Take a boat around South Lake

Larger than the old branch mentioned in the South Lake section. The modern memorial hall is desginated as a 'demonstration base of patriotism education.

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.

Jiaxing Museum, with an area of 22,000 square meters, is a comprehensive museum integrating collection, research, display and education. Jiaxing Museum has a rich collection, which reflects the cultural features of Jiaxing in different periods from different aspects.

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.

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.