14 Days in Xuzhou

Ease in — the lake spreads about 7 square kilometres and costs nothing to walk. The 142-metre hill holds the pavilion from Su Shi's 1078 essay; the free pictorial-stone museum by the south shore sets the Han theme for two weeks.

1. xuzhou yunlong lake
2. xuzhou yunlong hill
3. xuzhou han pictorial stone museum

Give Shizishan the whole day — 4,000-plus terracotta figures found in 1984, the Chu king's rock-cut tomb with its 2,000-plus relics, and the underwater-terracotta hall over the flooded burial pit. The museum pass covers the main halls.

1. xuzhou han culture scenic area

The free museum (closed Mondays) keeps the gold-threaded jade suit — 4,000-plus plaques — plus silver-threaded cousins from other tombs. Climb to Hubu Hill's Ming-Qing courtyards after lunch and end among Huilongwo's restored lanes.

1. xuzhou museum
2. xuzhou hubu hill
3. xuzhou huilongwo

The Guishan corridors, 56 metres long, deviate just 1/16000 from the centreline; fifteen chambers cover 700-plus square metres. Metro out, then Kuaizai park in the old town for a slower close.

1. xuzhou guishan han tomb
2. xuzhou kuaizai ting park

Xima Terrace remembers Xiang Yu, who made Pengcheng his capital in 206 BC. The old Yellow River slices through central Xuzhou — its greenway parks mark where the silted river ran for over 700 years until 1855.

1. xuzhou xima terrace
2. xuzhou yellow river old course

The memorial park on Fenghuang hill is free, generally 9:00-17:00 and closed Mondays — check the official notice first. The campaign ran 66 days from November 1948 to January 1949; the halls keep a factual register, and the shaded grounds suit a slow walk.

1. xuzhou huaihai memorial

A free park day named for the sage said to have lived 800 years — cherry slopes in spring, lakeside lawns otherwise. Finish at the food markets for sha soup, baked cakes and dieter's rice balls, the honest local lunch.

1. xuzhou pengzu park
2. xuzhou city markets

About 30 km north-east in Jiawang, Pan'an Lake was carved by decades of coal mining and reborn as a wetland park. Neighbouring Mazhuang village keeps the Xuzhou sachet-sewing craft — workshops sell directly, and stitch-your-own sessions run most days.

1. xuzhou panan lake wetland
2. xuzhou mazhuang village

North-west about 70 km to Pei county, where Liu Bang served as a local patrol chief before the uprisings. The rebuilt Gaozu temple and Sishui pavilion park carry the Han-origin story; the county's lakeside fish dishes make the late lunch.

1. xuzhou pei hangaozu temple
2. xuzhou sishui ting park

East about 2 hours to Xinyi — Mailingshan, a 4A hill park some 10 km south of the county town, walks ridges and temples in half a day. Sleep in Guanwan's canal-side old town, standing here for 1,300-plus years.

1. xuzhou malingshan
2. xuzhou guanwan ancient town

The old town is quiet before the buses — sweet-soy workshops open early. Taste the mung-bean liquor, walk the wharf lanes, and ride back to Xuzhou with a stop wherever the baked cakes still come out of the oven.

1. xuzhou guanwan ancient town

Honestly labelled — Qufu, hometown of Confucius, lies in Shandong, about 40 minutes up the Beijing-Shanghai line from Xuzhou East. The temple, mansion and cemetery, UNESCO-listed in 1994, fill a day; sleep in Qufu or catch the late train back.

1. xuzhou qufu three confucian sites

Still honestly labelled Shandong — Taierzhuang's canal old town, rebuilt from 2008 on the wartime site, sits 1.5-2 hours east of Xuzhou. Its night lights are the draw; return late by bus or train with a change, or overnight and take a morning connection.

1. xuzhou taierzhuang old town

A final lake-park morning — the lawns of Dalong Lake in the new town face the water — then the metro or taxi to Xuzhou East. High-speed trains reach Nanjing in 1.5 hours, Jinan in about the same, and Beijing in roughly three.

1. xuzhou dalong lake park