Dongtai City is located in the central part of Jiangsu Province, at the southern end of Yancheng City. It borders the Yellow Sea to the east, Hai’an County in Nantong City to the south, Xinghua City in Taizhou City to the west, and Dafeng City to the north. Known as “Dong” for short, it is one of the largest county-level cities by surface area in Jiangsu Province. Dongtai has a profound urban cultural heritage and numerous historical sites and scenic spots.
Dongtai, dubbed “Last Uncontaminated Land on the West Coast of Pacific Ocean”, is a city under the jurisdiction of Yancheng Prefecture.
Dongtai is a coastal city in the Jiangsu province of China. It has a land mass of about 2,340 Km2 and an approximate population of 1.2 million. About 300,000 people live in the Dongtai urban city while others are distributed in the suburban and rural settlements under the city’s administration namely Qindong, Shinian, Wulie, Touzao, Nanshenzao, Sancang, Tangyang, Jianggang, Xuhe, Xinjie, Fu’an, Anfeng, Liangduo, etc.
Dongtai has been rich in salt mining and Agriculture as well as its current richness in industry and trade.
The city is becoming a hub in production of stevia, a crop that its leaves taste extremely sweet and has been used to replace cane sugar. Stevia, native to Paraguay, has been used as a sweetener and flavor enhancer for many years. In 2008, the production of the crop in Dongtai occupies 80% of the country’s total production.
Background of Dongtai City
Like its neighbors, Dongtai has a history of around 2,100 years, tracking back to 117 B.C, in which the Xixi Town appeared as a small community governed by an ancient Haining County in 937 A.D. With frequent replacements of dynasties after the Tang dynasty, Dongtai had multiple name alterations and jurisdiction were shifted. The long history has left the town a lot of marvelous historic relics.
Xixi Ancient Town is the birthplace of the Fairy Couple mythical legend, also known as the Holy land of Buddhism. The town also has the attractions of Dongyong Shrine and Dongyong and Seven Fairies Cultural Park. Dongtai City also has natural and cultural sights such as Anfeng Ancient Town, Huguo Temple, Yellow Sea Forest Park, and an ecological park. The people of Dongtai are noted for creative painting and great literary work. Dongtai is an interesting city with a lot of museums also.
