Gaoyou geopolitically belongs to Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, PR China, situated at the transportation hub of Yangtze Delta in central Jiangsu at 32°38' -33°05' North, 119°13'-119°50' East, neighbouring at east with Xinghua, south at Jiangdu, Gangjiang, Zhengxi, west at Tianchang (Anhui Province), Jinghu, and north at Baoying. Gaoyou city is about 65 kilometres road distance away from Yangzhou City, with the linear distance about 45 kilometres.

Gaoyou has very convenient water and land transportations, with the shared section of Tongsan (or G010) and Jinghu (From Beijing to Shanghai) Highways passing in the city and The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal is right by the city. Gaoyou Lake is at the west of the city, Yun He (Canal) Bridge, Huqu Manshui Road and the ship locks along both sides of the canal provides a passageway to northern Anhui and Central Jiangsu. Its purpose as a transportation hub has been praised by ancient Chinese as the “link between Su (Jiangsu Province) and Wan (Anhui Province), control of Xia He area”.

Gaoyou has a long history. As early as 6000-7000 years ago, there are already people living in this land. During the Qing Dynasty, high towers (Gao) and postal facilities (You) were built, hence the name of Gaoyou. It is also called Qing You or Meng Cheng, and is the only county among more than 2000 counties or cities in China that is named with the Chinese character of “You”. In 1997, the Postal (You) Culture Festival was held here.

Gaoyou County was officially created when Han Wu Di was the emperor of China in Han Dynasty, which belonged to Guangling Country. From Song Dynasty to early Qing Dynasty, various political regions were declared here, including Gaoyou Jun, Cheng Zhou, Gaoyou Lu, Gaoyou Fu, Gaoyou Zhou and included Gaoyou, Xing Hua and Bao Ying Counties. It was the most prosperous region in Yang Huai area and was renamed as Qian Zhou during Emperor Qian Long era in Qing Dynasty. It was reassigned as a county during the early years when Kuomintang ruled China. After the People’s Republic of China was established, there have been several changes to the intersection among Gaoyou, Bao Ying and Xinghua Counties. Gaoyou was changed from county to city in 1991.

Gaoyou City is 50.4 kilometres long and 57.6 kilometres wide, the total area is 1962.58 square kilometres, and is about 1.9% of the total land area of Jiangsu Province. Land area is 1463.82 square kilometres, which is 74.59% of the total area and the water area is 498.76 square kilometres, which is 25.41% of the total area. The north-western part is upland and the north-eastern is lower and is mostly water-filled plain area. The resource-rich Gaoyou Lake is the third largest lake in Jiangsu Province and is on the side of The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Many lacustrine beaches spread around and hundreds of rivers flow through the city, which makes it the county covered with most water area. Gaoyou belongs to northern subtropical monsoon climate, with annual average temperature being 14.6 degree Celsius, and the average annual rainfall at about 1000 mm, and about 220 days each year without frost. The four seasons were clearly separated and there is plenty of solar and water resources. Petroleum, natural gas, turf, high-grade mineral water and other natural resources are plenty.

Gaoyou City presently has one municipal town, 16 organizational towns, 16 townships and 662 villages. The total population is 8.33 million, and has Han, Hui, Meng, Man, Miao, Zhuang, Yao, Na Xi races. The Han population is about 99.6% of the total population and Ling Tang Hui Autonomous Township is the only autonomous township by the minor races with the total Hui population being 29.5% of the total population.

The economy of Gaoyou City has grown rapidly since the Reform and Opening-up and the comprehensive strength have improved significantly. The standard of living has become higher constantly and the appearance of the city has undergone some drastic improvement. In May 1994, when the then-premier of China, Li Peng, visited Gaoyou, he inscribed: “The old Qing You City is now showing off strength of youth”.

During the Progress for Two Civilizations, Gaoyou was awarded The Advanced County in Forestation of Plains, Construction of Hydraulic Projects, and Advanced City in Electrification in Rural Areas, Family Planning, Technology, Culture, and Traditional Medicine in Rural Areas and other titles. In 1989, the GDP of Gaoyou City was 5.208 billion Yuan and the annual fiscal income of 217 million Yuan, the proportion of Class One, Two and Three Types of Industries is 29.7, 40.3 and 30 percent respectively. The total income from farming and forestry is 1.9 billion Yuan, including 1.267 billion Yuan from forestry and fishery, which is about 67% of the total income from farming. The total GDP in industry was 9.42 billion Yuan with net income of 7.95 billion Yuan and net profit close to 100 million Yuan. The total GDP from construction industry was 2.2 billion dollars and the total added value of Class Three industry is 1.555 billion dollars. And the total sales from commercial activities were 1.4 billion Yuan. The import/export industry is increasing rapidly as well, with the total value of exported goods being 1.2 billion Yuan and the total import/export value being 28.84 million USD.
Today, Gaoyou City is growing to be a place with developed economy, diverse culture, modern commercial and habitable.