If not the most beautiful of cities,
ZHENJIANG does offer three intriguing temples to explore, each perched on top of a hill from which there are some excellent vistas of the Yangzi River. The city is worth a stopover either as a day trip from Nanjing or, more realistically, as an overnight stop en route between Shanghai or Suzhou and Nanjing. Tourists flock to the temples on weekends, but at most other times, you'll feel blissfully free of the herds that characterize Suzhou and other top tourist draws in the area.
For more than two thousand years, Zhenjiang has provided a safe harbour and a strong defensive position at the junction of two of the world's greatest trade routes, the Yangzi River and the Grand Canal . Protected on three sides by low hills, the focus of this outward-looking city remains very much set on the mighty river and across it towards Yangzhou on the northern bank. During the Three Kings period, a Wu ruler built a walled city on this site as his capital; it grew rapidly, boosted over the centuries by the southern branch of the Grand Canal, and by proximity to the Ming capital at Nanjing. Marco Polo remarked on the richness of the local silks and gold fabrics, and these are still renowned, as are, less romantically, Zhenjiang vinegar and pickles. After the Opium Wars the British and French were granted concessions here, and some intriguing traces of these remain today around the site of the former British Consulate. Now on the main Shanghai-Nanjing rail line, and still an important Yangzi anchorage, Zhenjiang's prosperity remains assured, with yet more expansion on the way as a new bridge across the river creates new trade links with northern Jiangsu.
The City
Although sheer size means that walking is rarely a practical way of getting around Zhenjiang, it is a relatively easy place to get your bearings. Across the north flows the Yangzi; in the south, the rail line forms another barrier; and down through the middle, meandering approximately north-south across the city centre, is the Grand Canal. The modern downtown area centres on
Dashi Kou , the junction of Zhongshan Lu and Jiefang Lu, a couple of kilometres east of the train station, and one kilometre south of the Yangzi. The temples are all close to the riverbank, and can be reached by city buses #2 and #4, both of which leave from the square in front of the train station.
The oldest section of town, due north of the train station and just south of the river, around Daxi Lu and Boxian Lu, is a fascinating area for a stroll. It is crowded with ancient architecture, dozens of small shops and tiny alleys running off in all directions. West along Daxi Lu is the curious red brick of the former British Consulate - part British colonial, part Qing-dynasty - now housing the local museum (daily 9am-4.30pm; ¥2). It's definitely worth dropping in, for the building if not for the museum contents. Built in the 1890s, the creaky staircases, wooden floorboards, and balconies offering views over the river are delightfully reminiscent of another era. A few minutes farther south from here brings you to another bizarrely improbable facade, the Dahuangjia Hotel , formerly the Royal Hotel. The building is a highly unexpected anachronism, with columns and statues on the outside, and a lobby from the 1920s. Its main boast, surprisingly in the People's Republic, is that Chiang Kaishek once stayed here. Unfortunately, foreigners are no longer permitted to stay here, but you can still go into the lobby for a quick peek. Daxi Lu is on the bus #2 route from the train station via Dashi Kou; get off immediately after you see the red-brick former British Consulate on the right, just as the bus is making a sharp left curve.
Jin Shan Si , a temple scenically located in its own Jin Shan Park (daily 8am-8pm; ¥10) in the far northwest of the city at the terminus of bus #2, is a pleasant riverside spot worth a couple of hours of your time. At one time a small island in the Yangzi, Jin Shan has silted up over the years to create a low-lying peninsula, with a series of rectangular fishponds overlooked by a small hill. The temple buildings wrap themselves dramatically around this hill behind a series of heavy yellow-ochre walls. Twisting stairways lead past them to the Cishou Pagoda (daily 8.30-6pm; ¥4), built more than 1400 years ago and renovated in 1900 at great expense to celebrate the Dowager Empress Cixi's sixty-fifth birthday. From the top of this seven-tiered octagonal tower you get a superb view down to the jumbled temple roofs, and across the ponds to the river. The temple itself, with a 1500-year history and a former complement of three thousand monks, has recently been restored to something of its former glory and is packed with the usual unselfconscious mix of tourists and worshippers. There are also four caves at the top of this hill, two of which - Fohai (Buddhist Sea) and Bailong (White Dragon) - feature prominently in the classic fairy tale Baishe (The Story of the White Snake), which every Chinese is supposed to have read as a child. From a canal in the park you can catch an imitation dragon boat (¥10) around the corner to the First Spring Under Heaven at the edge of a small lake. The spring itself is of no special interest, but it's nice to get out on the water.
The other sights are to the northeast of town. The first of these, Beigu Shan (daily 7am-7pm; ¥8), on the route of bus #4, is a refreshing hill top, named 1400 years ago by an enthusiastic emperor as the "Best Hill in the World above a River". From the entrance, climb the stairs on the right, then turn left along the rampart. You'll come to the lightning-damaged remains of the nine-hundred-year-old Iron Pagoda and, on top of the hill, the exquisite Lingyun Ting (Soaring Clouds Pavilion), where you can sit in the shade and enjoy the commanding views over the river. Immediately south of Beigu Shan, on the hill across the road, is the modern Martyrs' Shrine for victims of the wars which brought communism to China.
Farther east, a few more stops along the bus #4 route, is the most interesting place in Zhenjiang, Jiao Shan (daily 7.30am-4.45pm; ¥7), still a genuine island, some 5km downstream from the city centre. From the terminus of bus #4, walk a little farther east to the ticket kiosk and small jetty where half-hourly boats take tourists out to the island (the boat ride is included in the entrance ticket). An exhilarating cable car ride there (¥15) provides great views of the Yangzi River on one side and of craggy cliffs rising straight up on the other. Verdant, rural and lush with bamboo and pine, the island is a great place for just roaming around, and for an overall view, climb up to the Xijiang Lou , a viewing tower commanding a glorious stretch of the river and city beyond. Below are the remains of gun batteries used in turn against the British in 1842, the Japanese when they invaded in World War II, and the British again, when HMS Amethyst got trapped in the river during the Communist takeover in 1949. Close to the jetty, there's a cluster of halls and pavilions among which Dinghui Si , with six hundred trees in its forecourt, stands out for its elaborate carved and painted interiors and fine gilt Buddha. An hour or two should be enough to see everything on Jiao Shan.
