1. In 1996, a sunken boat was found near Java, Indonesia. It contained 17,000 pieces of porcelain and copper-based mirrors. Inscriptions on the back of these mirrors showed they were manufactured in Yangzhou in 828 AD.

2. Archaeological discoveries have supported the fact that a major supplier of porcelain to the world worked out of Yangzhou in 700 AD. Specimens of porcelain dating back to that time found in Iran, Iraq and Thailand and elsewhere in western Asia matched those manufactured in Yangzhou.

3. As early as the Song Dynasty (960-1279), a double-gated contraption was built to manipulate the water levels at Yangzhou, as scientist and historian Shen Kuo, who belonged to the same period, wrote.

4. A department for shipping merchandise to the imperial household in Beijing was set up in Yangzhou in the 16th century and thrived until around early 20th century. Its decline coincided with the Qing Empire's. By then, local salt manufacturers were no longer keen to supply their wares to the king. The canals in the north were developed and the department was shifted north.

5. Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) Emperor Kangxi made six trips from Beijing to Yangzhou to supervise the building of the canal. The canal was intended to ensure smooth passage of water to alleviate the impact of the potentially devastating floods caused by the swelling of the Yellow River.