Xuzhou – A small coastal city in Jiangsu Province, a transportation center of China.

The city is small enough to explore on foot. But the buses are cheap, regular, and easy to figure out within the city. There are also minibuses that travel outside of the city to neighboring rural towns.

Xuzhou is a major rail hub - very easy to get to by train. It is three hours from Nanjing on an express train. Most importantly, it's the half-way point between Beijing and Shanghai on the Shanghai-Beijing train route. On average, it's 8 hrs to China's political capital and 8 hrs to China's fashion and enterprise capital. However, the train speeds can vary from 5.5 hrs to 13 hrs for the same distance depending on the type of train.

Xuzhou is located in the southeast of the North China Plain. Xuzhou has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa), with cool, dry winters, warm springs, long, hot and humid summers, and crisp autumns. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from 0.4 °C (32.7 °F) in January to 27.1 °C (80.8 °F) in July; the annual mean is 14.48 °C (58.1 °F). Snow may occur during winter, though rarely heavily. Precipitation is light in winter, and a majority of the annual total of 832 millimetres (32.8 in) occurs from June thru August.

Yang Fang Cang Yu (Fish Stewed in Mutton) originated over 4,000 years ago, and is honored to be the first kind of food although improved by chefs in every following dynasty. The chefs usually cut open the belly of a sheep; put fish in it, add various seasonings and stew them together. The dish is not only tasty but also nourishing.

You may have heard of the Museum of Terracotta Warriors and Horses in Xian, but you will be more surprised when you see the Han terracotta warriors in this museum. Located in the west side of the Lion Hill, the museum shows thousands of terracotta warriors and horses. Standing in the two pits, the warriors, old or young, silent or naughty, all present different expressions of crying, laughing, frowning or contemplating. The ancient artisans emphasized to show the inner heart world and the characteristics of the warriors through their different gestures and expressions. These vividly made warriors have been shown abroad and won praises and appreciations again and again.