Where in the World is Lianyungang?

It seems silly to write a blog about a country that I lived in for years without at least one post about the city that was my home for that time: Lianyungang. If you have never heard the name before you can be forgiven. Throughout the country it is considered to be a rural city (of 4-5 million!), and known mostly for being a seaside town with a few mountains in the otherwise pretty flat province of Jiangsu. While there definitely is some domestic tourism to the city, mainly for those sites, it is far off of the radar of international travel, with no signs of picking up anytime soon.

I certainly had no idea about the town when I answered an ad posted on Dave’s ESL Cafe, which is essentially a Craigslist for would be English teachers. Just a few months later, having accepted a position, I flew to Asia for the first time in my life, and it only took me a few days of being there before I knew that this would be home for more than the year that I initially signed up for.

The one major claim to fame is HuaGuoShan, the highest peak in Jiangsu province - (relax, it's only 2,000 feet - 635 meters - above sea level). While not a massive mountain, it still is one of the most famous peaks in China thanks to being known as the home of Sun Wukong (aka the Monkey King) the main protagonist of the epic novel Journey to the West. While somewhat contested, Lianyungang is generally considered to be the rightful place of the Monkey King and you would be hard pressed to find a local to convince you otherwise. Appropriately enough, the mountain is full of naughty monkeys, both a draw and a nuisance as they harass hikers for food and bottles of water.

The other major site is the seaside. While few people would be impressed with the beach that is right at the city’s edge, the island Liandao is connected by a road a few kilometers long, and there you can find much more attractive beaches. The best of these is Sumawan, the smaller of the two near small waterfalls and roving peacocks. The beach is essentially in a hidden cove, making it feel like a secret world the first time you stumble upon it, at least on the less crowded days. While a far cry from some of Asia’s best beaches (which I would argue are pretty top in the world) it’s a good enough approximation to be worth the journey on a hot summer day.

Like the rest of China, Lianyungang is a constantly changing city, and even though I was only gone a few years the boundaries of what I knew the town to be had greatly expanded to the surrounding areas. This development brought some great things like high speed trains, better restaurants, and more urban environments to explore, but it also has its downsides. Previously there was really nowhere that you could not get to via bike, scooter, or public transit, but this time I found myself having to rely on rides and taxis a lot more than in the past. Also, a lot of previously quiet places now were quite developed, sometimes shockingly, like a field now turned into a city center. However, in spite of these drawbacks, it was great to see a city that I called home as dynamic as ever, and a hell of a lot easier to get to.