Shaoxing has a rich and famed history of about 2,500 years. Numerous historical sites, a beautiful landscape and an exceptional lifestyle offer 200 attractions citywide.

Most of the spots in Shaoxing provide a background to the literature or literary figures like Lu Xun Former Residence, the Shen Garden and the Orchid Pavilion. The well-preserved Former Residence of Lu Xun presents a full version of this Chinese literary giant’s daily life and the place where he worked on his literature. The 800 years old Shen Garden, originally a private garden, is well-known for its’ setting for the moving love story of Lu You while the Orchid Pavilion, an integration of mountain landscape and water town scenery, has been regarded as the mecca for calligraphers. Besides, the relics from ancient years are also well worth a visit such as the Fu Mountain in the city center and the Kuaiji Mountain Scenic Area in which the Yu the Great Mausoleum is located.Shaoxing is regarded as “a museum without walls”.

The embryo of the water city came into being when Gou Jian of Yue Kingdom established the capital here. The river network was further improved in the following dynasties. In the Song dynasties, the rivers and lakes in the area had already been closely connected with one another and the structure of the river network had been largely formed, the inner part of which was pane-shaped and the outer part circled the city walls. Up to the Qing Dynasty, there were altogether 33 watercourses in the city, the total length of which reached approximately 60 kilometers. The unevenly laid-out houses along the banks, the boats sailing in file on the rivers, together with the stone bridges .People often regard Shaoxing as“Venice in the east”