Slender West Lake, Yangzhou

Yangzhou is located in Jiangsu Province and 300 kilometers to the northwest of Shanghai. You can take the direct train or coach from Shanghai to Yangzhou. The train T782/T783 (soft seat: CNY97.00; hard seat: CNY63.00) departs at 14:39 and arrives at 20:05. The coach can be caught at Shanghai South Railway Station (No. 666 Shilong Road) or Shanghai Passenger Traffic Terminal Station (No. 1662 Zhongxing Road) from the early morning to the afternoon. The driving takes 4 hours and the ticket is about CNY100.00. Besides, you can take the Multiple-Depot Train (class one: CNY88.00; class two: CNY74.00) to Zhenjiang first and then connect a bus (ticket: CNY13.00) at Zhenjiang Railway station to Yangzhou, the whole journey only takes 3 hours and stops at Yangzhou East Passenger Station.

The transportations and accommodations are very convenient in Yangzhou. When you are traveling, please make sure you have enough loose changes to pay for the bus, taxi or rickshaw. Yangzhou is a popular tourist destination. If you come in spring or holiday, you need to make the hotel reservation in advance. We recommend Jinjiang Inn (3 stars; Addr: No. 363 Si Siwangting Road, Weiyang District; Tel: 0514-87963800) and Hanting Hotel (3 stars; Addr: No. 71 North Wenhe Road, Guangling District; Tel: 0514-87322399), which are economical chain hotels all over the country. The room rate is only about CNY180.00 per room per night.

Ge Garden, Yangzhou

After a short rest at the hotel, you may have lunch at the nearby restaurant named Fu Man Lou (Addr: No.30 North Wenhe Road, Guangling District; Tel: 0514-7342777) which is a famous restaurant well known for it real local flavor. It is at the crossing of Si Wang Ting Road and Wenhe Road. You can either take a taxi or a rickshaw to get there. After lunch, please turn right to Huaihai Road and head to the Slender West Lake.

We suggest you buy a combined ticket (CNY120.00) which includes the Slender West Lake (CNY80.00; Addr: the south entrance is near the arched stone Hongqiao bridge on Dahongqiao Road), the Ge Garden (CNY40.00; Addr: No. 10 East Yanfu Road), the He Garden (CNY40.00; Addr: No. 66 Xuyimen Street) and the Bonsai Garden (CNY15.00; Addr: outside the south gate of the lake park). It is much more economical than buying the tickets separately and the spots do not require to be finished within one day. The lake park occupies the entire northwest part of Yangzhou and costs at least 3 to 4 hours to visit. After that, you may take a tour to the Ge Garden and the Bonsai Garden which are very near to the lake park. The best way to stroll around these sites is taking a rickshaw which costs no more than CNY5.00 per time.

The closing hours of the spots in Yangzhou are around 18:00. So if you can not finish these three sites in an afternoon, you may come back the next day.

He Garden, Yangzhou

Yangzhou flavored food enjoys a high reputation in China. Along your tour in Yangzhou, you must have seen a lot of restaurants. Siwangting Road itself is a well-known food street. If you are a gastronome kind of person and love Chinese food, this is your lucky day. After dinner, walk back to the hotel or appreciate the night view near Wenchang Pavilion or the city moat.

Continue the tour to the He Garden the next day. Besides, the Wang's Garden (CNY15.00; Addr: No.14, Dongquanmen Street) and the Eight Yangzhou Eccentrics Memorial (CNY15.00; Addr: No. 18 Tuoling Lane; near the lake park) are also interesting places to go.

In the late afternoon, take a comfort direct coach to Shanghai. Your pleasant Yangzhou tour comes to an end.