Ningbo

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Tianyi Pavilion, Ningbo, Zhejiang, China

About Ningbo

Few Chinese cities wear their age as lightly as Ningbo. Behind the cranes of one of the world's busiest ports sits a city of private libraries, lakeside temples and canals, with a merchant tradition that sent Ningbo traders to Shanghai, Hong Kong and beyond. Three rivers meet in the centre, and the old town still gathers around Moon Lake and the Drum Tower.

Ningbo was a trading port long before Europeans arrived, and in 1844 it became one of the first treaty ports opened to foreign trade, leaving the colonial buildings of the Old Bund on the north bank of the river. The surrounding hills hold Tiantong Temple, where the Japanese monk Dogen studied Chan Buddhism, while the Hemudu site near Yuyao shows that rice farmers lived here some 7,000 years ago. Wang Shu's tile-clad Ningbo Museum adds a striking modern note.

High-speed trains link Ningbo with Hangzhou and Shanghai, and the Hangzhou Bay Bridge carries traffic north across the water. Ningbo Lishe International Airport serves domestic and regional routes, and the islands of Zhoushan are a short drive east.

Best seasonApril-May and October-November

Ideal stay2-3 days

ArrivingHigh-speed rail from Hangzhou and Shanghai; Ningbo Lishe Airport

Exploring Ningbo: 12 Must-See Spots

Museums 3

Tianyi Pavilion

Built in the 1560s by Fan Qin, a Ming dynasty official, Tianyi Pavilion is the oldest surviving private library in China. Its name...

Ningbo Museum

Architect Wang Shu, who won the Pritzker Prize in 2012, wrapped this museum in bricks and tiles salvaged from demolished villages...

Hemudu Site Museum

Discovered in 1973 near Yuyao, the Hemudu site revealed a Neolithic village of wooden stilt houses and some of the earliest eviden...

Temples and Shrines 3

Tiantong Temple

Hidden in a forested valley east of the city, Tiantong Temple traces its founding to the year 300 and is one of the great Chan Bud...

Ayuwang Temple

Named after the Indian emperor Ashoka, known in Chinese as Ayuwang, this temple dates back to the third century and keeps a small...

Baoguo Temple Ningbo

The main hall of this hillside temple north of the city was built in 1013, making it one of the oldest surviving wooden buildings...

Parks 1

Moon Lake Ningbo

Moon Lake, or Yuehu, has been the heart of old Ningbo since the Tang dynasty, its banks once lined with scholars' houses and acade...

Nature 1

Dongqian Lake

Southeast of the city, Dongqian Lake is the largest natural freshwater lake in Zhejiang, ringed by low green hills, fishing villag...

Neighborhoods 1

Laowaitan Old Bund

After Ningbo opened to foreign trade in 1844, merchants and consuls settled on the north bank where the Yuyao and Fenghua rivers m...

Food and Drink 1

Nantang Old Street

This restored street of grey-tiled houses, canals and stone bridges in Haishu is the easiest place to try Ningbo's famous snacks i...

Landmarks 1

Ningbo Drum Tower

Ningbo's Drum Tower, or Gulou, stands on the line of the old city walls and has been rebuilt several times since the Tang dynasty....

History 1

Xikou Town

Chiang Kai-shek was born in 1887 in this riverside town in Fenghua, now part of Ningbo, and his family home, the Fenghao House, an...

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Photo: Gisling, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

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Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Zhangzhugang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Zhangzhugang, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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Photo: Siyuwj, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0

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