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Adjacent to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, the Huaihe, Yanhe and Huaishu New rivers, and the Subei Irrigation Channel, Huai'an was formerly a hub of water transportation. Its decline in modern times was due to the change of course of the Yellow River, and destructive wars. It became so isolated and underdeveloped that as recently as a decade ago the city was still inaccessible by railway. Now, however, this situation has changed dramatically.


The Beijing-Shanghai, Tongjiang-Sanya and Huai'an-Nanjing (under construction) expressways link Huai'an with more developed areas, such as Beijing, Shanghai and southern Jiangsu Province, and strengthen the cooperation between southern and northern China. The expressways in Huai'an have a total length of 330 kilometers, and the city is also traversed by the railway line linking the coastal areas in eastern China. Huai'an has now become a pivot of water and land transportation.


A city of rivers, Huai'an has made great efforts to make itself as green as possible. There are dozens of parks within the city, including Qingyan Garden, formerly the private garden of a Qing director general of grain transport, and the Chinese Rose Garden, that houses scores of traditional breeds of Chinese rose, the emblem flower of Huai'an. The city has also planted lawns along the ancient Grand Canal, as well as a 5,000-meter long greenbelt in an abandoned runway of the Yellow River.