrology is defined by two major man-made waterways: the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Abandoned Course of the Yellow River. Functioning as a "perched river" with its bed elevated above the surrounding terrain, the abandoned course now acts as a drainage divide between the Huai and Yi-Shu-Si river systems.
Due to its low-lying topography, the elevated riverbed, and its location at the meandering transition, the region was historically plagued by floods; records indicate 59 levee breaches near Xuzhou between 1550 and 1855. Today, the ancient riverbed bisects the city proper, while Yunlong Lake serves as both a scenic landmark and a reservoir to the southwest.
While situated on a relatively stable fault zone independent of the main Tan-Lu system, the urban area remains at risk due to historical thixotropic silt deposits, which amplify seismic effects.

Climate

Xuzhou has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate, with cool, dry winters, warm springs, long, hot and humid summers, and crisp autumns. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from in January to in July; the annual mean is. Snow may occur during winter, though rarely heavily. Precipitation is light in winter, and a majority of the annual total of occurs from June thru August. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 44% in July to 54% in three months, the city receives 2,221 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Demographics

In the 2020 census, Xuzhou recorded a permanent population of 9,083,900, an increase of 5.9% from 2010. By 2023, its permanent population accounted for approximately 10.6% of the total population of Jiangsu province.
Historically, the population of Xuzhou Prefecture grew from 2.95 million in 1776 to 4.34 million in 1910. Despite this growth, the region remained predominantly agricultural with minimal industrial or commercial activity; in 1910, the urban population of the prefectural seat was only approximately 32,000. Urbanization accelerated in the 20th century: the city's population reached 171,903 in 1931, 314,773 in 1947, and 333,190 in the 1953 Census.

Economy

As of 2023, Xuzhou's GDP reached RMB 890.04 billion, with a per capita GDP of RMB 98,683. The city serves as the largest economy of the Huaihai Economic Zone, recording the highest GDP, per capita GDP, and total retail sales among the region's member cities.

Energy Industry and Transition

Xuzhou's modern coal industry originated with the establishment of the Jiawang Coal Mine in 1882. Until the 1950s, it remained the only site of industrial-scale coal extraction in Jiangsu province. Driven by the 1970s energy crisis, a "multi-party development" model emerged, involving the Datun Mining Area alongside mines operated by other regional authorities.
Since the 2000s, resource depletion led to the closure of most local mines, with the sector consolidating under three major entities: Xuzhou Mining Group, Shanghai Datun Energy Resources, and China Resources Tianneng Xuzhou Coal and Power. As of 2023, the industry's total assets for above-scale enterprises reached 41.98 billion RMB.
The transition to renewables began in 2006 with the establishment of GCL Silicon. In the same year, the company commissioned its first polysilicon facility in Xuzhou, which subsequently developed into a major production site for photovoltaic materials. In 2024, BYD began building a 30 GWh sodium-ion battery plant in Xuzhou.

Manufacturing and Engineering

The demands of coal mining anchored Xuzhou's equipment manufacturing sector, which evolved into a modern construction machinery cluster. XCMG, headquartered in Xuzhou, ranked fourth globally among construction equipment manufacturers by 2024 revenue.
As of 2023, the city's specialized equipment manufacturing sector comprised 225 enterprises above designated size. Annual output for major products included 143,167 tons of mining equipment and 729,259 tons of cranes. In addition to heavy machinery, Xuzhou has developed into a production base for two-wheelers, with annual motorcycle output totaling 526,300 units in 2023.

Public services

Education

Xuzhou is a regional center for higher education, hosting 12 universities and colleges with a total enrollment of approximately 267,000 students as of 2023. Major institutions include:

Culture and Society

Performing arts

During the Ming dynasty, Yuyao qiang was prevalent in Xuzhou. By the mid-Qing, Lahun qiang—a form popular across border regions among provinces—emerged, with its local variant evolving into Liuqin Opera. Concurrently, Northern Bangzi was introduced and localized, being officially designated as Jiangsu Bangzi in 1960.
In terms of modern facilities, the Xuzhou Concert Hall opened in 2011. Shaped like a myrtle flower, it has hosted the city's first philharmonic orchestra since its establishment in 2015.

Museums

Xuzhou contains various Han dynasty sites. The Xuzhou Museum houses jade artifacts and jade burial suits. The tombs of the Princes of Chu include the Lion Mountain site, which contains a terracotta army, and the Guishan Han Tomb, a rock-cut structure. The Xuzhou Museum of Han Stone Reliefs preserves stone carvings from the period.

Cuisine

The regional cuisine blends characteristics of Huaiyang and Shandong cuisine, defined by salty and pungent flavors.
A staple is laomo, a thin, chewy, unleavened flatbread used to wrap ingredients. Other common foods include local-style goat-meat noodles, rice noodles, and bazirou. The city is noted for spicy soup and Sha soup ; both can be served with beaten raw eggs.
The region also features diguo cookery: meat is simmered into a concentrated gravy while unleavened dough patches are pressed onto the pot's rim to be cooked by the rising steam. Historically, dog meat consumption was prevalent in the area. Since the 1980s expansion of goat husbandry, the annual Fuyang Festival has institutionalized summer goat-meat consumption as a local tradition.

Religion

According to the local administrator's survey in 2014, around 4.76% of the population of Xuzhou, namely 0.46 million people belongs to organised religions. The largest groups being Protestants with 350,000 people, followed by Buddhists with 70,000 people.
Xuzhou is deemed one of earlier Buddhist centres in China supposedly because the Emperor Ming of Han mentioned that the then Prince of Chu Liu Ying built a "temple for Buddha".

Catholicism

The modern Catholic mission in Xuzhou began in 1882 with the arrival of French priest Leopold Gain. In 1931, the mission officially separated from the Diocese of Nanking to form the Apostolic Prefecture of Süchow, which was entrusted to the Canadian Jesuits. It was elevated to the Apostolic Vicariate of Süchow in 1935, with Philip Côté serving as the first bishop.
Under the direction of the Canadian Jesuits, the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart of Jesus was completed in 1910 and remains the city's principal church. By 1940, the vicariate reported 73,932 adherents. In 1941, the eastern portion of the vicariate was entrusted to the American Franciscans.

Protestantism

Protestant mission in Xuzhou began in 1886 with Alfred G. Jones of the Baptist Missionary Society (BMS), followed by the American Southern Presbyterian Mission in the 1890s. The mission established the Christian Hospital in 1900 and the Mary Ervin Rogers Memorial Hospital in 1914, which merged in 1940s as the precursor to the Affiliated Hospital of XZMU. They also founded the Julia Farrior Sanford Memorial School and Mary Stevens schools, which merged in 1931 as P'ei-cheng Middle School. By the 1920s, the Southern Baptist Convention and Seventh-day Adventists had entered the city. In 1946, the North China Theological Seminary relocated from Tengzhou to Xuzhou, before moving to Wuxi in 1948.

Landmarks

Yellow Pavilion

The Yellow Pavilion was built in 1078 during Su Shi's tenure as the Prefect of Xuzhou to commemorate the completion of the city's wall fortification project under his leadership. The name "Yellow" carries a dual significance: it symbolically represents the element of earth, which conquers water and literally refers to the pounded earth used in the construction of the new defenses and the pavilion's foundation. The current structure is a reconstruction dating to 1988.

Transport

Roads

Xuzhou has many urban expressways: Xuzhou 3rd Ring Road expressways, Xuzhou East Ave. expressway, Xuzhou-Pantang expressway, Xuzhou-Jiawang expressway and Xuzhou-Suqian expressway etc.

Expressways

National Highways

Railways

Xuzhou is a major railway hub in China. Xuzhou Railway Station is the junction of the Beijing–Shanghai and Lianyungang–Lanzhou railways. Xuzhoudong Railway Station, located in the east, serves as the interchange between the Beijing–Shanghai and Xuzhou–Lanzhou high-speed railways; it also functions as the terminal for the Xuzhou–Lanzhou, Xuzhou–Yancheng, and Lianyungang–Xuzhou lines. The two stations are linked via the Dahu connection line.
Xuzhoubei Railway Station, located in the north, is the largest marshalling yard of the China Railway Shanghai Group, handling over 20,000 wagons daily. As one of 14 designated China Railway Express assembly centers, Xuzhou maintains sea-rail intermodal connections to the ports of Ningbo-Zhoushan, Lianyungang, Yangshan, and Qingdao. In 2023, the annual rail freight volume reached 54.53 million tons.

Aviation

Xuzhou Guanyin International Airport is one of the three biggest international airports in Jiangsu Province, it serves the area with scheduled passenger flights to major airports in China. Xuzhou Guanyin International Airport has two terminals until 2019. Domestic Terminal and International Terminal.

Metro System

Xuzhou is the first city in Northern Jiangsu to operate a rapid transit system.

Operational Lines

  • Line 1 : Xuzhoudong Railway Station – Luwo. Interchanges at Pengcheng Square and Xuzhou Railway Station.
  • Line 2 : Keyunbei – Xinchengqudong. Serves JSNU Yunlong Campus.
  • Line 3 : Xiadian – Gaoxinqu'nan. Serves CUMT Wenchang Campus and JSNU Quanshan Campus.
  • Line 6 : Xuzhoudong Railway Station – Tongshan Chinese Medical Hospital.

Others

The Grand Canal flows through Xuzhou, and the navigation route extends from Jining to Hangzhou.
Luning oil pipeline, which originates from Linyi county of Shandong to Nanjing, passes through Xuzhou.

Military

Xuzhou is headquarters of the 12th Group Army of the People's Liberation Army, one of the three group armies that compose the Nanjing Military Region responsible for the defense of China's eastern coast and possible military engagement with Taiwan. The People's Liberation Army Navy also has a Type 054A frigate that shares the name of the region.

General references

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