Lianyungang

Lianyungang is a small city nestled between the mountains and the sea in Jiangsu Province. During the summer LYG is a popular site for Chinese tourists looking for fun in the sun and delicious seafood.

The city is divided into four districts: the most important two for foreign teachers are Xing Pu where the school is located and Xu Gou, which is by the sea. The beach is easily reached by an 8 yuan / 45 minute bus ride, 30 minute taxi, or a 2 ½ hour bike ride if you’re up for some exercise.

Within the city are Hua Guo Shan (Flower & Fruit Mountain – home of the Monkey King), Green Park (a spacious area filled with older people practicing Tai Chi in the mornings), and Hai Zhou Gu Cheng (the older part of the city with ancient Chinese architecture and a small temple). Outside the city are lots of mountains, little villages, and miles of beautiful countryside easily within reach if you have a bike or want to take a bus.

The city has a temperate climate getting down to around 0 degrees Celsius and a little snow in the winter and warming up nicely to 36 degrees in the sunny summertime with a cooling coastal breeze. Although sometimes a bit breezy, fall and spring are beautiful times of year with warm weather and fewer tourists. The consistent breeze keeps the air quality relatively high all year.

Lianyungang is big enough city to have all three major modes of transportation – airplane, train, and bus. There are daily flights to Shanghai and Beijing but most people here choose to travel by bus. Shanghai and Qingdao are about seven hours away and there are other cities such as Nanjing and Suzhou within five hours. Xuzhou, just to the west of Lianyungang, is a major rail junction in Eastern China with links and convenient overnight trains to locations throughout the country.

The local food here is delicious; fresh & cheap seafood, dumplings, noodles, and ‘hot pot’ are all abundant. KFC, McDonalds, and a few Western style restaurants along with several coffee houses are close by for when you need to eat something you recognize. There are also loads of grocery stores where you can usually find cheese and other western delights.

Aston Lianyungang - Ganyu

Ganyu is one of the first batch of up and coming coastal counties, it is located in the Northeast of Jiangsu province, Haizhou Bay. To the East is the Yellow Sea, to the West the border meets Yimeng, the North is connected with Qingdao and South is the small but popular city of Lianyungang which is the Eastern bridgehead of new Asian-European land bridge. The sea separates Ganyu from Japan and the Korean peninsula. Ganyu has the good reputation of being the “Yellow Sea Pearl”.

The history of Ganyu is glorious, and its culture is bright. The scenery of mountain and sea is very beautiful. In addition, there is a strong cultural atmosphere in Ganyu. It is the hometown of Xufu, who was the ambassador of China going to Japan. Confucius and his best student Zigong visited Jiagu Mountain. Haizhou bay is famous as “Jiangsu beidaihe”. The only martyrs’ cemetery which was named for “resisting the Japanese” has been named as a national 4A level scenic area. It also has Luoyang fishing center, Xufu ancestral, Ginkgo and bamboo style Park in Menhe, Tashan reservoir and so on. We are trying our best to build an Oriental "Victorian" small town!

Ganyu County belongs to the warm temperate zone and moist monsoon area. It is cold and dry in the winter, while it is hot and rainy in the summer. This makes for a diverse climate and distinct seasons. Due to the Yellow Sea, and the ocean, summer and winter temperatures change gently and are rich in rainfall.

There are many delicious foods in Ganyu County. Because it is close to the sea, we have a plentiful supply of seafood here. We have many special snacks here, including pancake, egg cakes, sweet potato congee, boiled dumplings and many others. What’s more, we have KFC, McDonalds, and a few western style restaurants along with several coffee houses are close to our school when you need to eat something you recognize.

Ganyu County is in the key position of Chinese coast and is forming the road, the railroad, the river navigation gradually in a coastal “the big channel”. So, the traffic in Ganyu is very convenient.

Ganyu, the “yellow sea pearl”, is famous for its long history, splendid culture, rich resources, and millions of enthusiastic people. Welcome to Ganyu!