Shaoxing Keyan Scenic Area | Ancient Yue Culture
Shaoxing Keyan Scenic Area dates back to the Han dynasty, with a history of over 1,800 years. It is a scenic area that integrates the water town style of Shaoxing, ancient quarrying relics, and forest ecology, with ancient Yue culture as its core and ancient quarrying relics as its feature. It includes four scenic areas: Keyan, Jianhu, Luzhen, and Xianglin.
Since the Three Kingdoms period, quarrying has created many natural landscapes such as stone walls and stone caves. During the Sui and Tang dynasties, the "Cloud Bone" stone and the Maitreya Buddha statue were carved by three generations of stonemasons over a hundred years. Over the centuries, with the embellishment of natural landscapes and the involvement of religious culture, as well as the influence of literati and scholars, the famous "Eight Views of Keyan" were formed by the Qing dynasty. Among them are the Maitreya Buddha statue, Cloud Bone, Qixingyan, and Canhua Cave, which showcase the stone scenery, as well as the Five Bridges and Nanyang Autumn, which showcase the water scenery of Jianhu. It is a treasure trove of tourism resources that integrates natural scenery and cultural resources.
At the beginning of the new century, Keyan Scenic Area restored the fictional hometown in Lu Xun's novels into an architectural entity, forming the Luzhen Scenic Area. The "small town" incorporates many cultural elements of Shaoxing, such as water, bridges, wine, stones, architecture, folk customs, and opera, recreating the unique folk customs of Shaoxing water town. Keyan Scenic Area relies on the thousand-year-old Yue culture to highlight the unique cultural resources of Shaoxing, such as stone culture, water culture, bridge culture, wine culture, opera culture, celebrity culture, and folk culture.
🌟Highlights:
🔸Keyan Wonders: Keyan is the core of the entire scenic area, with various stone caves, stone holes, stone pools, and stone walls that are simply the work of nature! Especially the "Heavenly Buddha," which was carved by three generations of stonemasons, is majestic and awe-inspiring.
🔸Jianhu Style: As the "mother lake" of Shaoxing, the beauty of Jianhu is indescribable. Sitting on a black awning boat, boating on the lake, it feels like being in an ink painting. The lake and mountains, the ancient bridges and stone arches, all make people linger.
🔸Luzhen Ancient Charm: Strolling in Luzhen, the bluestone roads, black tiles and white walls, and the shops along the river all make people feel the strong style of Jiangnan water town. The water town style described by Mr. Lu Xun is perfectly recreated here.
📍Address: No. 558 Keyan Avenue, Shaoxing County, Zhejiang Province
🚗Transportation: Take Bus 603 or 77 from downtown Shaoxing, or Bus 805, 77, or 607 from Keqiao District to Keyan Scenic Area Station.
🎫Tickets: CNY 130
🕙Opening Hours: 8:00–16:30 (winter), 8:00–17:00 (summer)