Suzhou in the context of "Suzhounese"

As of 2023, the five largest cities in China by population are Chongqing (31.91 million), Shanghai (24.87 million), Beijing (21.86 million), Chengdu (21.403 million) and Guangzhou (18.827 million). As of 2024, there are 18 megacities (cities with a population of over 10 million), including Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Tianjin, Xi'an, Suzhou, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou, Shijiazhuang, Linyi, Dongguan, Qingdao, Changsha and Hefei.

Among them, the total permanent population of Chongqing, Shanghai, Beijing and Chengdu is above 20 million. Shanghai is China's most populous urban area, while Chongqing is its largest city proper, the only city in China with the largest permanent population of over 30 million.

Jiangsu is a coastal province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the third smallest, but the fourth most populous, with a population of 84.75 million, and the most densely populated of the 22 provinces of the People's Republic of China. Jiangsu has the highest GDP per capita and second-highest GDP of Chinese provinces, after Guangdong. Jiangsu borders Shandong in the north, Anhui to the west, and Zhejiang and Shanghai to the south. Jiangsu has a coastline of over 1,000 kilometers (620 mi) along the Yellow Sea, and the Yangtze flows through the southern part of the province.

Since the Sui and Tang dynasties, Jiangsu has been a national economic and commercial center, partly due to the construction of the Grand Canal. Cities such as Nanjing, Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Shanghai (separated from Jiangsu in 1927) are all major Chinese economic hubs. Since the initiation of economic reforms in 1990, Jiangsu has become a focal point for economic development. It is widely regarded as one of China's most developed provinces, when measured by its Human Development Index (HDI). Its 2021 nominal GDP per capita reached CN¥137,300 (US$21,287), becoming the first province in China to reach the $20,000 mark.

Nantong is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province, China. Located on the northern bank of the Yangtze River, near the river mouth. Nantong is a vital river port bordering Yancheng to the north; Taizhou to the west; Suzhou, Wuxi and Shanghai to the south across the river; and the East China Sea to the east. Its population was 7,726,635 as of the 2020 census, 3,766,534 of whom lived in the built-up area made up of three urban districts.

On September 26, 2004, the first World Metropolitan Development Forum was held in Nantong. In 2005, Nantong had a GDP growth of 15.4%, the highest growth rate in Jiangsu province, and in 2016 Nantong's GDP had a total of about 675 billion yuan, ranking 21st in the whole country.

The Seventh National Population Census of the People's Republic of China (Chinese: 第七次全国人口普查; pinyin: Dì Qī Cì Quánguó Rénkǒu Pǔchá), also referred to as the 2020 Chinese Census, was the seventh national census conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics of the People's Republic of China. Census work began on November 1, 2020, and continued through December 10, 2020, involving seven million census workers.

The 2020 Chinese census covers all Chinese citizens living in mainland China, as well as those living abroad on temporary visas. Foreigners who live in the mainland for more than six months are also recorded in the data.

The Jiangyin dialect (Chinese: 江阴话; pinyin: Jiāngyīnhuà) is a Northern Wu Chinese dialect spoken in the city of Jiangyin in Jiangsu province. The Jiangyin dialect is a member of the Wu Chinese Taihu Wu family of dialects, which means the inhabitants speak a dialect similar to that of nearby Wuxi, Changzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. The Jiangyin dialect itself is of the Piling variety, related to the Changzhou dialect. The Jiangyin dialect has the highest degree of mutual intelligibility with the dialects of the closest neighboring cities of Changzhou and Wuxi but also has a fairly large degree of mutual intelligibility with the dialects of nearby Suzhou and Shanghai. As one travels south towards Wuxi away from the urban center of Jiangyin, the Jiangyin dialect increasingly sounds closer to the Wuxi dialect.

A book called A collection of Jiangyin dialect has been published.

Taihu (Chinese: 太湖), also known as Lake Tai or Lake Taihu, is a lake in the Yangtze Delta and the third largest freshwater lake in China. The lake is in Jiangsu province and a significant part of its southern shore forms its border with Zhejiang. With an area of 2,250 square kilometers (869 sq mi) and an average depth of 2 meters (6.6 ft), it is the third-largest freshwater lake entirely in China, after Poyang and Dongting. The lake contains about 90 islands, ranging in size from a few square meters to several square kilometers.

Lake Tai is linked to the Grand Canal and is the origin of a number of rivers, including the Suzhou Creek. The major cities around Taihu Lake include Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou and Huzhou. These urban areas form the core of the lake's cultural and economic region. University-led hydrological and ecological studies note that these four cities are the primary urban centers surrounding the lake.

The Shanghai–Nanjing intercity railway or Huning intercity railway (simplified Chinese: 沪宁城际铁路; traditional Chinese: 滬寧城際鐵路; pinyin: Hù–Níng Chéngjì Tiělù) is a 301-kilometer (187 mi)-long high-speed rail line between Shanghai and Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province. Hù and Níng are shorthand Chinese names for Shanghai and Nanjing, respectively. The Huning intercity high-speed railway largely follows the route of the preexisting Nanjing-Shanghai section of the conventional Beijing–Shanghai railway and the Beijing–Shanghai high-speed railway. Construction of this high-speed railway began in July 2008. The line went into test operations in early April 2010, and opened for full service on July 1, 2010. The line has a design speed of 350 km/h (217 mph). The journey time between the two cities has been shortened from 120 minutes to 73 minutes on nonstop trains.According to the arrangements of related departments, 120 pairs of trains are operating on the line, and the time interval between services is 5 minutes at the shortest.

The railway links major cities in the Yangtze River Delta, including Suzhou, Wuxi, Changzhou, and Zhenjiang, effectively making the southern Jiangsu city-belt operate like a single metropolitan region.

The Grand Canal (Chinese: 大运河; pinyin: Dà yùnhé) is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers and lakes in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern China. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world and a World Heritage Site.

The Grand Canal has undergone several route changes throughout history. Its current main stem, known as the Jing–Hang Grand Canal, is thought to extend for 1,776 km (1,104 mi) linking Beijing in the north to Hangzhou in the south, and is divided into 6 main subsections, with the southernmost sections remaining relatively unchanged over time. The Jiangnan Canal starts from the Qiantang River at Hangzhou's Jianggan District, looping around the east side of Lake Tai through Jiaxing, Suzhou and Wuxi, to the Yangtze at Zhenjiang; the Inner Canal from Yangzhou across the Yangtze from Zhenjiang, going through the Gaoyou Lake to join the Huai River at Huai'an, which for centuries was also its junction with the former course of the Yellow River; the Middle Canal from Huai'an to Luoma Lake at Suqian, then to the Nansi Lakes at Weishan; the Lu Canal from the Nansi Lakes at Jining and into the present course of the Yellow River at Liangshan, splitting off downstream at Liaocheng's Dong'e County before continuing to the Wei at Linqing; the Southern Canal (named for its location within Hebei) from Linqing to the Hai River at Tianjin; and the Northern Canal from Tianjin to Tongzhou on the outskirts of Beijing. As such, it passes through the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, and the municipalities of Tianjin and Beijing. In 2014, the Chinese government and UNESCO recognized the Eastern Zhejiang Canal from Hangzhou to Ningbo along the former Tongji and Yongji Canals also as official components of the Grand Canal.