Xuzhou is located in the northwest of Jiangsu Province, only 300 kilometers away from Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu.
Xuzhou has a mild climate with distinct seasons. Plains form the most part of Xuzhou alternating with hilly lands. Yi river, Shu river, the Grand Canal and the earlier course of Huanghe River all run through the city while Luoma Lake and Weishang Lake are scattered on the southern and northern fringes of the city.
The original name of Xuzhou is “Pengcheng”, with 6000-year splendid culture. During the time of Emperor Yao, Dapeng State was established here. It has a 2500-year city building history, and is one of the first cities in Jiangsu Province. Xuzhou was one of the nine states under the rule of Emperor Yu of the Xia Dynasty (21 century B.C.) when he was in charge of the regulation of rivers and watercourses. At that time Xuzhou was a name for a wide area, in which Pengcheng functioned as the center town.
Xuzhou used to be in the territory of Chu State in the Qin and Han Dynasties. It was the capital of Xichu during the time of warfare between General Xiang Yu and General Liu Bang . After Liu‘s success it became the fief of his relatives for hundreds of years afterwards. In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, Cao Cao (the chancellor at that time) assigned a prefectural governor to administer Pengcheng and this was the first time the present name Xuzhou was used. The city was officially set up in 1945 and came under the direct control of Jiangsu Province since 1953. The city nowadays has jurisdiction over four counties of Fengxian, Peixian, Tongshan, Suining, two county-class cities of Pizhou and Xinyi, and five districts of Yunlong, Gulou, Quanshan, Jiuli and Jiawang. It covers an area of 11,258 square