7 Best Sights in Beijing to Shanghai, China

This was once one among dozens of private mansions belonging to Yangzhou's prosperous merchant class, but it alone made it through the ravages of the Cultural Revolution largely intact, thanks to its conversion into a factory. Keep an eye out for the exquisite wood carving, especially the crisscrossing bamboo design carved in layers out of nanmu, a glimmering wood now extinct in this area of China. There's even a bomb shelter in the small inner garden—a reminder of the Japanese invasion.

Built 1,600 years ago, the Da Ming Temple is one of the more interesting Buddhist shrines in Eastern China. The main attraction is a memorial to Tang Dynasty monk Jian Zhen, who traveled to Japan to spread the teachings of Buddha. It took the determined missionary six attempts to cross the East China Sea, and it cost him his eyesight. For refreshment, seek out the still-flowing Fifth Spring Under Heaven in the temple grounds. The water's high mineral content means it's great for tea, which you can sip in a small teahouse.

Although largely ignored by domestic tourists, the tomb of Puhaddin is a reminder of the city's Islamic influences. It faces the Grand Canal, from where you climb a stairway to a graveyard of marble-slab headstones. Toward the back, a garden with a charming pavilion reveals both Persian and Chinese design elements.

This lovely garden is named for the bamboo plant's characteristic trio of leaves, which look like the Chinese character ge (个). There are more than 60 varieties of bamboo here, including yellow stalks, striped stalks, huge treelike stands, and the delicate-leaved dwarf. The garden was developed by a wealthy salt merchant named Huang Zhiyun, who believed bamboo represented the loyalty of a good man. As you wander, note the loose bricks in the path; they're arranged to clack under your footsteps. The garden is also accessible from an entrance on Dongguan Jie.

In the southeast part of the old town, the Victorian-influenced He Garden is notable for its melding of European and Chinese architecture and landscape design. Dating from the 1880s, it differs from a traditional Chinese garden partly because of the wooden pathway linking the buildings. Other East-meets-West aspects include Victorian-style fireplaces inside the residence.

Originally part of a river, Slender West Lake was created during the Qing Dynasty by wealthy salt merchants hoping to impress Emperor Qianlong on his many visits to Yangzhou. The park, laced with willows and dotted with pavilions, bridges, and tearooms, can be seen in an hour or savored for a half-day. The Fishing Terrace is where the emperor decided he'd try his hand at angling; the merchants reportedly had their servants wade into the lake and hook a fish on each line he cast. Another mark left by the emperor is the White Pagoda, a dome-shape Buddhist stupa. The emperor casually remarked that Slender West Lake only lacked a stupa to resemble Beijing's Beihai Park. By the time the sun shone through the morning mist, there was the emperor's stupa, hastily carved out of salt and convincing from a distance. A permanent structure was completed much later. It seems all the flattery had the desired effect; Yangzhou prospered as a trading center right up until the 20th century.

Housed in an impressive building beside Mingyue Lake in the town's western suburbs, the Yangzhou Museum has seven exhibition halls packed with Chinese jade, earthenware, bronze vessels, porcelain, and paper-cutting.