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If a teenager doesn't read Lu Xun, he's no longer a teenager. Earlier this year, I visited the Luxun Museum in Beijing, which rekindled my longing for Shaoxing, Lu Xun's hometown. I was deeply impressed by Baicao Garden and Sanwei Bookstore.
For someone who travels frequently, Shaoxing is definitely a very easy place to visit, but precisely because it lacks challenge, it has always been on the back burner of my travel bucket list. Thanks to this pandemic, which has put the world on pause while China continues to move forward, I have the opportunity to visit this long-awaited southern city.
Shaoxing is undoubtedly a perfect place to explore the Jiangnan region during a misty spring. Unlike the gentle and soft beauty typical of Jiangnan's ancient towns, Shaoxing boasts a blend of tenderness and pride. Its legacy of scholars and heroes is a hallmark of Shaoxing's ancient town.
Azure skies and misty rain are essential elements of Jiangnan's ancient towns in spring, depicted in books and stories. Blue stone pavements and lovely green moss flourish in the warm spring weather. These attractions, both large and small, appeal to all ages, evoke both childhood memories and a rich history.
Despite its small size, the ancient town boasts a wealth of diverse attractions. For first-time visitors to Shaoxing, it's highly recommended to check out the attractions and historical sites that interest you.
Shaoxingcheck the details
Shaoxing boasts a rich cultural heritage and the elegance of a Jiangnan water town. Lu Xun's former residence is well-preserved. Shaoxing's customs, exemplified by the "Three Blacks"—black boats, black felt hats, and black dried vegetables—embody a rich cultural heritage and a unique local charm that is truly captivating. Shaoxing boasts numerous scenic spots, including the Lanting Pavilion, renowned for Wang Xizhi's "Preface to the Lanting Collection"; Shenyuan Garden, remembered for the tragic love story of Lu You and Tang Wan; Lu Xun's former residence, stretching from Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore; Keyan Scenic Area, Houshan Scenic Area, Dayu Mausoleum, Qiu Jin's former residence, Cai Yuanpei's former residence, Zhou Enlai's ancestral home, Xishi Temple in Zhuji, Dafo Temple in Xinchang, and Cao'e Temple in Shangyu.
Recommended months: Spring and autumn are the best
5792 reviews, 4834 visits
I have personally tested it and it has received rave reviews. Lu Xun's hometown is worth visiting again and again.
🔹Tickets for the scenic area: Free, but not free. You can make an appointment at the door to get a general ticket for the day's visit (including the ancestral home of Lu Xun, Lu Xun's former residence, Sanwei Bookstore, and Lu Xun Memorial Hall)
🔹 Tour order: Enter from the east gate, exit from the west gate, Lu Xun's ancestral home - Sanwei Bookstore - Lu Xun's former residence - Lu Xun Memorial Hall
【Lu Xun's ancestral home】
🔹Recommended visit time: 40 minutes
The three-courtyard house has a plaque of "Hanlin" in front of the gate and a stone tablet with the words "Backbone of the Nation" opposite the gate, which is very impressive. The Zhou family ancestral home is the former residence of Lu Xun's Zhou family in Shaoxing. The wealthy families have a strong sense of family status, and the Hanlin prince is also very respected in Shaoxing.
The exhibits include family trees of several generations of ancestors, and the restoration of daily necessities of masters and officials. To be honest, only when you go to Shaoxing, Zhejiang, can you see the style of farming and reading families and wealthy families. Walking through them, it feels as if the house was bustling with people in the past, and the maids and servants were bustling about.
【Sanwei Bookstore】
🔹Recommended visit time: 40 minutes
Going to find the word "early" carved by Lu Xun is a must-see when visiting Sanwei Bookstore.
【Lu Xun's Former Residence】
🔹Recommended visit time: 40 minutes
Lu Xun's former residence is a later restoration work and also has three courtyards.
It was once sold to the Wang family, another large family in Shaoxing Prefecture, due to the family's decline. After liberation, it was restored to the appearance recorded in Lu Xun's writings, such as the Baicao Garden.
The phrase "From Baicao Garden to Sanwei Bookstore" alone has made Baicao Garden and Sanwei Bookstore popular for more than half a century, and has also made Shaoxing the two check-in attractions most closely associated with Lu Xun.
Now the Baicao Garden is free of weeds, but full of spring rape flowers swaying in the wind, full of vitality.
【Lu Xun Memorial Hall】
🔹It is recommended to visit for 30 minutes
It mainly commemorates some of Lu Xun's writings, manuscripts and other records from his youth in Shaoxing. Some of the exhibits also include details such as catching crickets.
It is best to allow 2.5-3 hours to visit the entire Lu Xun's hometown scenic area in detail, including the stone archway connecting the four scenic areas.
【Xianheng Restaurant】
It really exists, located at the west gate of Lu Xun's hometown. After seeing Starbucks, go straight for 50 meters.
The sculpture of Kong Yiji is right at the entrance of the restaurant, and the 9-cent bill is at the bar. You can go into the restaurant to try the fennel beans and old Shaoxing Huadiao. They are not expensive, but the taste is average.
【Kong Yiji Restaurant】
Located at the southernmost end of Cangqiaozhijie Ancient Culture Street, it is the entrance where taxis can park.
The queue is very serious. Numbers usually start to be called after 5 o'clock. The queue on weekends is about 45 minutes. You can order anything that starts with the word "zui" in Lao Shaoxing. The dishes are not large and the average price per person is 70 yuan.
【Lu Xun related cultural and creative products】
There's a wide variety of cultural and creative products with strong IP connections! "Yiji Cultural and Creative" at the east gate of the Lu Xun Hometown Scenic Area offers a comprehensive selection of high-quality products. The most common items in the area include inscribed fans, refrigerator magnets, and Kong Yiji's felt hat. The bookmarks, featuring Lu Xun's famous quote "Never Tireless in Criticizing Others," are worth collecting.
In addition to the Lu Xun's hometown scenic area, I also checked in at these celebrity hometowns in Shaoxing.
I would especially like to recommend Fushan Park, also known as Longshan, which commemorates King Goujian of Yue. It also has Fan Zhongyan's Qingbai Spring and Wen Zhong's Tomb. The green environment is excellent, and you can see very ancient mossy stone roads.
Now Fushan Park is also a large local patriotism education base. If you want to breathe the sweet air of southern spring, Fushan Park is the best place.
You have to work hard to climb up to Yuewangtai. Perhaps when the door creaks open, you will hear the stories of the people who slept on straw and tasted gall in the past, and their feelings for their country and family.
The "community opera" described in Lu Xun's writings can be heard not only in Lu Xun's hometown and Shen Garden, but also in the current Fushan Park, where neighbors can still vaguely hear the stories being told.
The former residences of Wang Xizhi, Qiu Jin and Cai Yuanpei are mainly concentrated in the Sage of Calligraphy's Hometown Scenic Area. The entire scenic area is free and relatively primitive and quiet.
It is recommended to go in the morning or evening, so that you can feel the rare tranquility of the ancient town of Shaoxing.
In addition, Wang Mingyang’s hometown is currently under archaeological excavation, located on the street next to the Yellow Wine Museum.
Dayu Mausoleum Scenic Area is a scenic spot in the suburbs of Shaoxing. It is recommended to visit it for half a day.
Shen Garden is where the tragic love story of Lu You and Tang Wan took place. Young couples can go there to pray for a happy marriage.
The mist and rain enter the south of the Yangtze River, and the small bridges, flowing water, and houses, the mountains and rivers are painted in color in a second. As the boat ripples on the ancient river, pieces of emotions begin to linger.
1. Eight-Character Bridge
It is simple and natural, with smoke curling up from the houses along the street and an oil lamp. It is no longer possible to tell that it is the poor hometown of Shaoxing that Lu Xun once described.
2. Cangqiaozhi Street
After some renovations, the night view is now enviable. The branches of Kong Yiji and Treasure Hunt are located at two ends, attracting tourists to compete for attention and breaking the tranquility of the night.
3. The hometown of the calligrapher
There are also houses with small bridges and flowing water, and it looks more primitive than the above two.
If the above iconic tourist attractions do not satisfy you with the small bridges and flowing water, you can go to the ancient bridges of old Shaoxing to have a look.
The ancient bridges in Shaoxing are cultural relics protection units, including the Bazi Bridge mentioned above, the Guangning Bridge not far from the Bazi Bridge, and the Tishan Bridge in the hometown of the Sage of Calligraphy.
The Ying'en Gate Water Gate is the boundary marker of the Shaoxing section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal. Walk about one kilometer along the river towards the Yellow Wine Museum and you will find the ancient Xiangguang Bridge.
After the renovation of both sides, many restaurants and entertainment bars were renovated, making it a new internet-famous night market attraction in Shaoxing.
Most of the ancient towns in the south of the Yangtze River are built along the water. Without water, the ancient towns would have no vitality. If you want to see the water, the best means of transportation is the Shaoxing Wupeng boat.
Lu Xun's Hometown Scenic Area | Wupeng Boat, round trip between Shenyuan and the hometown scenic area, 3 people per boat, 60 yuan/boat
Cangqiaozhi Street Cultural Ancient Street | Wupeng Boat, slowly moving along Cangqiaozhi Street, 40 yuan/boat
The hometown of the calligrapher | Wupeng boats, the pier only welcomes tourists on weekends
In addition to these three places where you can visit Shuiguan Ancient Town, Shaoxing also has the East Lake Scenic Area outside the city, where you can enjoy the ancient town water system. However, you cannot see the makeup and makeup of the people living on both sides of the East Lake.
How can you not experience Huangjiu in Shaoxing? Before experiencing Huangjiu, you must first visit the only Huangjiu Museum in China.
The ticket price is 30 yuan, and it’s 25 yuan to book in advance. It’s definitely worth it to take a look around!
The museum is quite large, covering more than 30,000 square meters, and is divided into five exhibition areas. The entire museum slowly tells the cultural history of rice wine.
The hall is particularly large, and the "Jiugao Monument" by calligrapher Gan Jiani is "enshrined" in the most prominent position.
Mr. Gan, a native of Shaoxing, is elderly and enjoys drinking, adding a touch of elegance to the museum's exhibits. On either side are wine vessels dating from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Warring States period, allowing one to observe the evolution of vessel shape through the dynasties.
The exhibition details how rice wine was discovered and how it became a traditional fine wine in Chinese history. While visiting, you can also review China's 5,000-year history. The most interesting part is the Song Dynasty, when calligraphers, poets, and songs were all accompanied by fine wine.
The most important group of exhibits is the story of Daughter’s Red Wine.
On the day his daughter is born, a Shaoxing father seals a jar of rice wine and buries it under an osmanthus tree, burying his father's love. When his daughter turns 18 and gets married, she is given a bowl of her daughter's red wine as a dowry, one for the father-in-law, one for the biological father, and one for the husband, praying for his health and happiness.
The story of daughter red wine has been circulating in Shaoxing for a long time. Lu You, a native poet of the Southern Song Dynasty, even wrote, "I want to move my family just to live in Dongguan, so that my grandfather can watch the moon rise in the lake." This is referring to the custom of daughter red wine.
Starting with the status of Shaoxing rice wine, we'll explore familiar brands like Guyue Longshan, Shaoxing Huadiao, and Nv'erhong. We'll also showcase rice wines from regions other than Shaoxing to help you differentiate between Shaoxing and other regions.
Finally, you can go to the rice wine experience area to taste four flavors of old Shaoxing rice wine, ranging from light to mellow, and from sweet to astringent.
Today, Shaoxing rice wine has been fully integrated into the lives of ordinary people.
You can enjoy rice wine popsicles at Cangqiao Street, the hometown of the calligrapher, and the Luxun Hometown Scenic Area. You don't have to go all the way to Anchang Ancient Town to enjoy rice wine milk tea; you can find it right in the Luxun Hometown Scenic Area. Treasure Hunt and Shaoxing Banquet both offer local dishes featuring rice wine, such as drunken chicken, drunken shrimp, and fermented glutinous rice. We encourage you to try their unique flavors.
If you have four days, you can check in like this: DAY 1-Lu Xun's hometown + Bazi Bridge Scenic Area, DAY 2-The Sage of Calligraphy's hometown + Cangqiao Zhijie Ancient Street, DAY 3-Fushan Park + Yellow Wine Museum + Shen Garden, DAY 4-Surrounding scenic spots, including East Lake, Dayu Mausoleum, etc.
Recommend two hotels for this trip:
1. Yaduo Luxun Hometown Store, 2 kilometers outside the ancient city
The price is comparable to other hotels in the old city, but it's clean and tidy, with its own parking lot. Unlike many hotels in the old city, Atour not only includes breakfast, but also offers a wide variety of Chinese and Western dishes. It's open until 11am on weekends, so a brunch is not too much of a stretch.
2. The Four Seasons Hotel is a 600-meter walk from Lu Xun's hometown.
The newly launched self-service check-in service allowed me to easily check in with my ID card, saving time. Breakfast was mainly Chinese and quite satisfactory. The room was small but beautiful, and even though it was only 600 meters from the river in the core scenic area, it didn't feel cold or damp during the rainy season.
For transportation, choose high-speed rail: Shaoxing North Station is about 30 minutes away from the ancient town by online car-hailing or taxi.
Transportation within the ancient town: It is recommended to take a taxi or walk. Each attraction is very close and it is inconvenient to drive by yourself.
The weather in Jiangnan is very humid and rainy in spring and summer, so you should bring an umbrella. Before summer, the temperature is around 20 degrees Celsius, which is very comfortable.
I'm Baibai, and I've discovered that Chinese cultural tourism is something I've been working on intermittently for years. Before the pandemic, most of my attention was focused on foreign countries. Now, after traveling to all provinces, cities, and municipalities directly under the central government in China, I have to say seriously, "I love the beautiful mountains and rivers of my motherland very much."
Recently, I am going to carefully review and organize the customs and people, mountains and rivers of China over the years, and present to everyone a precious memoir of planting grass.
