Downtown Yangzhou is cut through the middle from north to south by Guoqing Lu, which, to the south, turns into Dujiang Lu. Running from east to west across Oozing Lu are two or three of the main shopping streets (confusingly, all with different names either side of the main road). Haifa Lu and Teashop Lu respectively delineate the western and eastern extents of the central area. Closes to the centre is a classical rock-and-water Chinese composition, the Gee Yuan (daily 8am-4.45pm; RMB15), which can be entered from Yanfu Dong Lu to the north or from Dongguan Jie to the south. However, the garden, with its ponderously 
styled pavilions and landscaped rockery supposedly suggesting the four seasons, is in a state of some neglect and relatively free of visitors; more attractive is He Yuan to the south. A rather more pronfising line of exploration here is to cross the canal immediately north of Ge Yuan and walk a few minutes west from the top of Guoqing Lu, as far as the Museum (daily 8.30am-5.30pm;RMB12), overlooking the canal near the Xiyuan Hotel. A delightful group of assorted old pavilions set in large grounds; this is one of China’s more interesting provincial museums, featuring a 1000-year-old wooden boat recovered from the Grand Canal, as well as an extraordinary Han dynasty funeral suit made of five hundred pieces of jade, and two wooden tombs from the Han and Song dynasties. Right next to the museum, to the east, in charming grounds full of flowers and plum trees, is the Shi Kef Memorial (daily 8.15-11.30am & 2-5.30pm; RMB10), a temple devoted to the memory of a local hero who in the last days of the Ming dynasty gave his life resisting the advancing Qing armies. The victorious Qing subsequently raised this memorial to him in recognition of his courage. West from the museum is a strip along the canal now gearing up to become a tourist centre, with “traditional” architecture and souvenir shops, while in front, right on the canal itself, stands a small jetty from where tour group boats run up to Shou Xihu and Darning Si.
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