Area: 1644sq.km/635sq.mi. Population: 1,100,000
Huai'an lies about 200km/125mi north of the provincial capital of Nanjing. The west side of the city is surrounded by the Great Imperial Canal. There is a bus service between Nanjing and Huai'an.
Huai'an can look back on five thousand years of history. First it was an important military stronghold
Then with the opening of the Imperial Canal the town experienced a boom in trade and business during the 6th and 7th C. In the 16th C the townspeople had to defend themselves repeatedly against attacks from Japanese pirates. During the Japanese-Chinese War (1939-45) Huai'an served as a garrison for guerrilla units.
The city is the birthplace of Wu Cheng'en (1500-82), the author of the famous novel ''Travels in the West'', and the politician Zhou Enlai.