Yangzhou

30° 16' 37.01" N 120° 9' 20.03" E [30.2769, 120.1556] (KML)

The city has a history of over 2,500 years and developed as a major trading center for salt, rice and silk. Marco Polo [S] served as the city's governor (or possibly a Salt Official for the government) for five years in the late 13th century. Yangzhou [M] has a population exceeding 1,000,000.

There is a domestic airport in Nanjing [M], 37 miles southwest of the city, and buses go to either the east or west bus stations in Yangzhou [M]. A train station, newly built in 2006, stands remote from the town's center, roughly two kilometers further out than RT-Mart. It's located on the newly completed Nanjing-Nantong branch line - there's about 5 hard-class only local trains between Nanjing and Yangzhou (about 1.5hours and around 10RMB) as well as a handful of K-series fast(ish) trains that continue to Shanghai [M] as well as daily services to Beijing [M] and Guangzhou [M]. These trains also have hard sleepers available, air conditioning and make fewer stops. Departures are on the upper level of the station, tickets and arrivals are on the lower level. There's a small convenience store inside the station. Buses and taxis depart from outside - 'black' illegal taxis are rare in Yangzhou, but regular drivers may 'forget' to use the meter.

Buses are reliable and cheap, but many of them close around 6PM, the rest around 10PM. Fortunately, taxis are everywhere. Flat rate starts at ¥7, and all are metered (it is illegal to drive an unmetered taxi). If your feet get tired and you want an exhilarating ride, pedicabs are also abound in the city center.

• Daming Temple (大明寺; Dà​míng​sì; Lit. Temple of Abundant Light​). 8AM-4:45PM. Rebuilt after being destroyed in the Taiping Rebellion, this temple originally dated from the 5th century AD. There is a spring next to the teahouse.  

• Hanlinyuan Museum. 8:30AM-5PM. A magnificent tomb for Liu Xu, ruler of the Guangling Kingdom. It is five stories deep, with different levels housing things like a warehouse, living quarters, and a coffin on wheels.  

• Shouxi Lake (Shouxihu). Very slim lake winding through the city center. Several pavillions dot the park around the lake that was designed to mimick the west lake in Hangzhou [M].  

• Yangzhou [M] Museum (扬州博物馆; Yáng​zhōu​ Bó​wù​guǎn​). 8:30AM-11AM, 1PM-5PM. This museum has splendid displays of things like a boat salvaged from the Grand Canal that crosses through eastern China. The museum is housed in a temple named after a Ming general who refused to surrender the city to Qing rulers.  

• Ge Yuan [S] A lovely garden with pavillions, open 7:30am-5pm daily

• Lu Shi Yan-shang Zhu-zhai [S] (卢氏 盐商 住宅) A lavishly furnished home with 100 rooms that belonged to a local salt merchant, open daily 8am-5pm

• Garden Tomb of Puhaddin [S] Said to be a descendant of Mohammed, Puhaddin's grave is in an inscription-covered temple, open daily 8am-5pm

• He Yuan [S] A cleverly-arranged garden with several teahouses, open daily 7:30am-6pm

• Wenchang Ge [S] (Promoting Literature Pavillion) One part of the Confucian Academy, this pavillion is all that's left

For goods and necessities, there are 2 RT-Mart(s) (大润发, da run fa) one on Hanjiang Road and the other on Wenchang Middle Road; several bus lines run there from downtown and from the local colleges. As far as Western products go, RT-Mart or Auchan, near the bus station, are good.

One major local industry is ceramics and teaware; a few big ceramics factories and showcases can be visited here.

Not a shopping mecca, however, there are a number of department stores in the city centre. Here you can find the Golden Eagle Shopping Centre, Times Extra Mall and the Times Square Mall. If you feel the need for a more Western-style shopping experience, the Living Mall, located in the new development zone was completed in 2008 and is easily reached by taxi. Big name foreign and domestic designer brands, western style restaurants, K-TV bars and a cinema can be found here.

The big-name local dish is Yangzhou [M] fried rice, scattered with bits of seafood and meat. It's representative of the Huaiyang cuisine. Other famous dishes include the Lion's Head, which is a giant meatball made with pork and crab.

If these choices look unappealing to you -- or if they look appealing, but you just don't eat that stuff -- try Damingsi Vegetarian Restaurant, 1802 Wenhui Road East. It's affiliated with the temple, and serves vegetable-matter simulacra of the local favorites for very reasonable prices.

The most popular the Harbin beer called Snow, and costs around ¥3 for a large bottle. But should you want something with a stronger beer-flavor, the L-Mart at the Living Mall has Kirin Japanese beer, brewed in Taiwan, ¥5 a can. The Living Mall also boasts a Starbucks, semi-conveniently placed between the train station and the RT-Mart.

• See the nearby city of Nanjing

• Visit the stunning Huangshan [M] mountain area

• The city of Suzhou

Text content was last edited at 07:48, on 18 March 2010 by Claus Hansen. Based on work by Oliver Buchino, Wikitravel user(s) Tatterdemalion, Pashley, Airin, Episteme and WindHorse and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. A list of contributors is available at the original article on Wikitravel. This text content is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0.