Ningbo

It was the house of Chen Yumen (陳魚門), inventor of modern mahjong. You can see some interesting things about mahjong there.

Legend says the Sheli Pagoda here wasn't built, but rose from the ground. This active monastery 20 km (12 mi) from Ningbo houses a bone fragment of Sakyamuni, Buddhism's founder, as well as artifacts, paintings and calligraphy - some personally written by Chinese emperors. Legend has it that the monk who found it was looking for one of the many Sheli pagodas that the Indian ruler Ayuwang (Ashoka) had established throughout the world. The monk was walking in the area and heard a bell ringing from underground. He sat down and prayed for three days and three nights, at which point the pagoda came surging up from beneath the ground. Established in 282, temple was eventually completed on the site in 522 and named. The temple plays an important role in the Sino-Japanese culture exchange in the Buddhist history. Immediately outside the west entrance, a vegetarian restaurant serves buffet lunches from 11:00-13:00 for ¥10.

Baoguo Temple is seated on the mountainside of Lingshan Mountain, about 15 km (9 mi) away from downtown. As a cultural relic spot under state-level protection, it was established in the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220) and rebuilt and expanded in later dynasties. Now a museum, the present Baoguo Temple is a mixture of constructions made by various dynasties. It's wooden main hall is over 1000 years old, and is one of the oldest wooden buildings in China south of the Yangtze River.

Tall pagoda in a small park, can be climbed for a view.

Ancient brick pagoda from a former temple, marooned between a sidewalk and the road

Tiantong Temple, 25 km to the east of Ningbo, situated in the national Forest Park of Tiantong. Tiantong Temple was built in 300 CE. The temple has more than 20 ancient buildings. As a holy place of Buddhism, Tiantong Temple is not only an important temple of Linji Sect but also the father of Soto (Caotong in Chinese Sect) in Japan with 8 million disciples in 33,000 temples. It plays an important role in the cultural exchanges between China and Japan and it is well known in the southeast Asian countries.

A major national-level maritime museum in the city's busy harbour district.

A shop with paintings in various styles around the corner from the shopping area of Fuqiao Jie.

Displays the long and proud history of Ningbo's mafia-like groups.

Ningbo Museum designed by Wang Shu of Amateur Architecture Studio, is a massive sculptural form, referencing the nearby mountains, with a facade formed of salvaged bricks from demolished buildings. The building has been cut through with large voids and chasms, creating a roof-scape with the scale of a traditional village, in contemporary architectural language. The exhibits are nothing special, but the architecture of the museum is outstanding.

Ningbo Museum of Art, opened 2005, designed by WANG Shu & LU Wenyu of Amateur Architecture Studio. The striking building features large operable panels that allow the entire upper-level gallery space to be opened to the elements; the materials and the entry bridges make reference to the old docks along the Ningbo Bund. Located immediately to the north of the Old Bund / LaoWaiTan area.

Beautiful art gallery and coffee shop, original artworks at reasonable prices.

It is one of the most striking large-sized aquariums in China.

The zoo has over 10,000 animals, dozens of routes to walk, and beautiful panoramic views of the entire zoo from atop man-made mountains.

Qiantong, Ninghai is an ancient town south of the Yangtze River. Among the 2000 household in Qiantong 80% of them have “Tong” as the surname. Since it is located in front of the Baixi river, it is named Qiantong (“Qian” meaning “before” or "in front of"). The town has been around more than 760 years, successive generations of Tongs choosing to remain here. If you've been to other "ancient towns" in China, you will know that they run the gamut of being fully functioning towns just as they were hundreds of years ago, to tourist dumps with nothing but trinket shops and unwashed hordes. This town receives about 300 to 500 tourists a day (according to the locals) and is large enough that you can spend about an hour wandering around. The level of preservation is still very good, although there were a few buildings being rebuilt in the "old style". This town strikes a decent balance between having some tourists, while maintaining its role as a functioning village. It seems like they've built up the infrastructure to really push more tourism though, despite relatively few making the trip out, so you might want to check the place out now in case it eventually becomes overrun. The most interesting attraction, and the only one that reliably checks tickets (aside from the main entrance to the town) is the Zesi residence, in which almost every beam is an intricate carving. The parking and ticket office are about 700 m southwest of the old town, with electric golf carts available to shuttle people to the entrance for ¥5.

Located in the outer district of Xiangshan, Shipu is an ancient Town and Fishing Harbor. The ceremony of China Fishing Festival is held here and thousands of fishing boars setting out to the sea from the harbor constitutes a spectacular scene. The Shipu Harbor is now one of the four multitude fishing harbors in the country, a window to get contact with Taiwan and the second-class opening port of the country. The ancient town is a long, winding street of old buildings, some of them museums and many of them shops for tourists. It's quite pleasant, isn't overly crowded, but isn't completely original either. It takes an hour or two to visit, with most people returning via a more modern parallel street.

Cicheng used to be an administration center of Cixi County. As administrative division changes in middle 20th century, the town is now part of Jiangbei District, and the layout and historic details of the town is well preserved. The preservation of the town is honored Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation by UNESCO in December 2009. The most convenient way to take a tour around the town is to take a manpower tricycle. In the town you can see a well-preserved Confucian Temple and many traditional residences, mostly built more than 100 years ago.

The largest natural lake in Zhejiang, and a popular spot for locals to visit. It's possible to rent tandem or triple bicycles, or boats, to see the lake. Several scenic spots charge admission, including a causeway through the middle of the lake (¥30) to Xiayu Temple (霞屿禅寺) and "small Putuoshan". A variety of very old buildings overlooking the lake have been turned into tea shops. Hanling old street (韩岭老街) is near the southern end of the lake. A park is built with stone carvings collected at tombs built in Southern Song Dynasty around the lake. The Stone Carving Relic Park of the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋石刻公园) is near the eastern side of the lake.

Large area of coastal columnar-jointed tuff cliffs, islands, and towers, on an island in southern Xiangshan district, protected in a provincial geopark and not on the main tourist track. Spectacular and comes with a rocky beach, but only takes an hour to visit. The island is mostly natural and has a well-developed trail network accessing a variety of other natural attractions and old buildings, but note that the trails are not maintained to the same standard as in more-popular tourist areas.

A crescent-shaped lake surrounded by a park with traditional plazas and pagodas. It's a lively area – at some times of day the park is full of residents dancing or doing tai chi. Boat rides in the lake are possible, or just take a stroll around it.

Nanxi Hot Spring lies in the outer district of Ninghai, Nanxi Village of Shentianchuan Township, 76 km (47 mi) to the downtown of Ninghai County. With a forest resource of 9,627 hectares, the scenic area was approved by the State Department of Forestry in 1991 as a national forest park, and thus it became one of the ten best scenic spots in Ningbo. As a well-known hot-spring resort in Zhejiang, the park is featured in its peaceful mountains, clear waters and dense forests.

This park has a small waterfall, several hundred year old temple, and scenic hiking trails alongside the mountains. A taxi service is available for those that are not interested in hiking to the top, but want to see the mountain ranges in a convenient setting.

There are many such beaches along the coast of the outer district Xiangshan as well as a great many islands, while Songlan Mountain is the first major developed marine tourism scenic area and has been built into a provincial seaside resort. An on-sea activities center, Songlan Mountain City, and Provincial Sailboat Training Base and Wildlife Park have been completed. The coastal sightseeing road has also been opened from the Songlan Mountain to Baisha Bay beach and Zhao Wuniang Temple. The promotion of characteristic tourist items such as beach leisure activities, on-sea sport, hunting on sea island will make you experience the pleasure of marine tourism.

The yang to Moon Lake's yin, this newer park has a large lake, ponds, fountains, forest, playgrounds, and plazas.

Located in Taibai Mountains, 25 km (16 mi) from Ningbo City proper, the Tiantong National Forest Park covers an area of 334 hectares, with green peaks rising one higher than the other. The park is home to nearly 1,000 species of plants, including a large number of fine tree species, such as Henry emmenopterys, ginkgo trees, Henry ormosias and Tianmu Mountain lily magnolias, in addition to some rare medicinal herbs, such as five-leaf gynostemmas, glabrons sarcandras, fortune plumyews, many-leaf paris and diverse leaf jack in the pulpits. A total of 119 Chinese herbal medicines found here are included in the China Pharmacopoeia. For this reason it bears the name "natural botanical garden in east Zhejiang Province."

Xikou Xuedou Mount Scenic Spot located in the outer district of Fenghua, labeled as the abode for immortals on the sea, is 35 km (22 mi) away from the downtown area. It is made up of Xikou town, Xuedou Mountain and Tingxia Lake. It covers an area of 85 km² and has over 60 scenic spots. To enable a better appreciation of the natural beauty of the Xuedou Mountain of Xikou, Fenghua, a sightseeing train that costs ¥60 million has been built and will be put to use soon. The train has six cars, being able to accommodate 36 people.

A large forested hill where the Yong River empties into the ocean, it has several rebuilt temples, a 57.6m-tall pagoda you can climb since the elevator seems to be broken, Sanskrit inscriptions on exposed rock, a grotto, and remnants of multiple small defensive walls. Adjacent museums cover local naval history and military hardware. Don't expect tranquillity - a freeway tunnels through the centre of the hill.

Huge sweeping views of lush green countryside, water runs through the canyon as you follow a rough and ready trail.

18-hole golf course with 6 artificial lakes, par 72, 7200 yards. Visitors welcome.