Shaoxing：
　　a museum without walls
　?。ńB興：一座沒有圍墻的博物館）
　　Shaoxing has a rich and famed history of about 2,500 years. Numerous historical sites, a beautiful landscape and an exceptional lifestyle offer 200 attractions citywide, including nine 4A scenic spots, four 3A spots, one state-level attraction and seven provincial-level ones, two state-level water conservancy scenic spots and one national geographic park. In 1998, it was appraised as one of China's first wonderful tourism cities.
　　Most of the spots in Shaoxing provide a background to the literature or literary figures like Lu Xun Former Residence, the Shen Garden and the Orchid Pavilion. The well-preserved Former Residence of Lu Xun presents a full version of this Chinese literary giant's daily life and the place where he worked on his literature. The 800 years old Shen Garden, originally a private garden, is well-known for its setting for the moving love story of Lu You while the Orchid Pavilion, an integration of mountain landscape and water town scenery, has been regarded as the mecca for calligraphers. Besides, the relics from ancient years are also well worth a visit such as the Fu Mountain in the city center and the Kuaiji Mountain Scenic Area in which the Yu the Great Mausoleum is located.
　　Shaoxing is regarded as “a museum without walls”.
　　Bridges in Shaoxing
　?。ńB興：萬橋之鄉(xiāng)）
　　Shaoxing, thanks to its numerous rivers and lakes, has been widely known as a “l(fā)and of waters”.
　　There are more than 10,000 bridges in Shaoxing,among which, many are ancient ones. All kinds of ancient bridges can be seen. Here and there, the river is spanned by stone bridges under which boats come and go. They not only make life convenient, but also make the environment beautiful.
　　Bazi Bridge is the most famous one. It is called “Bazi” because it shapes like a Chinese character “八”. Located in the Bazi Bridge Historic Community, it was built around 1256 in the Southern Song Dynasty and boasts a history of 800 years. Along the bridge, you can experience the lifestyle of the local people. For example, you'll see women washing clothes beside the river near their houses, vendors selling vegetables and fruits on the street, and the elderly fanning coal stoves to cook.
　　The columns of many ancient bridges are usually decorated with stone lions. It is an ancient Chinese custom to frighten away water monsters that cause floods. On New Year's Day, some old women would bring candles and paper money to pray to the God of bridges. These old customs have all disappeared now. On festivals, however, the bridges are still decorated with colorful flags and lanterns.
　　Shaoxing: Venice in the east
　　（紹興：東方的威尼斯）
　　It has been 2,500 years since the city of Shaoxing was first built. The embryo of the water city came into being when Gou Jian of Yue Kingdom established the capital here. The river network was further improved in the following dynasties such as the Western Jin Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, the Tang Dynasty, the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty. In the Song dynasties, the rivers and lakes in the area had already been closely connected with one another and the structure of the river network had been largely formed, the inner part of which was pane-shaped and the outer part circled the city walls. Up to the Qing Dynasty, there were altogether 33 watercourses in the city, the total length of which reached approximately 60 kilometers.
　　The stone bridges over the watercourses, with different sizes and shapes, are all ingeniously designed. Many streets and roads stretch along the rivers, and therefore are called “heyan” by the locals.
　　The unevenly laid-out houses along the banks, the boats sailing in file on the rivers, together with the stone bridges on the way constitute the typical scenery of a water city, which is frequently depicted in classic Chinese poems.
　　People often regard Shaoxing as“Venice in the east”.
　　Water taxi in Shaoxing:the black-awning boat
　　(紹興的水上的士——烏篷船)
　　When people think of Shaoxing, water is always the first thing that comes to their minds.
　　One of the best ways to appreciate this famous water city is to take a trip on a black-awning boat, or Wupeng Boat, which is well-known throughout China. The boat, boasting a history of over 1,000 years, is made of wood and covered by black awnings. It has brought to Shaoxing a great number of tourists who long to enjoy the beautiful sceneries of the water city.
　　The boat is a small black wooden one with bamboo awnings. About 4 meters long and 1 meter wide, each boat can hold 3 to 6 persons. The boatman, wearing a unique black felt hat, sits on the bow and paddles with his feet and hands. The boat looks a bit timeworn because of the black awnings, yet it is able to move quickly, even at a turning. The awnings can be opened on a fine day for visitors to enjoy the terrific landscape along the banks of the river.
　　Taimen：
　　unique architecturein Shaoxing
　?。ㄅ_門：紹興的獨(dú)特建筑）
　　Taimen is a traditional local residence, large and impressive, usually separated from other dwelling houses. After entering the residence through the magnificent gate, you can find in succession a dooryard, a central room with several wing-rooms, a back room and a garden. It is a longitudinally-laid-out compound dwelling house, whose width and length are decided by the dwellers' social status. The higher status the dwellers possess, the larger width and length the residence has.
　　In the past dynasties, in order to honor their ancestors or display their lordliness, people in Shaoxing who had succeeded in business or gained high official ranks used to build large houses in their hometown, that's why there are lots of taimen preserved in the city.
　　Some were named after the academic or official titles of the owners, such as Zhuangyuan(Number One Scholar) Taimen, Hanlin(Member of the Imperial Academy) Taimen, Shangshu(Minister) Taimen, etc.; some after the construction features, such as Chaobei(Facing North) Taimen, Shiku (Stone Warehouse) Taimen; but most were named after the owners' surnames, such as Dujia(Du Household) Taimen, Shoujia(Shou Household) Taimen, Zhoujia(Zhou Household) Taimen and so on.