Jiaxing

Once one of China's grandest churches, St Mary's Church was built by the Carmelites near the centre of Jiaxing (just west of the Citadel - see below). Constructed over 13 years and completed in 1930, most of its construction material was imported from France, as was the bell. The church was for a long time the tallest building in Jiaxing. During the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the church was attacked by Red Guards, who destroyed its roof and smashed doors, windows and statuary. Rooms were later built inside the ruins of the church. The ruins are still imposing, but the interior is not open to the public, but the city government plans to restore the church and build a new development centred around a new church square. The neighbourhood around the church has been demolished in preparation, so the church sits in a large rubble field.The church was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Jiaxing City in May 2000.In March 2005, it was listed as a key cultural relic protection unit in Zhejiang Province.In May 2013, it was listed in the seventh group of national key cultural relics protection units. In 2004, the "Landscape Environment Planning and Design of the Catholic Church Area in Jiaxing City" was issued, preparing to plan a church square with an area of 80 hectares.In July 2021, the government completed the renovation and lighting of the outside and opened a large lawn outside the church, which is open to the public and becomes a good place for people to rest and walk.

In its heyday, Vincent Abbey, a Lazarite (Congression of the Mission) monastery, was one of the largest Catholic monasteries in China. It is remarkably well preserved. After 1949, it became a nursing home. It is no longer open for visits, but the public can get a good view of the cloisters from the street. The city government plans to restore the abbey and turn it into another tourist attraction.

Jiaxing is one of the few cities in south-east China that retains any vestige of a citadel. It's at the center of the old city. The citadel was built in 231 AD, and remained the fortified administrative center of Jiaxing until 1912, when it became a barracks, and later a school and a hospital. Much of the citadel was demolished in the 20th century, and today only the imposing front gate on Fuqian Street and part of the wall survives. On June 25, 2021, Jiaxing held the opening ceremony of the Zicheng Site Park, and the renovated site park was officially opened. The newly renovated park, with its copper ribbon, ginkgo tree pool and light, forms a true millennium-spanning avenue where visitors can stroll through the city's history and culture. Nearby, on the street called Yaojia Dai, is the former residence of Shen Zengzhi, historian and poet.

A picturesque neighborhood in the southwest corner of the old city on the bank of the western South Lake, this area has been redeveloped, with several historic buildings restored and new buildings built in a sympathetic style. Apart from the traditional buildings - housing small museums, restaurants and bars - the area features winding brooks, willows and small lakeside parks. It is a favourite of local fishermen and also Korean tourists, who come here to see Kim Koo's Refuge, a house once used by important members of the Provisional Government of Korea during the Second World War, and where Korean revolutionary Kim Koo took refuge after his followers assassinated an important Japanese general in Shanghai (which is being renovated by the city government). Several other historic buildings are located here, including the former residence of Chu Fucheng, an early 20th-century Chinese politician who arranged Kim Koo's escape from Shanghai; Xu Yi Gu Hall, a former rice merchant; the architecturally noted former residence of Wang Huzhen (which is being renovated by the city government); and the former residence of Zhu Shenghao, poet and translator of Shakespeare into Chinese. Qingfen Hall, a family memorial hall belonging to the prominent Qian family of Jiaxing, is also here and is open to the public. Close to Meiwan Street is also the former residence of Shen Junru, prominent "third way" politician of the mid-20th century.

Another restored neighbourhood, this one on the north side of the old city, Yuehe Street or "Moon River Street" is named after a system of canals connected to the city moat, so-called because they are curved like the crescent moon. This used to be a centre of traditional commerce and light industry. As opposed to the elegant houses of prominent people featured on Meiwan Street, Yuehe Street features authentic shop and workshop buildings of a more "commoner" type, with numerous tea rooms, small restaurants, and sellers of Chinese cakes and baked goods. If your itinerary does not allow you to go on to Xitang or Wuzhen, Moon River Street is a good taste of what those canal towns are like. The Museum of Zongzi Culture is dedicated to the leaf-wrapped rice balls for which Jiaxing is famous. There are some large hotels in the same neighbourhood based in restored or newly built but traditional style houses.

The Pavilion of Mist and Rain was built in 1549 on an artificial island in the middle of South Lake, to replace a 10th-century original built on the lake shore that had fallen into ruin. The pavilion and the gardens around it were improved over the next couple of centuries as a pleasure garden used by local officials and, on occasions, visiting emperors. The Qianlong Emperor loved the island so much that he added a replica to the imperial resort in Chengde. A regular ferry takes visitors to and from the island and also calls at the other main sights around the lake. The pavilion was last rebuilt in 1918, but is furnished largely as it was in the 19th century. Some subsidiary buildings house exhibitions. Of particular interest to Chinese Communists is a traditional wooden canal boat permanently moored at the island, a replica of a boat that served as the venue for the Communist Party of China's first conference in 1921, after the delegates escaped the police in Shanghai to continue their meeting. Called the South Lake Boat or the Nanhu Red Boat, this replica boat is therefore considered the birthplace of China's ruling party. Normally open for visits for an extra ¥20, visitors are forbidden to board (and extra security guards the boat) during times of political or security sensitivity.

Another small island in the South Lake, close to the north-east shore, Xiaoyingzhou features a picturesque pavilion that was once a temple to Cang Jie (under restoration), the mythical hero credited with inventing Chinese characters. It is similar to the mid-lake island and was also popular with local scholar-officials for drinking and/or poetry parties. The island is connected to the lake shore by a bridge. At its southern end is a wharf which the ferry calls at. A picturesque covered bridge is the north east of the island - this bridge crosses a channel that connects South Lake with the Grand Canal. Continuing the theme of Chinese characters, there is a display of the history of Chinese calligraphy on the lake shore, close to Xiaoyingzhou island. Also nearby, on the eastern shore of the lake, is the Nanhu Revolutionary Memorial Hall, a concrete monument and a must-visit destination for Communist Party members on party-education tours but unlikely to be of much interest to anyone else. The memorial hall has a newer and larger branch south of the lake (see listing below).

Long a landmarks of Jiaxing, the square Haogu Pagoda ("haogu" means "moat-bend") collapsed in the 1960s and was rebuilt in 2004 by the South Lake, across the railway line from its original location. It has now been combined with a formerly unrelated shrine to Wu Zixu, a prime minister of the local Wu kingdom who lived about 2,500 years ago but is still revered as a hero in this part of China for helping the Wu kingdom achieve great victories but who died a tragic death.