My Travel Highlight – Liangzhu in Pingyao, Zhejiang (Jiangnan Trip 22)

Liangzhu is one of my personal top recommendations from this Jiangnan trip (the other will come in a later post). It might not be to everyone's taste, but it's definitely my kind of place.

After leaving Nanxun, my main goal was to head to Hangzhou. Before that, I wanted to stop by Huzhou to experience the charm of silk, but it turned out Huzhou had no silk at all — I didn't see a single silk shop. Even a street sweeper I asked said there was none, and a woman told me I should go to Shengze if I wanted to buy silk. Forget it, I'm not a silk merchant. After wandering around downtown Huzhou and finding it rather uninteresting, I took a few buses and headed straight for Liangzhu.

Liangzhu is a place I read about in Yu Qiuyu's books, and later I learned that ancient ruins had been discovered there. After changing a few buses from Huzhou, I arrived in Pingyao Town. I settled in, had lunch, and then set off on foot (there are also buses available). By the time I reached the site, it was already afternoon.

I've visited several ancient historical sites in China — Peking Man at Zhoukoudian in Beijing, the Banpo site in Xi'an, and just last year, Yuanmou in Chuxiong, Yunnan. The first two had some interesting points, but at Yuanmou, the genuine artifacts amounted to just two tiny black teeth, so small that anyone with poor eyesight could barely see them. Of course, to fill out the museum, they displayed a lot of popular science information. But this time, Liangzhu truly opened my eyes. Not only does it have a vast complex of ruins, but also an excellent museum with many genuine archaeological treasures on display.

I do have a small suggestion for the museum: every replica of an archaeological artifact should be clearly labeled as such — this should be a fundamental principle for any museum. Unfortunately, our museums often fail to do this.

Back to Liangzhu. I came from Huzhou, but actually, Liangzhu isn't far from Hangzhou. On holidays, people from around Hangzhou could easily make a day trip there. The place is vast and abundant in resources. A security guard told me that walking a full circuit would be about seven kilometers. I was already quite tired from walking, so I only covered half of it. The park has electric carts and tandem bicycles for rent, costing 80 or 40 yuan per hour, respectively. The guard took one look at me and said he doubted I could pedal one alone. He was probably right, so I just had to set off on my own two feet. But honestly, I really enjoyed the slow stroll through the vast, empty fields, looking at flowers, grasses, and ancient landmarks. Standing atop the original city walls, I let the scenery transport me back in time, imagining what life was like for our earliest ancestors all those millennia ago.

I especially loved the creative way they used black wire mesh to form silhouettes of prehistoric people, placed in the open fields. Groups of them appear to be herding pigs, fishing, or hunting — they create a new kind of atmosphere, giving a sense of transparency, as if peering through history.

At the heart of the ruins, a pilgrimage path has been built around the original remains. You absolutely must follow it up to the hilltop. At sunset over the long river, with flocks of egrets taking flight, yellow flowers swaying, and the fields bathed in golden light, I felt as if I myself was turning into a primitive human (if I shed my modern clothes and wrapped myself in a grass skirt, I'd fit right in — haha).

Alright, I'll stop writing. Based on past experience, if I write too much, it just gets 'embezzled' anyway.