With its vehicle license plate prefix being 苏N, Suqian ranks bottom in Jiangsu Province from an administrative and historical perspective. Indeed, the city was largely forgotten about until the 21st century, except that is, for those with a taste for the national spirit, baijiu. For them, Suqian is legendary, being home to Yanghe, one of the nation’s top three baijiu brands.

从行政和历史角度来看，宿迁的车牌前缀是苏N，在江苏省排名垫底。 事实上，这座城市在很大程度上被遗忘了，直到21世纪，除了那些喜欢民族精神的人来说，baijiu。 对他们来说，宿迁是传奇，是全国三大白酒品牌之一的Yanghe的故乡。

Around the turn of the millennia, with much of the city employed in the production of the spirit, its supply chain, or simply drinking the profits, the stench of baijiu would literally hang in the air in Suqian.

大约在千禧年之交，城市大部分地区都从事烈酒的生产、其供应链，或者只是喝着利润，白酒的臭味真的会挂在宿迁的空气中。

On another front, Suqian’s reputation for banditry in the early part of the 20th century helped in giving rise to the stereotype that Northern Jiangsu is a lawless place, a supposed standing which the area still has difficulty in shaking off today.

在另一个方面，宿迁在20世纪初的土匪名声助长了一种刻板印象，即江苏北部是一个无法无天的地方，这种所谓的地位，今天该地区仍然难以摆脱。

Thanks have changed significantly, though. The more-than-noticeable decline in baijiu-drinking culture has helped in shedding that image in favour of something altogether more healthy, as manifest in places such as Luoma Lake.

不过，感谢已经发生了很大的变化。 白酒饮酒文化的明显下降有助于减弱这种形象，转而支持更健康的东西，如罗马湖等地方所示。

Connecting with the Grand Canal, Luoma Lake is one of the four major freshwater lakes in Jiangsu. At 375 square kilometres in area, the Lake resembles the back of a big horse, together with its tail which sweeps further north to Xuzhou City.

洛马湖与大运河相连，是江苏四大淡水湖之一。 面积为375平方公里的湖，像一匹大马的背，它的尾巴向北扫到徐州市。

Somewhat of a local celebrity, Luoma Lake crab was also named as the “Overlord Crab” in 2019, in reference to Xiang Yu, known as “Overlord of Western Chu”.

作为当地名人，罗马湖蟹在2019年也被命名为“霸主蟹”，以被称为“西楚霸主”的湘羽。

Born in Suqian, Xiang was the Hegemon-King of Western Chu during the Chu–Han Contention Period, between 206 and 202 BCE. It is little wonder that a popular draw for visitors is Xiang Yu’s ancestral temple, where a recorded tour in many languages automatically starts and stops as they enter or leave the many buildings. A movie about the overlord’s military might is more than worth a look.

Xiang出生于宿迁，是公元前206年至202年中汉争战时期西楚的霸王。 难怪向宇的祖庙是游客的热门景点，当他们进入或离开许多建筑时，许多语言的记录之旅会自动开始和停止。 一部关于霸主军事力量的电影非常值得一看。

The tectonic shift in Suqian’s environmental conditions also extends to the city’s economic development. Along the flower-lined boulevards of today, e-commerce giant, JD.com, has in recent years located its call centre in Suqian, a move followed by several other national brand names.

宿迁环境条件的构造变化也延伸到了城市的经济发展。 沿着当今鲜花盛开的林荫大道，电子商务巨头京东近年来将其呼叫中心设在宿迁，其他几个国家品牌也紧随其后。

Then there is the Suzhou Suqian Industrial Park (SSIP), the first joint industrial park development by a northern and southern city in Jiangsu, in part intended to bridge the geographical gap formed by the Yangtze River and a century of historical prejudice. The SSIP is a model being replicated elsewhere to assist in Yangtze River Delta Integration (长三角一体), whereas the north has adopted the measures of its more-experienced southern cousins at the Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP) in creating a healthy business environment.

然后是苏州宿迁工业园（SSIP），这是江苏南北城市第一个联合开发的工业园区，部分目的是弥合长江形成的地理鸿沟和百年历史偏见。 SSIP是在其他地方复制的模式，以帮助长江三角一体化，而北方则采用了苏州工业园（SIP）更有经验的南方表亲的措施来创造一个健康的商业环境。

But much remains to be done. Based on 2021’s figures, Suqian ranks bottom in Jiangsu in terms of overall Gross Domestic Product and GDP per capita; some ¥6,200 per person per month on a population just shy of five million, for a city GDP of ¥371.9 billion.

但仍有许多工作要做。 根据2021年的数据，就国内生产总值和人均GDP而言，宿迁在江苏排名垫底；人口不到500万，人均每月约6200日元，城市GDP为3719亿日元。

Suqian is 2 hours by high-speed train from Nanjing and 4 hours from Beijing and just 28 minutes from the central Jiangsu city of Huai’an.

从南京乘坐高铁2小时，从北京乘坐4小时，距离江苏市中心的淮安只需28分钟。