Ningbo Travel Guide
COMPARE PRICES on all Ningbo Hotels
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
COMPARE PRICES on all Flights to Ningbo
Compare prices and availability on major travel sites with one click
Zhèjiang Province, on the coast, 186km (116 miles) E of Hángzhou
Although Níngbo seems proud of its long history of foreign trade, the last remnants of its treaty-port-era architecture around the port were coming down as this book went to press, except for a few token buildings at the city's central Y-shaped river confluence, San Jiang Kou.
In the Táng and Míng dynasties Níngbo was the main port for trade with Korea and Japan. At the end of the first Opium War in 1842, Britain forced the opening of Níngbo as one of five "treaty ports," and posted a consul here, who was followed by representatives of eight other nationalities.
For the visitor there's not much here to delay a trip onwards to Putuó Shan or south to Fújiàn Province, beyond the odd pagoda and preserved house. The city is bustling and prosperous, and looks best at night with bridges and the old Catholic church colorfully illuminated. The center is being rebuilt in part with a brisk modernism that resembles a Silicon Valley high-tech campus more than a standard Chinese town.
