Water town scenery

Shaoxing City is about 280 kilometers away from Shanghai and lies in northern Zhejiang Province. You can get there either by train or coach. If you take the train, the earliest one is  the T769 1105/1317 (hard seat: CNY38.00; soft seat: CNY57.00). However, you can catch a coach at Shanghai South Passenger Station (No. 666 Shilong Road) or Shanghai Lutai Passenger Station (No. 1015 North Zhongshan Road) in the early morning and start your tour sooner should you wish. The coach trip takes about threee and a half hours, the fare is CNY80.00. Should you plan to return to Shanghai by train, we suggest you purchase your tickets (N426 1259/1608 or T796 1646/1910) upon arrival to be sure of a place fo the return journey, as the seats tend to be in great demand.

Shaoxing has many economy hotels with good locations, service and a preferential room rate in Shaoxing, e. g. Home Inn (Add: No. 13, 2nd District, International MoEr City, West Huancheng Road; Tel: 0575-5338000), Jinjiang Inn (Add: No. 748 West Shengli Road; Tel: 0575-85175888) and Nanyuan Inn (Add: No. 289 East Renmin Road, Yuecheng District; Tel: 0575-85136655). You may choose the one which best suites your requirements.

Shaoxing is an ancient city with a history of about 2500 years, but it is small. Generally speaking, you can get to every downtown spot by taxi for a fare of CNY5.00. If you are not in a hurry, rickshaw is also a good alternative offering the chance to enjoy the street scenes and a closer look at the local lifestyle.

Lu Xun's Former Residence

Shaoxing was the hometown of Lu Xun (1881-1936), China's great twentieth century writer. So The Memorial Hall of Lu Xun is a must see here (admission fee: CNY60.00). This site is at the center of Shaoxing city and can be reached by the tourist bus' west line. It includes Lu Xun Museum, Lu Xun's Former Residence, Sanwei Study, Baicao Garden and Lu Xun's Ancestral Home. Shen's Garden lies 200 meters east of Lu Xun's Ancestral Home (admission fee: CNY30.00). This garden is well known for a tragic love story of Lu You, a great patriotic poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, and the garden is now a theme park of love. The combined ticket of these two sites is CNY80.00 which includes the boat fare between the memorial hall and the garden.

Not far from the Shen's Garden, at the intersection of Cangqiaozhi Street and Fuheng Street, there is a very good restaurant named Xunbaoji Zhuangyuanlou which has been complimented by all who have eaten there. The classical and elegant style of decoration is very delightful, not to mention the good service and fine food. The opportunity to buy half dishes is one of the restaurant's most popular features, enabling you to sample virtually everything on offer. This is the place we definitely recommend for dinner.

Shaoxing has a history of wine making going back for more than 2500 years. There are many liqueurs with a low alcohol content that are nutritional and healthy due to their Chinese medicinal ingredients. You may like to buy some as a gift for your friends.

Shaoxing

After dinner, please walk or take a rickshaw back to your hotel, saving your energy for the next day's activity.

The next day, please pack your luggage and check out of the hotel in the morning. However, you can leave larger items of luggage at the hotel reception and go out visiting first. Public bus No. 1 will take you to the East Lake which is 6 kilometers to the east of historic Shaoxing City. You can take the Shaoxing black-roof-boat – Symenngoa there (one way: CNY50.00; return: CNY90.00), try the freshly picked tea or maybe rock climbing (CNY30.00).

After lunch, you need to arrange your afternoon based on your train schedule, when your pleasant Shaoxing tour finally comes to an end.