Jiaxing - Jiaxing visitor guide showing a virtual tour of 'Jiaxing' linked to an interactive map with local and travel information. 360° panoramas from Zhejiang.

The city of Jiaxing lies between Shanghai and the mouth of the Quiantang River in the northern part of Zhejiang Province in China, on the Grand Canal of China. Jiaxing was founded in around 210BC, then known as Youquan. It has subsequently been called Hexing and Jiahe, being first known as Jiaxing in 242AD.

Known as the 'home of silk', Jiaxing is also one of the largest producers of leather goods on earth. The area has also been part of the bread basket of China, producing a lot of rice and fish. Construction of the Hangzhou to Zhenjiang section of the Grand Canal during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) greatly helped the areas economy. Today, Jiaxing is probably most famous for South Lake, which saw the founding of the Communist Party of China, who held their first national congress on a boat on the lake.

Jiaxing Tourist Attractions: This Jiaxing map shows some of the sights and attractions found in and around Jiaxing. Among the most popular attractions are:

• South Lake - home of the founding of the Communist Party of China, and one of the most important 'sacred' sites of the Revolution, a very popular tourist destination.
• Haishen Temple - dedicated to sea gods, built in 1729 in nine sections in the style of a Qing Dynasty palace covering 26000 square meters. The complex contains many rare inscriptions and engraved pictures.
• Lanxiu Garden - contains the memorial hall of Puhua (or Pu Zuying), founder of the Shanghai Painting style. The park also has a large collection of tablet inscriptions from various famous calligraphers, some said to be the best of their kind.
• Qiatang Tidal Bore (Haining Tide-watching) - a day trip from Jiaxing to watch this tidal bore, which appears twice a day. August 18th is the traditional 'Tide Watching' day, accompanied by various ceremonies and festivals.
• Wuzhen - an ancient water town 43km west of Jiaxing, full of ancient buildings and one of the jewels of Zhejiang province.
• Xitang - 40km north of Jiaxing, Xitang is an ancient town full of cobbled streets, canals, 9 rivers and 104 bridges built in various styles during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
• Yiyuan Garden (Garden of Feng) - carefully laid out gardens covering 860 square meters, full of old trees, pavilions and halls.

Rail: Jiaxing on the Hangzhou-Shanghai Railway.
Road: Jiaxing is on the Shanghai-Hangzhou Highway and 320 National Highway, about 100km south of Shanghai and 155km north of Ningbo.