Nanxun Ancient Town

The ancient town of Nanxun is located in the north of Zhejiang Province and to the southwest of Shanghai. Many of the Coach Passenger Stations have buses from Shanghai to Nanxun, such as the one on Qiujiang Road (No. 865 Qiujiang Road, Zhabei Area) and the one on Zhongxing Road (No. 1666 Zhongxin Road). The bus ticket is about CNY45.00 and the journey takes about 2 hours.

The ancient town of Nanxun is located in the north of Zhejiang Province and to the southwest of Shanghai. Many of the Coach Passenger Stations have buses from Shanghai to Nanxun, such as the one on Qiujiang Road (No. 865 Qiujiang Road, Zhabei Area) and the one on Zhongxing Road (No. 1666 Zhongxin Road). The bus ticket is about CNY45.00 and the journey takes about 2 hours.

Nanxun Ancient Town was founded during the Southern Song Dynasty and is over 700 years old now. The town is small and its scenery only covers 1.68 square kilometers, but it is its cultural atmosphere and less commercialization that make it special and lovable.

The Small Lotus Garden

Although withstanding several centuries of war and turbulence, the high quality construction and buildings in Nanxun Ancient Town are amazingly well-preserved. Stretching along the ancient canal which divides the town into two parts, they still function as residences for the local people.

Besides the old houses, corridors, stone bridges and deep lanes like other ancient towns around, Nanxun Ancient Town is more famous due to the elegant and exquisite gardens. Most of these gardens are a combination of Chinese and Western styles. The most well-known gardens among them are the Small Lotus Garden and the Jiaye Book-Collecting Hall, both of which were built in the 1920s.

The Small Lotus Garden was the private garden and the family temple of Liu Yong, a high ranking official during the late Qing Dynasty. The garden covers a land area of 17,399 square meters and is divided into two parts, inner yard and outer yard. The center of the inner yard is a group of rockeries which were made from the stones of Taihu Lake. The lotus pond which is 5267 square kilometers is the theme of the outer yard. Also, the name of the garden was taken from it and Liu Yong's admiration of the Lotus Villa built by artist "Zhaomeng Zhaoye".

The Jiaye Book-Collecting Hall

The Jiaye Book-Collecting Hall is next to the Small Lotus Garden and is itself actually a mini-sized garden. The lotus pond, rockery and pavilion in the garden illustrate the delicacy and beauty of gardens in the southern Yangtze River area. There are over 600,000 volumes of books collected here. Nowadays, it is not only a scenic spot, but also a public library.

Enjoying revered abundant cultural and natural resources, Nanxun is known as the birthplace of many talented historical people. During the Song, Ming and Qing dynasties, more than 40 successful candidates of the highest imperial examinations came from Nanxun.

The Nanxun Ancient Town is not only beautiful outside, but also intelligent inside with profound cultural connotation.