Discover Wuxi: Taihu Lake, the Grand Canal and culture

Wuxi combines striking waterscapes with Buddhist culture, historic streets and diverse museum collections. When planning a trip, you can choose between excursions around Taihu Lake, cultural history along the Grand Canal and seasonal garden scenery. So when looking for a holiday rental, it helps to start by focusing on the experiences you want to shape your stay.

Waterscapes at Taihu Lake

Yuantouzhu is a turtle-head-shaped peninsula on the northwestern shore of Taihu Lake. The scenic area features mountain landscapes and broad expanses of water, along with scattered sailboats, villages and understated, elegant gardens in the Jiangnan style. This combination makes it an appealing destination for anyone who wants to experience changing scenery on a trip, rather than visiting only individual attractions.

A sightseeing cruise from the Yuantouzhu pier offers views of Taihu Lake and of the way mountain and water landscapes meet on Fairy Island. Alongside views from the shore, a trip on the water is another way to explore the area. If you enjoy shaping your days around scenic experiences, Yuantouzhu can be an important point of reference when planning. Choose your accommodation based on the destinations that matter most to you, and consider their exact locations as you plan your trip.

Museums and historic cityscapes

Wuxi Museum brings together exhibitions, research and art appreciation. It houses nearly 40,000 cultural relics, including ancient paintings and calligraphy, purple clay teapots, Huishan clay figurines, and modern revolutionary, industrial and economic artefacts. The collection therefore spans everything from arts and crafts and historical works to topics in recent history and economics.

The museum has 15 permanent exhibitions and four thematic areas: culture, history, science and technology, and film education. These offer different starting points for a museum visit, whether you are more interested in historical objects, art or technical subjects. Combined with Wuxi’s landscapes and historical attractions, they make for a trip that can cater to a range of interests.

The historic and cultural Qingming Bridge Block is centred around Qingming Bridge and stretches along the Grand Canal. Its canal section is 1.6 kilometres long; riverside houses and waterside landings shape its distinctive landscape of waterways and lanes. The block brings together Jiangnan folk culture, the culture of national industry and commerce, waterway and lane culture, historic architecture and religious culture. It includes 19 protected heritage sites at national, provincial and city levels, eight archways and 17 other cultural relics. In 2010, Qingming Bridge was included in the second group of China’s historic and cultural streets.

Buddhist culture and seasonal gardens

Lingshan Shengjing in Wuxi’s Mashan area is a Buddhist culture-themed park that combines Buddhist culture with the natural landscape. One of its most striking features is the 88-metre-tall bronze standing Shakyamuni Buddha, the statue known as the “Lingshan Buddha.” Lingshan Shengjing is also a national 5A-rated tourist attraction. Visitors interested in Buddhist culture will find a different focus here than in the museum collections or along the historic waterways.

Nanchan Temple also adds a long history to the range of experiences on offer: it was first built during the Southern Dynasties (420–589). The Miaoguang Pagoda within the temple dates from the Song Dynasty (960–1279). The Nanchan Temple scenic area is a public historic and cultural space that combines tourism, dining, shopping and entertainment. This makes it possible to pair its historic character with other offerings in the area.

Wuxi Plum Garden offers different seasonal highlights throughout the year: plum blossoms in early spring, lotus blossoms in midsummer, osmanthus blossoms in autumn and snow in winter. The plum blossom area is home to cultural relics and historic sites associated with the Rong family, including China’s only plum culture museum. The Huaxi Scenic Area also features more than 100 varieties of exotic flowers and plants, as well as large rock formations. When looking for a holiday rental, the time of year you plan to travel can therefore help determine which sides of Wuxi you want to explore most.

Discover more destinations

For more destination pages, see Taizhou, Lianyungang, Suzhou, Yangzhou, Suqian, Nantong, Yancheng and Zhenjiang.

For the main travel overview: Jiangsu.