Zhenjiang southwest (an hour on the bus) from Yixing, about halfway on the road to 1)mgshan.The caves are set on three intercormecting levels, including the snail, shell-shaped upper cave and the more interesting lowerWater Cave. From here i a boat ferries you through subterranean passages formed by limestone diss01u. 1 tion, the boatman picking out highlights with his flashlight all the way to the exit, humorously named “Suddenly See the Light”. Zhenjiang Northwest of Changzhou and Wuxi, and east of Nanjing, ZHENJIANG isn’t the most beautiful of cities but does offer three intriguing temples to explore each perched on top ora hill from which there are some excellent vistas ofthe Yangzi River. The city is worth a stopover either as a day-trip from Nanjing or, more realistically, as an overnight stop en route between Shanghai or Suzhou and Nanjing. Tourists flock to the temples on weekends, but at most otlner times you’ll feel blissfully free of the herds that characterize Suzhou ani other tourist draws in the area. For more than two thousand years, Zhenjiang has provided a safe harb0ur and a strong defensive position at the junction of two of the world’s greatest trade routes, the Yangzi River and the Grand Canal, and protected on three sides by low hills. During the Three Kings period, a Wu ruler built a walled city on this site as his capital; it grew rapidly, boosted over the centuries by the southern branch of the Grand Canal, and by proximity to the Ming capital at Nanjing. Marco Polo remarked on the richness of the local silks and gold fab: tics, and these are still renowned, as are, less romantically, Zhenjiang vinegar and pickles. After the OpiumWars the British and French were granted eon- cessions here, intriguing traces of which remain today around the site 0fthe former British Consulate. Now on the main Shanghai-Nanjing rail line, and still an importantYangzi anchorage, Zhenjiang is an outward-looking city whose prosperity remains assured, with yet more expansion on the way as a new bridge across the river - a cornerstone in Jiangsu’s massive transportation development plans- creates further trade links with northern Jiangsu. The bridge is the third crossing over theYangzi (after the Nanjing Daqiao, built in the 1960s) and is soon to be fol- lowed by two more bridges, one near Nanjing and one connecting Shanghai with the northern bank of the Yangzi.

The oldest section of town, due north of the train station and just south of the river, around Daxi Lu and Boxian Lu, is a fascinating area for a stroll; it’s crowded with ancient architecture, dozens of small shops and tiny alleys run- ning off in all directions. You can reach Daxi Lu is on the #2 bus which runs here from the train station via Dashi Kou. West along Daxi Lu is the curious red brick of the former British Consulate - part British colonial, part Qing- dynasty- now housing the local museum (daily 9am-4.30pm;RMB10). it’s def- initely worth dropping in, for the building if not for the museum contents; if you’re on the bus, get off immediately after you see the building on the right, just as the bus is making a sharp left curve. Built in the 1890s, the creaky stair- cases, wooden floorboards, and balconies offering views over the river are delightfully reminiscent of another era. A few minutes’ walk farther south from here brings you to another bizarrely improbable facade, the crumbling Dahuangjia Hotel, formerly the Royal Hotel. The building is a highly unex- pected anachronism, with columns and caryatids on the outside, and a lobby from the 1920s. Its main boast, surprisingly in the People’s Republic, is that Chiang Kaishek once stayed here. Disused now, it was until recently a sleazy karaoke bar. Can-y on past here and you get to the pleasandy delapidated Bo,San Park (RMB2), which has more than the usual complement of old folk. If you’re lucky you’ll catch an open-mike Chinese opera slam at the teahouse, fascinating more to observe, frankly, than to listen to.

To see more information about China history .

To see more information about China .