Jiaxing South Lake, a Well-Preserved Qing Dynasty Ancestral Hall

✅Jiaxing Yanlai Hall, also known as Gao Family Ancestral Hall, is a Qing Dynasty three-courtyard ancestral hall building preserved to this day in the South Lake area of Jiaxing. It has been listed as a Jiaxing City cultural heritage site and has significant historical and cultural value.

✔️Yanlai Hall is the ancestral hall of the Gao family, built by Qing Dynasty merchant Gao Gongsheng (or other family members such as Gao Shuquan, Gao Boheng), with a history of over a hundred years.

✔️The building is a Qing Dynasty three-courtyard ancestral hall with a brick and wood structure, facing south with its back to the north, covering a total area of 1,384 square meters. The interior is exquisitely decorated with carvings of figures and floral patterns on the beams, square bricks paving the floor, featuring typical Jiangnan architectural style of the Qing Dynasty.

✔️The name "Yanlai Hall" comes from Liu Yuxi's poem verse "The swallows that once nested in the halls of nobility now fly into the homes of ordinary people," giving it new cultural connotations. It now serves as a space for cultural or historical exhibitions. Currently, it is hosting the "Poetic and Picturesque Jiaxing · Misty Rain South Lake" Jiaxing historical and cultural exhibition.

📍Location: Inside Jiaxing South Lake Hotel
📍Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 (Closed on Tuesdays)

Post by cassius.alex.fiorentino | May 13, 2025