City mingles river and sea, waterways and city - and the lifestyle of its people

"The 2010 Shanghai Expo is just around the corner and we are ready to entertain visitors from home and abroad with our abundant cultural and natural treasures," Dai Ping, head of Nantong Tourism Bureau, told China Daily recently.

Only about an hour's drive from Shanghai across the Suzhou-Nantong Yangtze River Bridge - which became the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world when it opened in 2008 - Nantong has been dubbed "a natural museum close to Shanghai" by locals because the city itself is a vivid showcase of rich cultures and tourism resources.