Tongzhou is a district of Beijing. It is located in southeast Beijing and considered the eastern gateway to the nation's capital. Downtown Tongzhou itself lies around 20 km (12 mi) east of central Beijing, at the northern end of the Grand Canal and at the easternmost end of Chang'an Avenue. The entire district covers an area of 906 km2 (350 sq mi), or 6% of Beijing's total area. It had a population of 673,952 at the 2000 Census, and has seen significant growth and development since then, growing to a population of 1,184,000 at the 2010 Census and 1,840,295 at the 2020 census. The district is subdivided into four subdistricts, ten towns, and one ethnic township.

The Grand Canal is a system of interconnected canals linking various major rivers in North and East China, serving as an important waterborne transport infrastructure between the north and the south during Medieval and premodern China. It is the longest artificial waterway in the world and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.