As the city with the largest jurisdictional area in Jiangsu, Yancheng borders Lianyungang to the north, Huai'an to the west, Yangzhou and Taizhou to the southwest, Nantong to the south, and the Yellow Sea to the east.

collection and production of sea salt in the region began as early as 119 BC, during the Western Han dynasty, when the settlement on the current location of Yancheng was named Yandu County (盐渎县).

In later years, the city was the home of Fan Zhongyan, the 12th century statesman and Shi Nai'an, the reputed author of famous novels.

[5] Tianjiayi Chemical had previously been penalized six times for infractions of pollution and waste management laws,[6] and China Daily reported fines over safety issues.

[citation needed] Typical of northern and central Jiangsu, Yancheng has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cfa/Cwa), strongly influenced by the East Asian Monsoon.

The BRT system of Yancheng uses a dedicated bus lane on a 16 km (9.9 mi) route and as of 2010 carries 33,000 passengers per day.

[15] The Yancheng District SRT Line 1 began testing in March 2021 and officially opened for trial operation on 16 April 2021 with a 17-station, 13 km (8.1 mi) route.

In addition, the county-level city of Dafeng, administered by Yancheng, is also twinned with Ascoli Piceno, Italy (September 2001) and Guri, South Korea (February 20, 2003) respectively.