Yangzhou
Explore Yangzhou
About Yangzhou
A Grand Canal city where the ancient waterway meets the Yangtze, Yangzhou pairs the slender Slender West Lake and classical gardens with refined Huaiyang cuisine. Twenty-five centuries of history unfold along its quiet lanes.
Top Attractions
Slender West Lake
The scenic signature of Yangzhou: a winding ribbon of lakes and gardens honored as a national 5A scenic area in 2010 and inscribed on the World Heritage list with the Grand Canal in 2014. Five Pavilion Bridge, the Twenty-Four Bridge and the White Pagoda line its willow-fringed banks, best enjoyed in spring by boat or on foot.
Geyuan Garden
A salt-merchant mansion garden of the Jiaqing era beside Dongguan Street, inscribed on the World Heritage list with the Grand Canal. Its celebrated Four Seasons Rockeries compress spring bamboo, summer lake stones, autumn yellowstone and winter xuanshi into one looping route — a primer on Yangzhou garden craft.
He Garden
Built in the Guangxu era and dubbed the First Garden of the Late Qing, this national heritage site is famous for its 1,500-meter double-deck covered corridor — an early Chinese prototype of the flyover — weaving towers, walks and rockeries together. The Shipian Shanshang rockery is attributed to painter-monk Shitao.
Daming Temple
Founded in the Southern Dynasties on Shugang Ridge, this is the temple where monk Jianzhen taught before his historic voyages to Japan. Ouyang Xiu's Pingshan Hall and the climbable Qiling Pagoda, with broad views over the lake district, weave Buddhist heritage and garden scenery into one visit.
Dongguan Street
Yangzhou's best-preserved historic street runs 1,122 meters from the old city to the ancient Dongguan ferry pier, a busy canal harbor since Tang times. Brick-and-tile Ming-Qing streetscapes shelter heritage sites such as Geyuan, Yipu and the Wang Family Compound — free to stroll, rich in everyday Yangzhou flavor.
Nashan Geological Park
A national 4A geological park and national science education base in Yizheng, formed by a volcanic eruption over 5 million years ago. The 146-meter hill features one of the world's ten great volcanic columnar basalt landscapes, alongside a geological museum and tea plantation.
China Grand Canal Museum
The national flagship museum of the Grand Canal, opened in 2021 inside the Sanwan park on Yangzhou's southern canal bend. Its vast halls weave 1,000-plus canal artefacts, immersive digital galleries and the grand Dayun Pagoda into the story of the world's longest artificial waterway. Free with real-name WeChat booking up to seven days ahead; closed Mondays.
Canal Sanwan Scenic Area
Where ancient canal engineers cut three great bends to tame the current, the free Sanwan park now strings wetland lawns, the silhouette Cut-out Bridge and lakeside groves along the water, with the Grand Canal Museum at its heart — Yangzhou's favourite free sunset walk.