Far from the maddening crowd

Yangzhou is full of beautiful gardens and ancient sites, but few tourists, Bian Yi reports.

Jiangnan, the region referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, is known for its archetypical Chinese cultural icons - canals and beautiful gardens, exquisite terraces, and ancient pavilions and temples. But many of these delightful scenic spots have been swallowed up by crass commercialism, forcing tourists to look a little harder to find the peace and serenity these places once offered.

But there are alternatives. Yangzhou, a relatively small city in Jiangsu province about 100 kilometers from Nanjing, is one of them.

Yangzhou boasts the mausoleums of emperors of Han and Sui dynasties; sites of ancient cities dating back to the Tang and Song dynasties; and Tongyang Canal, the oldest canal in China, built more than 2,000 years ago. China's longest canal, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, joins the Yangtze River in Yangzhou.

Yangzhou was established in 319 BC under the name Guangling when the First Emperor of Qin unified China. During the Han Dynasty, the Tongyang Canal was constructed through Guangling to transport salt from the coast to inland China.

Yangzhou began to prosper during the Sui Dynasty as Emperor Yangdi ordered the construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to connect the Yellow River, Huaihe River and Yangtze River basins. During the Tang Dynasty, Yangzhou became a major port and transportation hub in southeast China. As well as goods from China, trade from Japan and the Middle East also passed through the city. It was about this time that the city was renamed Yangzhou.

With the swift development of the salt, fishing and silk industries, Yangzhou ushered in its most prosperous period during the Northern Song Dynasty, rivaling the major cities of China at that time. However, its continued development suffered at the hands of wars and disunion in China. It wasn't until the Qing Dynasty that Yangzhou prospered once again, growing to a population of 500,000, many of whom were rich merchants. It was one of only 10 cities worldwide at the time with such a large population.

Men of literature and art also made their homes in Yangzhou, including Su Dongpo and Ouyang Xiu from the Song Dynasty, and the Eight Eccentric Painters of Yangzhou during the Qing Dynasty.

Li Bai, one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty, dedicated a part of one of his poems, Yellow Crane Pavilion, to the city: "Yellow Crane Pavilion in the west; My old friend says farewell; In the mist and flowers of spring; He goes down to Yangzhou."

And Yangzhou is indeed at its most beautiful in spring, as colorful plants grow luxuriantly along the city's intertwining canals, whose banks are dotted with ancient private gardens.

Of all the private gardens in Yangzhou, He Yuan is the recognized as the best. Built by He Zhidiao, a 19th century Chinese envoy to France, in 1883, this garden is famous for its 430-meter, two-storied winding corridor, the walls of which are lined with stone tablets carved with lines of classical poetry. In the garden is also an open-air theater set on an island in the middle of a fishpond. He Yuan also boasts typical Qing Dynasty stone bridges, winding paths and artificial hills.

Another garden worth visiting is Ge Yuan. The entrance to this typical southern style garden with its luxuriant bamboo groves, ponds and rock grottoes, is in the city's northeast section. It was designed by the great Qing Dynasty landscape painter Shi Tao for Wang Yingtai, an officer of the Qing imperial court. The garden takes its name from the shape of bamboo leaves that resemble the Chinese character "ge".

Wu Daotai House and Wang Shi House are worth visiting if you want to fully admire typical residential buildings of Yangzhou. Wu Daotai House is the largest ancient complex in Jiangsu province, which preserves hundreds of old rooms, while Wang Shi House is a completely maintained building of a salt merchant, built at the end of the Qing Dynasty.

Located on Shugang Hill is Da Ming Temple. The original temple was built by a monk called Zhen about 1,500 years ago. The temple was seriously damaged during the Taiping Rebellion at the beginning of the 20th century. The present structure is a reconstruction dating from the 1930s. Da Ming Temple sits on a hill and features various precious cultural relics, memorial archways and a nine-storey pagoda.

The most well-known tourist destination of Yangzhou is Slender West Lake. Named after Hangzhou's famous West Lake, this long, narrow stretch of water meanders through Yangzhou's western limits. The lake's banks are lined with willows, whose branches brush the water's edge.

At the lake's midpoint, stands a square terrace with pavilions at each of the corners and one in the center. Around the lake are several attractions, including the white Lotus Flower Pagoda, reminiscent of the White Pagoda in Beijing's Beihai Park; Small Gold Mountain (Xiao Jin Shan); and the Fishing Platform (Diaoyutai), which was a favorite retreat of the Qing Dynasty emperor Qian Long.

In Yangzhou, all dishes, whether cheap or expensive, are elaborate. Cooks will not scrimp on their work, even with zhugansi (stewed sliced dry bean curd), a popular dish that costs only a few yuan. Dry bean curd is made by each restaurant that serves it, so the flavor is guaranteed. The curd is stewed for hours with chopped bamboo shoots and shelled shrimps in chicken soup. In this way the dry bean curd shreds can soak up the flavor of the other ingredients, and the soup is clear but savory.

(China Daily 09/10/2010)