Shaoxing Travel Guide
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. Covering an area of 8256 square kilometers (3187.7 square miles), Shaoxing has a population of 4,340,000. The city proper is 339 square kilometers (131 square miles) with a population of 640,000. Two counties, three county-level cities and a district compose the whole of Shaoxing prefecture.
Shaoxing is one of the famous historical cities in China. Numerous accomplished scholars or figures were born or lived here such as Yu the Great in the far ancient China and the famous writer Lu Xun in modern times. This city thus boasts the title of 'City of Personages.' It was also the seat of the ancient Yue Kingdom during the Spring and Autumn Period (770 BC-476 BC) 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.
Although the city appears quite simple and peaceful, the economy here has been developing rapidly, especially with regards to the textile industry. Thanks to the advanced silkworm rearing over thousands of years, silk products from Shaoxing are famous all over China for their high quality as well as a large quantity. Every year, there are various textile exhibitions and fairs featuring silk goods production. The China Light & Textile Industrial City in Keqiao Town of Shaoxing City is one of the largest professional marketers of light and textile products and the largest marketers of cloth in Asia.
With a history of thousands of years, Shaoxing is renowned for the abundant tourism resources including cultural relics like the Yu the Great Mausoleum and many residences of famous figures in Chinese history. In fact, Shaoxing is recognized as one of the Famous Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Moreover, as a city to the south of the Yangtze Delta, the natural scenery in Shaoxing is totally charming and varied with an intriguing landscape of numerous green hills and clean waters.
A highlight on tour of Shaoxing is surely the delicacies here. As an important branch of Zhejiang Cuisine, Shaoxing dishes are famous for their rural style in ingredients, such as duck fed with vinasse-the sweet residue of the distillery process- and the pollution-free local chickens. Owing to this raw material, Ningbo dishes serve up a fresh taste teeming with nutrition.
Shaoxing is also known variously as the 'City of Waters,' 'City of Bridges,' 'City of Calligraphy,' 'City of Tea,' and 'City of Scholars.' It gives off an image of an elegant and peaceful locale with deep cultural connotations, south of the Yangtze River.