Historic city · Cultural centre · Zhejiang
Shaoxing
绍兴
Canal city of Yue, rice wine, calligraphy and Lu Xun
Shaoxing is a prefecture-level city in northern Zhejiang, south of Hangzhou Bay. Capital of the ancient state of Yue, it is a canal city of stone bridges and black-awning boats, the home of Shaoxing rice wine and Yue opera, the place where Wang Xizhi wrote the Orchid Pavilion Preface, and the birthplace of Lu Xun, Zhou Enlai's ancestors and many other scholars.
Key facts
Overview
Shaoxing lies on the plain between the Kuaiji Mountains and Hangzhou Bay, crisscrossed by canals, among them the Eastern Zhejiang Canal. Its city centre has kept more of its canal-side streets than most cities of the region.
For 2,500 years it has been associated with the state of Yue and its king Goujian, with the literati of the Eastern Jin who gathered at the Orchid Pavilion, and with a long line of scholars, officials and revolutionaries. Its yellow wine is exported worldwide, and the textile markets of Keqiao make it an industrial city too.
Names and nicknames
会稽
Ancient name, after the Kuaiji Mountains where legend places the tomb of Yu the Great.
越州
Name of the prefecture until 1131, when the Southern Song renamed it Shaoxing after an era name meaning “continue and revive”.
Town of water and bridges
水乡桥乡
The city has hundreds of old stone bridges over its canals.
History
Legend says Yu the Great, tamer of the flood, died and was buried at Kuaiji. As the capital of Yue, the city was the base from which Goujian destroyed Wu in 473 BCE. In the Eastern Jin, northern émigré families settled here; in 353 Wang Xizhi hosted the Orchid Pavilion gathering. The Southern Song court briefly stayed here in 1130–1131 and gave the city its present name. In the late Qing and the Republic it produced revolutionaries such as Qiu Jin and writers such as Lu Xun.
490 BCE
Capital of Yue
Fan Li is said to have laid out the capital of King Goujian, the origin of the city.
353
Orchid Pavilion gathering
Forty-one literati met for the Spring Purification festival; Wang Xizhi's preface to their poems became the most famous work of calligraphy.
1131
Renamed Shaoxing
The Southern Song emperor Gaozong named the city after his reign title while holding court here.
1881
Birth of Lu Xun
Many settings of Lu Xun's fiction, from Xianheng tavern to the Sanwei study, are Shaoxing places.
1907
Execution of Qiu Jin
The revolutionary and feminist was executed at the Xuanting crossroads after a failed uprising.
Landmarks
Historic site
Lu Xun's Former Residence
鲁迅故里
The writer's family home, the Hundred Plant Garden and the Sanwei study where he went to school.
Park or garden
Orchid Pavilion
兰亭
Garden south-west of the city on the traditional site of Wang Xizhi's gathering, with the winding stream for floating wine cups.
Park or garden
Shen Garden
沈园
Song garden where the poet Lu You is said to have met his former wife Tang Wan again and written his ci poem on the wall.
Historic site
Mausoleum of Yu the Great
大禹陵
Temple and memorial at the foot of Kuaiji Mountain where state ceremonies for Yu are held.
Historic site
Bazi Bridge
八字桥
Southern Song stone bridge with approaches shaped like the character 八, among the oldest city bridges in China.
Neighbourhoods
Cangqiao Street
仓桥直街
Canal street of old houses and wine shops in the centre.
Anchang
安昌古镇
Water town in Keqiao known for cured meats hung along its canal in winter.
Food
Fennel beans
茴香豆
Broad beans cooked with star anise, eaten with wine; Lu Xun's character Kong Yiji made them famous.
Pork with dried mustard greens
霉干菜焖肉
Pork belly steamed with fermented, sun-dried mustard greens.
Stinky tofu
臭豆腐
Fermented tofu fried and eaten with chilli sauce — a Shaoxing speciality.
Drunken chicken
醉鸡
Poached chicken steeped in Shaoxing wine and served cold.
Culture
Shaoxing is a city of learning, wine and opera. Yue opera began in its county of Shengzhou, and Shao opera is the local robust style. The black felt hat (乌毡帽) and the foot-rowed black-awning boat (乌篷船) are emblems of the city. Its tradition of officials' secretaries — the Shaoxing “masters” (绍兴师爷) who staffed Qing magistrates' offices — was proverbial.
永和九年，岁在癸丑，暮春之初，会于会稽山阴之兰亭。Yǒnghé jiǔ nián, suì zài guǐchǒu, mùchūn zhī chū, huì yú Kuàijī Shānyīn zhī Lántíng.
“In the ninth year of Yonghe, a guichou year, at the beginning of late spring, we gathered at the Orchid Pavilion in Shanyin, Kuaiji.”
— Wang Xizhi, “Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Poems” (兰亭集序), 353
Getting around
- Shaoxing North station is on the Hangzhou–Ningbo high-speed line; the Shaoxing Metro links with Hangzhou's network.
- The old city is best explored on foot and by black-awning boat on the canals.
Day trips
Keyan and Jian Lake
柯岩
Quarry landscape with a carved stone Buddha, and the lake whose water is used for Shaoxing wine.
East Lake
东湖
Lake formed in an old quarry, with cliffs, stone bridges and boat trips.
Frequently asked questions
Sources
- Shaoxing Municipal People's Government — Shaoxing Municipal People's Government (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Seventh National Population Census communiqués — National Bureau of Statistics of China (retrieved 27 September 2026)
- Shaoxing — Encyclopaedia Britannica (retrieved 27 September 2026)
More cities in Zhejiang
- Hangzhou杭州Capital · Historic city · Scenic area · Cultural centreWest Lake, Longjing tea and the capital of the Southern Song
- Ningbo宁波Port · Historic city · Industrial centrePort city of merchants, book collectors and Buddhist mountains
- Wenzhou温州Port · Industrial centre · Scenic areaCoastal city of entrepreneurs, Southern drama and the Yandang Mountains
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