Experience the best of Ningbo

Ningbo lies on the coast of Zhejiang, where three rivers meet and flow on to the East China Sea, and it has been a port for more than a thousand years. Its modern harbour, linked with Zhoushan, ranks among the busiest in the world by cargo. The Tianyi Pavilion, founded in 1561, is one of the oldest private libraries in China, set in a garden of ponds and pavilions.

Tiantong Temple, in forested hills east of the city, is a Chan Buddhist monastery where the Japanese monk Dogen studied in the 1220s. At Hemudu, in Yuyao, the remains of a rice-growing village are more than six thousand years old. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge, about 36 kilometres long, crosses to Jiaxing, and offshore the Zhoushan islands include Putuo Shan, the sacred island of the bodhisattva Guanyin.

Ningbo tangyuan, glutinous rice dumplings filled with black sesame paste, are the city's best-known sweet. Seafood is fresh and often salted, from steamed yellow croaker to preserved crab. Mild spring and autumn days suit the city best, and typhoons can pass in late summer.