North end: Jiaxing

Jiaxing is the north end of the Hangzhou Bay Bridge. To its south is South Lake, one of the three famous lakes of Zhejiang Province. To the southwest is Xinan Lake. People call the two lakes the Mandarin Duck Lakes.

South Lake is famous because it was the site of the First Representative Conference of China’s Communist Party. There is a revolution museum along the lake side to record the history.The South Lake region has several spots worth visiting, lake islands, gardens on the lakeshore, an ecological oasis and ancient streets.

The Qiantangjiang River tidal waves in Haining, Jiaxing city, are some of the most spectacular in the world. Every month, you can see the waves come in, in Haining. The best place for viewing the tide is at Haitang Town. Before the tide arrives, the river is quiet and smooth. The tide moves from the east to the west quickly with a huge sound like thousands of galloping horses.

Around: Zhoushan Archipelago

The Zhoushan Archipelago, with its 1,390 islands, is China’s largest island group. It combines oceanic culture and Buddhism. There are more than 1,000 Buddhist temples, montains, beaches and fisheries on the 23 main islands.

Putuo Mountain is one of the four most famous mountains for Buddhism in China. It has three big temples and 88 nunneries with 4,000 monks and nuns.

Zhujiajian Island is famous for its sand. Its nine beaches stretch for 5 kilometers. The sands are exquisite and the beaches are flat and wide. It is a nice place to make sand sculptures.

Peach Flower Island is well known in China for its place in Legend of Condor Heroes (She Diao Yingxiong Zhuan), a wuxia novel by Jin Yong.

Every year, the local tourism department organizes the Zhoushan seafood festival in June. Tourists and locals can sample a diverse array of seafood.

Around: Yuyao

Yuyao is at the south side of the bridge, near Cixi city. It is famous for its waxberries. The waxberry is known for its lovely color, taste and nutritional value. The Yuyao waxberry always ranks first place in the Zhejiang waxberry competition, which has earned it a reputation as China’s “Waxberry City.Linshan Town in Yuyao is famous for grapes. It is also a tide viewing spot on the south bank of Hangzhou bay. The grapes mature in a 667-hectare farm that is open to visitors.

Danshanchishui is located on Shilin Village in the mountainside of Yuyao’s Simingingshan Mountain. It is a scenic zone with natural landscapes and Taoist culture. However, it is most famous for its persimmon. The Persimmon trees bear very soft and sweet fruit in late autumn. Mouhanhu Lake in the west of the city is a source of big, fresh and tasty crabs every autumn. Crab festivals are held every year.

Getting there:

Almost every major city in the south has trains to Cixi, Jiaxing and Yuyao. It is easy to travel between the three cities by train or bus.

Shanghai, Hangzhou and Ningbo have buses to the Zhoushan Archipelago. Beijing and Shanghai have direct flights. Ships are available among the islands.

Beijing Today