Overview

The city of Zhenjiang, Jiangsu Province, is situated on the southern bank of the Yangtze River, about 50 kilometers, as the dolphin swims :), downstream from (eastward of) the city of Nanjing (formerly Nanking). Shanghai, and the mouth of the Yangtze River, lie about 200 kilometers, as the crow flies, southeast of Zhenjiang, meaning that Zhenjiang is a central part of the Yangtze River Delta.

Native Zhenjiangers, unlike the majority of the natives of Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces, speak a Lower Yangtze variant of Mandarin Chinese that differs from the region's softer, Wu language variant (traditionally called the Suzhou dialect, though today it is as often referred to as the Shanghainese dialect) of Mandarin Chinese (the Suzhou/ Shanghainese dialect is considered Mandarin Chinese's prestige dialect). The "Wu" in question refers to the Wu State of the Spring and Summer (BCE 770-476) Period of the Eastern Zhou (BCE 770-221) Dynasty, though sometimes taken to mean both the Wu and Yue States (or simply the Wuyue State), since both were inhabited by Yue peoples of southern China during the period.

Once the capital of Jiangsu Province during the period of the Republic of China (1911-49), when Nanking was the capital of China (note that the sacking of Nanking by the Japanese during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-45 ) amounted to the sacking of China's capital), Zhenjiang is an old, pre-Christian-era city with a history intimately related to its strategic position near the mouth of the Yangtze River.