7 Best Sights in Eastern China, China

In a city of bridges, the Bazi Bridge is the finest and best known. Its long, sloping sides rise to a flat crest that looks like the character for eight, an auspicious number. The bridge is more than 800 years old, built in the Southern Song Dynasty, and is draped with a thick beard of ivy and vines. It sits in a quiet area of old stone houses with canal-side terraces where people wash clothes and chat with neighbors.

Near the Bazi Bridge is the bright pink Catholic Church of St. Joseph, dating from the turn of the 20th century. A hybrid of styles, the Italian-inspired interior is decorated with Bible passages written in Chinese calligraphy.

The narrow East Lake runs along the base of a rocky bluff rising up from the rice paddies. The crazily shaped cliffs were used as a rock quarry over the centuries, and today their sheer gray faces jut out in sheets of rock. You can hire a local boatman to take you along the base of the cliffs in a traditional black awning boat for around Y50.

The city's quiet northern neighborhoods are great places to wander, with several historic homes and temples that are now preserved as museums. The largest is Cai Yuanpei's house. Once the president of Peking University, Cai was a famous democratic revolutionary and educator during the republic, and his family's large compound is decorated with period furniture.

As its name implies, Lu Xun Native Place is devoted to the literary giant and social critic Lu Xun. In this historic quarter, visit the Lu Xun Family Home (241 Luxun Zhong Lu, 0575/8513–2084; free entry, passport required), where the writer was born. His extended family lived around him in a series of courtyards, and today, you can tour this traditional Shaoxing home and see some beautiful antique furniture.

To avoid the crowds, visit in the morning or early evenings.

Down the street is the local school where Lu honed his writing skills, as well as a large square and a memorial that's dedicated to the famed writer.

This idyllic little teahouse sits right along one of Shaoxing’s famous waterways. The historic building is a little musty, but the antique furniture, artwork, drapes and meticulous tea service is an experience in itself. Ask for snacks, and you’ll be rewarded with assorted bowls of fresh cherry tomatoes, dates, seeds, and regional fruits.

The Zhou Enlai Family Home belonged to the first premier of Communist China, who came from a family of prosperous Shaoxing merchants. Zhou is credited with saving some of China's most important historic monuments from destruction at the hands of the Red Guards during the Cultural Revolution. The compound, a showcase of traditional architecture, houses exhibits on Zhou's life, ranging from his high-school essays to vacation snapshots with his wife.