Zhejiang

Hangzhou

Capital of Zhejiang Province, Hangzhou is a well-known tourist city at home and abroad. It lies on the lower reaches of the Qiantang River and is the southern end of the l794-kllometer-long Grand Canal (Beijing-Hangzhou Canal). With an area of 16,596 square kilometers, it embraces six urban districts and seven suburban counties.

Hangzhou is a hub of politics, economy, culture and transportation in Zhejiang Province. It is a major producing area of silk in China, and has more than 1,000 years of tealeaf cultivation. Machinery, textiles and chemical industry are the pillar industries of the city with an annual GDP above RMB7.72 billion. Products with local flavor include Zhang Xiaoquan Scissors, West Lake bamboo chopsticks and silk umbrellas, etc.

Hangzhou is one of the seven ancient capitals in China with a history of 2200 years, and has long been a famous tourist attraction. The widely expressed Chinese proverb -- "in heaven there is paradise and on earth there are Hangzhou and Suzhou" -- combined with the words of Marco Polo who described this place as, "the most beautiful and magnificent city in the world", all this helps to make Hangzhou one of the biggest tourist attractions in the entire country.

The West Lake provides the idyllic image of Hangzhou that most people leave with. This huge circular fresh water lake, covering 3 km from north to south and 3 km from east to west, is surrounded by hills on three sides and the city on the fourth. Two picture-postcard causeways cross the lake and three islands float in the middle. With its inviting views and outstanding scenery, the West Lake soon became popular with numerous artists, poets and painters seeking inspiration in this little bit of "paradise".

Hangzhou is a city with a rich history and culture. It first made a name in the sixth century, when the Grand Canal opened up and linked the area to other centers of trade such as Suzhou. The Southern Song Dynasty helped to make Hangzhou famous when they moved the capital here in the 12th century.

There are numerous historical relics and sights -- curtilages, garderns, pavilions, temples, towers, springs, grottos, and cliff inscriptions -- scattered throughout Hangzhou. At present, there are more than 60 scenic spots open to the public and over 40 key cultural relics preservation sites, the most famous include Lingyin Temple, Liuhe Tower, Yue Temple, and Hupao Spring (Tiger-Running Spring), etc.

Shaoxing

Located in the northern part of Zhejiang Province and south of the Hangzhou Bay, Shaoxing is a famous historical and cultural city with beautiful sceneries of rivers and lakes. The city has a long history which fostered many celebrities. Legend has it that as early as 4,000 years ago, Dayu of the Xia Dynasty went to Shaoxing personally for water-control projects. During the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476BC), Goujian, King of the Yue State, made Shaoxing the capital and named it "Yuechi". In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), it was renamed "Shaoxing", which went down to the present. Shaoxing is the birthplace of many famous scholars, writers and artists, including Cai Yuanpei, a famous educator, late Premier Zhou Enlai, and Lu Xun, the novelist, as well as Qiu Jin, a heroine.

Shaoxing is world famous for the gorgeous scenes along its waters. The rivers, big and small, span 1,900 kilometers, running vertical and horizontal -- just like streets in northern China -- with various stone bridges as their crossroads. Shaoxing boasts 229 ancient bridges in various forms, which form a site rich in man-made landscape and wins the city the title of "Hometown of Bridges". Residential houses in Shaoxing are of simple style, brilliant color, blue bricks, gray walls and black corridor poles, and typically keep the style of architecture in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). Bathed in the bright sunshine, the whole architecture looks light and handy, simple and elegant.

Here in Shaoxing, there are many places worth visiting. You may climb Houshan, visit Dayu's Mausoleum and Censer Hill and Qinwang Mountain in its outskirts, or the Ancestor Residence of Zhou Enlai, Memorial of Lu Xun, Former Residence of Cai Yuanpei, and so on.

The Dayu's Mausoleum, a temple and mausoleum complex to honor the great-grandfather of China, Emperor Yu, took over a century to build. The East Lake is around 6km east of the city center, featuring beautiful, natural rock formations. The Lanting Pavilion, built in 1548, is considered one of Shaoxing's "must see" spots.

Ningbo

Ningbo, located in the middle of China's coastline and the southeast flank of the Yangtze River Delta, is a beautiful port city with rich cultural heritage and abundant resources. It is the birthplace of the Hemudu Culture dating back to 7,000 years. Since the Tang and Song dynasties (618-1279), Ningbo has always been an important foreign trading port in China.

Ningbo is a historical and cultural city as well as a tourist spot. The famous scenic spots are the Xikou-Xuedou Mountain spot under the state protection, the Dongqian Lake the largest fresh water lake in Zhejiang Province, the Tiantong Forest Park at the state level. Others are the Baoguo Temple, the Site of Coast Defense in Zhenhai and the Former Residences of Chiang Kai-shek in Fenghua; and the Tiantong Temple, the Temple of the King Ayu and the Xuedou Temple.

With lots of scholars, Ningbo had many first-class local schools in history, such as the School of Siming, the School of Yangming and the School of Zhedong, famous persons such as Yu Shinan, Gao Zecheng, Wang Shouren, Zhu Shunshui, Huang Zongxi, Wan Sitong, Quan Zuwang, and Zhang Huangyan, etc. Ningbo also has a tradition of book collections, as the Tianyi Pavilion Library is an outstanding library in China with a history of more than 700 years.

In addition, the unique culture has cultivated a unique art. The most well known are the bone inlay, Ning-Style furniture, colored red golden wooden carvings, colorful embroidery, so on and so forth.

Ningbo is the transportation pivot of Zhejiang Province with an advanced three-dimensional network of air, river and sea. The Leshe Airport has airlines to Hong Kong and other major cities all over China.

Linhai

Linhai City, under the jurisdiction of Taizhou, is situated in the central part of Zhejiang Province, connects with Ningbo City to the north, neighbors Jinhua City to the west, borders Wenzhou City to the south and faces the China East Sea to the east. The city has a land area of 2,203 square kilometers and a sea area of 1,819 square kilometers.

Linhai City is among the first batch coastal open cities, national historical and cultural cities and national sanitary cities approved by the State Council, the birthplace of joint-stock economy in China, and a land transportation pivot, a center of culture, education and sanitation and a city that combines beautiful scenery south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and modern prosperity.

Linhai has a long history and boasts numerous historic sites. It was inhabited by human beings as early as in the Neolithic Age and was established as a county in the 2nd year (85BC) of the Shiyuan reign of the Western Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD). Ever since the Jin Dynasty (265-420), it has been the seat of Taizhou Prefecture and site of prefectural government. With city walls, street blocks, temples and tower groups here and there, the city preserves much antique flavor, and its Taizhou prefectural city wall and Taozhu City are listed as the key cultural relics sites under the state protection. Historically renowned persons like Zheng Yu, Luo Binwang, Wang Shixing and Qi Jiguang, etc., were born in Linhai, and many of their relics can still be found today in the city.

Linhai has enchanting natural scenery, especially its mountain and water scenic spots. Its provincially protected Taozhu Tourist Resort was reputed as "Fairy Kingdom on the Sea". Besides, its provincially protected Niutou Mountain Resort and Cangshan Mountain, the No.1 Pinnacle in Southeast Zhejiang Province, etc., attract countless tourists all year round.

The city enjoys an amiable climate and rich products. Linhai was conferred with the title of "the Town of Stone-Free Mandarin Orange" by the Commission of Special Products.

Quzhou

Called Xin'an in ancient times, Quzhou is located in the west of Zhejiang Province in the upper reaches of the Qiantangjiang River. It is a 1,800-year-old city of military importance south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River. The city established in the Tang dynasty (618-907) has long been known as the thoroughfare to the four provinces, namely Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui and Zhejiang.

Quzhou has many historic sites and scenic spots, such as Lanke Mountain, the legendary birthplace of Chinese I-go; the Confucius' South Zen Ancestral Temple; Jianglang Mountain, a provincial-level tourist resort; and the Longyou Grottos, which is reputed as "the Enigma Through the Ages, and the Cultural Gem". Ancient towers and famous passes, quiet valley and limpid brooks, rare animals and birds, strange flowers and ancient trees can be found here and there in Quzhou.

The Longyou Grottos are one of the underground manmade architectural complexes with the highest level in ancient China, and also a great wonder that made use of the underground space. It combines human culture, art, culture and engineering technologies into an integral whole, and therefore, the accidental discovery was called as the Ninth Wonder in the World by locals.

The Confucius' South Zen Ancestral Temple is one of the only two in the world with the other one in Qufu of Shandong. In the second year (1128) of the Jianyan reign in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Confucius' 48th generation descendant, Sun Duanyou, worshiped the wooden statues of Confucius and his wife in Quzhou of Zhejiang Province, and built the ancestral temple by imitating the one in Qufu. The temple has far-reaching influence on the thoughts, culture, moral ethics, folk customs and so on. It is a cultural relics site under the national protection.

Jianglang Mountain is situated at Quanjing Hamlet of Jianglang Village about 25 kilometers to the south of Jiangshan downtown. Famous for its magnificent and oddly shaped Three-Slit Stone, the mountain has more than 100 views, including the No. 1 odd peak of rosy clouds in China, the Crack of the Sky, the Giant Peak created by nature, and Cliffside stone carvings, etc.

The Quzhou Tourism Festival held annually in October comprises of the cultural tour of the Confucius temple, the rock climbing of one-hundred-meter cliff in Jianglang Mountain, the seminar of tourism culture of the Longyou Grottos, the Lanke Mountain I-Go Cultural Tour Month and so on.

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