Breakaway Destination Guides (International)

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.

Lying to the south of the Yangtze Delta and in the north of the centrally located Zhejiang Province, Shaoxing, like a pearl with simple but elegant light, stands in the line between Hangzhou and Ningbo. Shaoxing is world famous for the gorgeous scenes along its waterways. A prefecture-level city in north-eastern Zhejiang province, lying on the south bank of the Qiantang River mouth, it borders Ningbo to the east, Taizhou to the southeast, Jinhua to the southwest, and Hangzhou to the west.

The rivers, big and small, span 1,900kilometres, running both vertical and horizontal across the countryside, 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.

The City of Shaoxing covers an area of 7,900sq km, and the total population of the county is 4.2million. This city boasts the title of 'City of Personages'. It was the seat of the ancient Yue Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period (770BC-476BC) and quite prosperous during that time. Owing to its long history, this old city reveals less vanity and tinsel than some modern metropolis. What's commonly seen and felt here is a kind of leisurely and peaceful ambience.

In ancient times, the town of Shaoxing was surrounded by canals, rivers and lakes. The commercial exchange and transportation between towns all depended on the water. In the town, there were systematic water-nets. The transport of goods relied on the water-nets. Pedestrians walked the streets along the canals and bridges were located on the crossing of waterways and roads. The boats appear 'being quick and manoeuvrable through the ancientness”.

With its strong atmosphere of culture, most of the spots in Shaoxing provide a background to the literature or literary figures like the Shen Garden and the Orchid Pavilion. The 800 years old Shen Garden was originally a private landscape garden with classical architecture style. What is so different in this garden is that it was the setting for the moving love story of Lu You, quite a famous poet in Song Dynasty (960-1279), and his wife whilst the thousands of years old Orchid Pavilion is an integration of mountain landscape and water town scene. Most of the settings have interesting stories to tell about the figures that visited.

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