Jiaxing is famous for its ancient towns and natural scenery: plain, water, hills and sea. Most places within Jiaxing boundary are interlaced with rivers and lakes, like a spider network. Boats are tied to docks; stone bridges cross over the lakes, and family households lie close to rivers. Any Chinese characters related with water such as sink, dam, creek, harbor, and stream have been used as part of names of places in urban and rural areas everywhere.

South Lake, South-North Lake, and Fenhu Lake are three major famous lakes. The misty rain over South Lake, the beauty of South-North Lake which combines the beauty of hills, lakes, and the sea, and the permeation of water and cloud of Fenhu Lake, have all fully shown their grace, which has been bestowed by nature.

There are not many hills in Jiaxing, which are not high but beautiful and graceful.

I. South Lake

South Lake has many sobriquets, such as East Lake, East-South Lake, Biao Lake and Machang Lake.

In Ming Dynasty (1549), ZhaoYing, the magistrate of Jiaxing, ordered to dredge the city river, to put the silt in the lake to build an islet. In the next year, Yanyu Tower was built on the islet.

South Lake covers an area of about 624 mu, and is 2 to 4 meters deep. It is charming and gentle with willows and lotuses, etc.

1. Yanyu Tower

The original Yanyu Tower was beside the lake. It was ruined in Ming Dynasty.

In 1549, ZhaoYing, the magistrate of Jiaxing, ordered to dredge the silt in the lake and to build an islet with the silt in the middle of the lake. On the islet, he ordered to build a tower which was named after the original Yanyu Tower. Hence, it became famous in the south of Yangtze River.

In Qing Dynasty, Emperor Qian Long visited the south of Yangtze River six times, and reached the Yanyu Tower eight times. He loved the tower so much that he ordered to imitate a Yanyu Tower in Chengde Imperial Summer Villa in Rehe.

Yanyu Tower has five pillars and two storeys. It is beautiful and bright. It is the most beautiful when it is rainy and misty between spring and summer.

2、The South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall

^ In August 2,1921,MaoZeDong, DongBiWu ^ who were representatives attended the Chinese Communist Party “the First Congress” transferred secretly to Jiaxing from Shanghai by train, and they went on holding the meeting on a boat on the South Lake, and then declared the birth of the Chinese Communist Party. The South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall was prepared to build in 1959. In June, 1990, the new Hall was built, the construction area is 1980 square meters.

II. Xiangjiadang Lake

The water area of Xiangjiadang Lake is 1934 mu.

Jiaxing Xiangjiadang Lake Holiday Resort was set up in 1997. The planned area is 715 hectares, and the water area is 130 hectares. A holiday resort, an aquatic amusement resort, an international club and a modern sightseeing agriculture area, etc will be constructed. It will be a recreation center of Jiaxing and a holiday resort for people in Shanghai, Hangzhou and Suzhou.

III. Liansidang Lake

The water area is more than 4000 mu. The lake is swarmed with fish and shrimps.

There are Liugong Park, Wanghu Tower, Zigzag Corridor, Middle Lake Pavilion, a stone arch bridge, etc. beside the lake. The Liugong Pagoda was built in 1998. It has 7 storeys. It is 48.8 meters high. The pagoda is “the First Pagoda” of North Zhejiang.

IV. South-North Lake

The lake is well-known for its resort together with hill, sea and lake. The total area is 30 square kilometers. The resort comprises five sections: the lake area, Yingkeding, Tanxian Ridge, Sanwan and the seashore. There are more than 40 scenic spots and places of historic interest.

People can enjoy the peach blossoms in spring, lotuses in summer and oranges in golden autumn. At the dawn of each November (lunar), people gather at Yingkeding to watch a great wonder: both the sun and the moon rise simultaneously.

V. East Lake

East Lake lies to the east of Pinghu City. The water area is 944 mu. Now it is called Donghu Park. There are Zhongshan Memorial Pagoda, Lake in Lake, Pavilion on the Lake, Yueyue Pavilion, etc in the park. To the south of the lake, there is a Baoben Pagoda built in 1566. It is a bit tilted now.

VI. Fen Lake

The lake area is 10,000 mu. It is very beautiful. The purple feeler crabs and whitebaits in the lake are very famous. There are Liuqing Bridge and Yuanjue Temple built in Song Dynasty beside the lake.

VII. Dayun Rong Brook

Dayun is a town, named after the Dayun Temple. It is also called Rong Brook.

Going sightseeing on the boat from the “rest corridor”, you can see Vast Jianjia, Farmers’ World, Villages & Pastoral, etc.

VIII. The Grand Canal

The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal dug up in Sui Dynasty(610) is 81.22 kilometres long in Jiaxing.

The Canal conceives and feeds not only Jiaxing, but also pearl-like waterside ancient townships. Many historic spots emerged because of the Canal, such as Wen Temple in Chongfu, Fuyan Temple in Tongfu, the Three Pagodas, Xueyin Temple, Luofan Pavilion in Jiaxing, etc.

The Canal flows around the city without entering. Consequently, Jiaxing becomes a watery town which blends the splendor of the Canal into the daintiness of waterside townships.

IX. Haining Tide

Haining is a famous place to watch tides in the world.

Haining Tide is also called “Qiantang Tide”, “Qianjiang Tide” and “Zhejiang Tide”. It has a long history.

Haining Tide has “Intersected Tides at Daquekou,” “One-Ray Tide at Yanguan ”, “Turning-back Tide at Laoyancang” and “Mid-night Tide Like Thousands of Soldiers”, etc.

Haining Tide has won worldwide acclaim with its grand spectacle, dynamic rhythm, romantic poetry and profound connotation.

X. Jiulong Mountain in Zhapu of Pinghu City

The Jiulong Mountain Resort covers an area of more than 3,000 mu. The mountain faces the sea and is covered with trees. The famous seaside resort lies in Dongshawan. It is called “Beidaihe of the South of Yangtze River”. The sand is clean and solid, called “sheet iron sand”.

The resort holds mountains, the sea, islands and sands together with many natural and historic spots.

XI. Waipu Mountain

Waipu Mountain lies to the east of Zhapu Town. It is 5.7 kilometers away from the town and covers an area of 0.067 square kilometers. It is 42 meters high. It faces the Jiulong Mountain across the the sea.

Waipu Mountain is still in a state of nature. There are camphor trees, pine trees, ginkgos and many other ancient trees on it. The stone groves which have been eroded by the sea, the terraces, the caves, and the precipices of the mountain are all unique.

In the summer of 2002, a bridge was constructed, called “Tongtian Bridge”.

XII. Baita Mountain

Baita Mountain is in the sea. It is made up of three islands: Baita Island, Mayao Island and Zhuxiao Island, and two reefs. It is 2 kilometers long and 0.7 kilometers wide. Its total area is 0.416 square kilometers. The highest peak is 48.7 meters high. There are tea gardens, camphor trees, metasequoias and bamboo groves on the hill, and thousands of grey egrets on the islands.

There are more than 60 mu of cloud- mist tea garden on the mountain. The tea is very tasteful and refreshing.

XIII. Mountain                                                                              

Ziwei Mountain is only 47.5 meters high, but it is very dainty. Ziwei Mountain and East Mountain face each other across the city river.

In 1983, the tomb of the modern poet Xu Zhimo was rebuilt by the government of Haining beside Baishui Spring of Ziwei Mountain, hence the mountain is more charming than before.

Trees on the mountain are green and luxuriant.

Ziwei Pavilion stands erect on the hilltop, and you will see the whole Xiashi Town from the pavilion.