Discover Yangzhou's Historical Charm

Since ancient times, Yangzhou has been a favored land of elegance for literati and poets. Li Bai, at the age of 25, began his journey across the country with Yangzhou as his first destination. It was here, on the fifteenth day, that he penned the timeless masterpiece ‘Looking up at the bright moon, bowing down to think of my hometown’. The phrase ‘fireworks in March down to Yangzhou’ has turned the springtime of Yangzhou into a dream. The ancient saying ‘The world’s three parts of the moonlit night, two parts are shamelessly Yangzhou’ gives one a sense of time and space interweaving when wandering through the streets and alleys of Yangzhou. Yangzhou, emerging from history, has every corner imbued with the marks of the years. Yangzhou is a popular tourist destination all year round. After experiencing the crowds at He Garden, Ge Garden, and Slender West Lake, consider visiting some less popular and niche attractions that will surely surprise you. Dadingmen Bridge, where the misty rain of the south of the Yangtze becomes a poem. Walking along the streets with pink walls and black tiles, the small Qinhuai River ripples with green waves, and the weeping willows reflect in the river. On the Caiyi Street, snack stalls emit steam, and as you walk past the Dadingmen Bridge in the light rain, it’s beautiful—this is the Jiangnan I have in mind. Dadingmen Bridge is located at the eastern end of Dadingmen Street, spanning the small Qinhuai River from east to west. It was originally a wooden drawbridge over the moat outside the eastern city gate of the Ming Dynasty, built during the Jiajing period. In 1927, it was changed to a brick and stone arch bridge with a stone bridge base and a brick arch top. The bridge surface is 10.7 meters long and 4.7 meters wide. It has been preserved to this day in good condition. Huaiyang Cuisine Museum for morning tea. When in Yangzhou, many people tirelessly search for the most authentic Huaiyang cuisine. Dining at the Huaiyang Cuisine Museum is a must. The museum is located inside the ancient residence of the Lu family, which was built by the salt merchant Lu Shaosu during the Guangxu period of the Qing Dynasty. It is magnificent and atmospheric, costing seventy thousand taels of silver, and is a national key cultural relics protection unit. Walking through it, you can see the ‘nine advancements’ of the Lu family’s ancient residence, with doors and windows gradually getting smaller layer by layer. Inside the ancient residence, the museum displays past luxurious banquets. Here, you can have breakfast and morning tea, drink a cup of Kuilongzhu tea, eat delicacies such as braised meat, jade steamed dumplings, and five kinds of large buns, and crab yellow soup buns. A breakfast can be very satisfying. Address: No. 22 Kangshan Street, Yangzhou City, Huaiyang Cuisine Museum. Admission: Free. Business hours: 7:00 AM. Average cost for morning tea: 50 yuan per person. Guzhou Ancient Ferry, Zhang Ruoxu Memorial Hall. ‘Jingkou Guzhou a water’s width apart, Zhongshan separated by several mountains,’ the ‘Guzhou’ in Wang Anshi’s ‘Mooring at Guzhou’ is in Yangzhou, where Zhang Ruoxu wrote the ‘Spring River Flower Moon Night,’ hailed as ‘a single piece that overshadows the whole Tang Dynasty.’ Guzhou Ancient Ferry is not only a place for north-south ship trade but also a place for literati to express their emotions, leaving many popular poems behind, such as Bai Juyi’s ‘The Bian River flows, the Si River flows, flowing to the head of the ancient ferry of Guzhou, Wu Mountain dotted with sorrow,’ and Zhang Ji’s ‘Heroes’ hatred, tears of all ages, water flows eastward.’
Only the fishing rod and bright moon, on the Guazhou. Here lies the Zhang Ruoxu Memorial Hall, rich in exhibition content. Sitting on a chair, one can appreciate ‘Spring River Flower Moon Night’, with the river as the backdrop and the moon at the center, the scene unfolds before us, captivating the imagination. At Song Jia Cheng Park, a leisure spot for the citizens, we found few tourists and mostly locals relaxing and exercising. Surrounded by blooming flowers and willows, the long running track encloses an area where, if such a park were at the foot of my home, I believe I could persist in running countless times. Located in the heart of the Shugang-Shouxi Lake Scenic Area, the park covers an area of over a thousand acres. It boasts 7 tennis courts, 4 basketball courts, 3 basketball practice courts, 2 cage football fields, 2 volleyball courts, 1 table tennis hall, and other sports facilities. Additionally, it features a 3-kilometer fitness trail, a circular city bicycle path, a music plaza, outdoor activity facilities, and water sports leisure facilities. Truly enviable! Name: Song Jia Cheng Sports Park. Address: No. 192 Changchun Road, Guangling District, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Admission: Free. The Tianning Temple, with its stunningly beautiful red walls, is the first of the eight famous temples in Qing Dynasty Yangzhou, known as the ‘Crown of All Temples in the Jianghuai Area’. It was first built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, and its existing architectural layout is the remains of the Qing Tongzhi period. Emperor Kangxi made six southern tours and stayed in Tianning Temple twice. Emperor Qianlong made six southern tours and also stayed multiple times in Tianning Temple’s palace. During the Anti-Japanese War, Tianning Temple was destroyed beyond recognition. Since the summer of 1984, more than one million yuan has been spent on major repairs. After the renovation, Tianning Temple has restored its historical layout of ‘A temple with five gates is rare in the world, two corridors with ten halls are rare in the world’, and has been opened as the Yangzhou Buddhist Culture Museum. The bright red walls have become a card-like existence. There is also a Zheng Banqiao Memorial Hall. The Yangzhou Double Museum, a place to understand history, is composed of the Yangzhou Chinese Woodblock Printing Museum and the new Yangzhou Museum. It is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction. Located on the west side of Mingyue Lake, opposite the Yangzhou International Exhibition Center across the lake, it is an old traditional museum of Yangzhou. We went to the museum as soon as it opened, and there were very few people. The entire venue was very quiet, a world apart from the popular Grand Canal Museum. Quietly walking through the documents and artifacts arranged according to the historical context, touching the heartbeat of history. The national treasure ‘Yuan Dynasty Ji Lan Glaze White Dragon Plum Vase’ is the treasure of the museum. Admission: Free. Opening hours: Tuesday to Sunday, 9:00-17:00 (stop admission at 16:00), closed on Mondays. Gao You Ancient Post Station, Yu Cheng Yi, is the best-preserved ancient post station in the country, combining postal and courier stations, guest houses, transportation, and grain transport functions. It covers an area of more than 16,000 square meters, composed of gates, drum towers, warehouses, gift rooms, postmaster’s residence, courier’s quarters, horse god temple and other buildings, and has now been listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Though the area of Yucheng Posthouse is not vast, it stands as the sole ancient postal culture exhibition in our country. Immersed in the posthouse, one can wander amidst ancient courtyards, post wells, courtyards, and memorial archways, which contrast sharply with today’s express delivery industry, evoking a deep sense of rapid change and the transience of all things. Address: No. 13, Guanyi Lane, Nanmen Outer, Gaoyou City, Yangzhou City. Admission: Adults 25, Students 15. Opening Hours: 08:15-17:30. Open with a warm glow.

Wang Zengqi Memorial Hall pays tribute to Wang Zengqi, a contemporary Chinese novelist, essayist, and dramatist, and a representative figure of the Beijing School of writers. Born in Gaoyou, Yangzhou in 1920, many of Wang’s works are imbued with the local customs and urban life of Gaoyou, filled with memories and dreams of his life. The memorial hall’s architecture is designed with a focus on light and shadow, complementing the indoor space, making it an excellent spot for photography. It consists of two floors with 11 exhibition halls and five major themes, providing a space for all Wang enthusiasts to engage in dialogue with him. Address: No. 9, Zhujia Lane, Gaoyou City, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. Hours: 09:00-17:00 (last entry at 16:30). Admission: Free.

The Ancient Imperial Tomb of Han Mausoleum Garden, also known as the Guangling King Tomb Museum, is a scenic area that combines garden architecture. The original tomb site was actually in Gaoyou, and the museum was rebuilt and relocated on the same scale. It primarily features the tombs of Han Guangling King Liu Xu and his queen, with an adjacent queen’s tomb chamber. It is a ‘Huangchang Ticao’ style wooden coffin tomb, which is the distinctive feature of the Han Mausoleum. ‘Huangchang’ refers to the heart of cypress wood, which is yellow in color, hence the name. ‘Ticao’ is a burial method that dates back to ancient times and is commonly seen in the Zhou and Han dynasties. Huangchang Ticao refers to the coffin chamber of the Western Han imperial tombs, surrounded by a frame structure made of cypress wood. The Han Mausoleum Garden is grand in scale and exquisitely crafted, becoming a typical representative of the ‘Huangchang Ticao’ style wooden coffin tombs and a great marvel in architectural history. Address: No. 98, PingShanTang East Road, Weiyang District, Yangzhou City. Hours: 08:30-17:00 (last entry at 17:00). Admission: Adults 30, Students Free. Transportation: Convenient parking lot at the entrance, 4r/h.

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