5 Days in Shaoxing

Lu Xun (1881-1936) was born behind the native-place gates and left for Nanjing in 1898; the blocks are free with a reservation. Cangqiao Straight Street took a UNESCO Asia-Pacific heritage award in 2003.

1. shaoxing luxun native place
2. shaoxing cangqiao street

Lanting's gathering of 42 literati in 353 produced poems plus the 324-character preface; the calligraphy festival runs each spring since 1985. The Shusheng Quarter keeps the lanes tied to Wang Xizhi (303-361) downtown.

1. shaoxing lanting
2. shaoxing shusheng quarter

East Lake's quarries date to the Han dynasty and read best from a black-awning boat; back in the old city, the Song-dynasty Bazhi Bridge, nationally listed in 2001, crosses the canal by the moat.

1. shaoxing east lake
2. shaoxing bazhi bridge

The paired wall poems — Lu You's Chai Tou Feng of 1151 and the reply attributed to Tang Wan — read better with the morning light; the garden's evening stage show runs most nights.

1. shaoxing shen garden

Northwest in Keqiao, Anchang runs its La Yue festival every twelfth lunar month, a tradition renewed since 1999, and the clerk-adviser museum explains the town's shiye trade. A market lunch, then the HSR.

1. shaoxing anchang town
2. shaoxing city markets