Shaoxing Travel Guide

Yellow wine: Guyuelongshan/Kuaijishan/Tapai — Yuanhong (entry-level)/Jiafan (slightly sweet)/Shanniang (semi-sweet)/Xiangxue (sweet type). Best warmed to 35-40°C (add shredded ginger/dried plum). Must-eat: Kong Yiji fennel beans, Shaoxing stinky tofu (crispy outside, tender inside), preserved vegetable braised pork (meigancai!), drunken crab/drunken shrimp (raw-cured, drunken in yellow wine), distiller's grains chicken, Shaoxing soy sauce duck. Spiciness doesn't exist here, savory-umami flavor.

D1: Lu Xun's Hometown (Baicao Garden + Sanwei Study, free) + Shen Garden (the love story of Lu You and Tang Wan) + Bazi Bridge (ancient Song Dynasty bridge); D2: Lanting (Wang Xizhi's floating wine cups along a winding stream) + East Lake (drifting through stone cliffs by black-awning boat) + Cangqiao Straight Street (an authentic waterside alley). Visit the Yellow Rice Wine Museum/Guyuelongshan Winery to learn about yellow rice wine culture. Budget: 600-1200 yuan. Only 20 minutes by high-speed rail from Hangzhou.