Overview

Lying on the south bank of the Qiantang River mouth, Shaoxing City is widely famed for its plenty of natural and man-made wonders, scenic water towns and attractive cultural relics. It had been a most popular tour destination since the ancient times. It is the notable global town of textiles and the world trade center of textiles.

Shaoxing is popularly well-known for its water and bridges, as well as for its wine and contributions to Chinese calligraphy. It is the hometown of many notables, such as Cai Yuanpei (an influential modern Chinese educator and the chancellor of the Peking University), Lu Xun (the founder of modern Chinese literature) and Zhou Enlai (the first premier of the P. R. China). Chairman Mao Zedong praised the city as the region of Jian Lake, Terrace of the King of the Yue Kingdom and personage. Shaoxing has always been world-famous as "the region of culture", notably for a variety of local operas. Shaoxing's fame has spread around the world for other reasons as well. The beautiful water scenes and attractive local conditions and customs have long made the city a splendid tourist destination. Lu Xun, a literary giant of his generation, composed many works representing the strong local color of Shaoxing culture. So the trip to Shaoxing can be considered a nostalgic tour of Lu Xun's vivid description in his works. A tourist today will also enjoy Shaoxing's long and ancient track road, green water, flying stone bridges and a variety of river-boats. The city is crisscrossed by rivers flowing from the Yangtze, and boasts some 4,000 bridges as well. This is typical scenery for a water town in the south of the Yangtze River.

Because of its long history, colorful culture, and the natural beauty of mountains and water, Shaoxing has been one of the most popular tourist destinations in the east China. To date there are nearly 200 tourist attractions open to the public, including the famous Residence of Lu Xun, the Ancient Track Road, the Mausoleum of Da Yu, the Orchid Pavilion, Shen's Garden, the Residence of Cai Yuanpei, the Residence of Zhou Enlai, the Xi Shi Palace of Zhuji, the Big Buddha Temple of Xinchang, and the Caoe Temple of Shangyu. Tourists can enjoy exploring Shaoxing's wine culture, its stone culture, its history of calligraphy, Buddhist sites and featured rivers and bridges.