Encounter Golden Autumn, Savor Unique Xinghua, All-You-Can-Eat Hairy Crabs

Everyone has a dream of faraway places, so travel is imperative.

I've been to Jiangsu many times, but Xinghua was my first. Coincidentally, this time I traveled with friends in a self-driving RV, making it a perfect journey worth recording!

1. Crab Tasting Festival, She Arrived

'When autumn winds rise, crabs’ feet itch; in September the round belly, in October the pointed.' Golden autumn arrives, and it’s the season for the fattest hairy crabs.

This year's National Day holiday coincided with the Mid-Autumn Festival, perfect for family outings. I also came to Xinghua to admire the moon and taste crabs.

From October 3rd to 4th, the Xinghua Crab Tasting Festival opened on schedule at Wujindang Wetland Park in Xinghua.

At 9 a.m. on the 3rd, the splendid opening ceremony began at Wujindang Wetland Park. Songs, dances, and various exciting performances were staged one after another. Xinghua Tourism Ambassador Tan Zhuqing also came to sing.

In addition to the opening ceremony, there were multiple performances throughout the day, and a band performance in the evening. From day to night, the excitement never stopped.

After the Mid-Autumn Festival is the perfect time to enjoy crabs. You can come to the Crab Tasting Festival to feast.

Various crab dishes: Japanese cuisine, crab roe noodles, crab roe soup dumplings, creative crab snacks...

On-site, a ["Xinghua Hairy Crab" Themed Special Stall] was set up. The special stalls featured Xinghua hairy crab sales and traditional crab-eight-piece shelling performances, fully displaying Xinghua's hairy crab food culture.

A "limited edition" [Little Crab Market] was created at the event. It not only featured various internet-famous foods like dark ice cream and colorful cotton candy, creative crab dishes, but also ingenious cultural and creative handicrafts and local intangible cultural heritage products, allowing visitors to eat while strolling.

The first stop in Xinghua, starting with food, is bound to be an unforgettable trip!

2. Ancient Charm and Fragrance, She Has Always Been

In a place, the most culturally rich spot is surely its local museum. Xinghua Museum not only has a strong cultural atmosphere but also exudes unique ancient charm.

Xinghua Museum is located in the center of Xinghua, a water town known as the 'land of fish and rice.' It is a national third-level museum (the only national-level museum in the four cities and two districts of Taizhou), a provincial, city, and county-level patriotic education base, and a national AA-level tourist attraction.

The museum has permanent exhibitions such as 'Zheng Banqiao's Life and Artistic Achievements,' 'Shi Nai'an Historical Artifacts,' 'Exhibition of Historical Figures from Xinghua,' 'Lv Houchang Photography Art Museum,' and 'Nandang Excavated Artifacts,' open year-round. It also hosts various temporary exhibitions from time to time.

Xinghua Museum is a three-story imitation ancient building with white walls, black tiles, and horse-head walls, full of ancient elegance. Inside, there are sculptures, murals, small bridges, flowing water, double corridors, winding verandas, bamboo groves, and fragrant flowers.

Visitor Guide:

Admission: Free

Opening hours: 8:30-18:00 (summer); 8:30-17:30 (spring, autumn, winter)

Address: No. 2 Pailou North Road, Xinghua

Another ancient spot is surely Confucianism Street.

Confucianism Street is located in Xinghua city, named after Fan Zhongyan's 'Confucianism Stele Inscription' from the Northern Song Dynasty.

The ancient street was built in the Song, formed in the Ming, and flourished in the Qing. For nearly a thousand years, this culture-rich ancient street has not only scattered historical sites and cultural landscapes, including ancient residences, temples, ancestral halls, memorial arches, gardens, lanes, and rare ancient trees, but also preserved building clusters like the 'Prime Minister's Mansion' and 'Jinshi Mansion.' The 1-kilometer-long Ming city wall on its south side is rare in Jiangsu and even nationwide.

Many gardens are hidden in Confucianism Street and its connected ancient alleys, such as the Yuan Dynasty 'Zhaoyang Poetry School' Cheng Tinggui's 'Ju Zhu Xuan' in the Censor Alley, and the Qing Dynasty calligrapher and painter Xu Tui's bamboo garden in the Xu Family Bamboo Garden Alley.

The small gardens within Confucianism Street compete in beauty, each with its own characteristics.

Not far away, the East Jinmen Old Street maintains and follows the traditional style and features of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Located on the east side of Xinghua's ancient city, East Jinmen Old Street has a history of over a thousand years. Since the Ming and Qing dynasties, due to flourishing commerce and daily profits, it was named 'East Jinmen' (Golden East Gate).

East Jinmen Old Street has clear development veins and distinct street textures, with the main axis being the street outside the east gate, featuring complete Ming and Qing ancient buildings and a fishbone-like street network. Inside East Jinmen Old Street, there are many historical and cultural attractions such as Shangchi Zhai, Zhao Haixian's Western-style Building, and Zhuangyuan Square.

That evening, I watched an aurora show and felt the infinite charm of technology.

Strolling on Wujindang Bridge, I felt more and more that travel is magical because you never know what interesting things you'll encounter, what new knowledge you'll gain, or what interesting people you'll meet. It is precisely because of these unknowns that the meaning of travel becomes more beautiful!

Accommodation and Food Recommendation: Zemuyunju

Zemuyunju is a combination of farm stay and homestay, very suitable for our accommodation during the trip.

After a day of fun, eat some good food and then sleep—perfect!

3. 'The Wizard of Oz,' She Appeared

I had only seen scenes from 'The Wizard of Oz' in movies before, but unexpectedly, I saw them at Li Zhong Water Forest Park in Xinghua. The scenery was beautiful, and the air was especially fresh. Perfect for walking and rowing.

You might not imagine that this was originally a wasteland, later developed into rows of ridges planted with water-adapted trees like pond cypress and metasequoia, with cash crops like taro and rapeseed interplanted. Now, over 100,000 metasequoia and pond cypress trees have grown into a tall, dense, and vibrant water forest.

I jumped onto a raft, sat on a wooden chair, put on a bamboo hat and life jacket, and prepared to drift along the periphery of Li Zhong Water Forest. The lake surface was as smooth as a mirror, with blue sky, white clouds, green trees, flying birds, reflections dancing, light and shadow flowing...

Another tranquil place in Xinghua is Zheng Banqiao's Former Residence.

Facing south, it has two courtyards, with a main house of three rooms facing south, plus a gatehouse, a small study, and a kitchen.

White walls and black tiles, orchids and bamboos rustling, the courtyard quiet. The entire residence is simple and elegant, fully reflecting the artistic conception of Zheng Banqiao's saying, 'A room is elegant not because it is large, but because of the fragrance of flowers, not quantity.'

The residence has white walls and gray tiles. Although not large, it offers a temporary escape from noise. Strolling in the courtyard, you can hear the echo of your own footsteps.

Zheng Banqiao was famous for his three perfections: poetry, calligraphy, and painting. He was a leading figure of the 'Eight Eccentrics of Yangzhou' in the Qing Dynasty. The Zheng family was a scholarly family for generations. Ink bamboo became Zheng Banqiao's main subject. In his works, bamboo symbolized a character. The proud and unyielding bamboo, with its hollow joints, can be seen as a reflection of Banqiao's noble character.

Strolling here feels like traveling back to that era, chatting with Zheng Banqiao...

Oh, and I must recommend a homestay called Gengduo Homestay.

Besides excellent accommodation, what's most valuable is that it's like a filming location where you can take great photos. For example, the two pictures above and below look like they were taken outdoors, not in a homestay.

This time, our RV self-driving trip allowed us to experience firsthand the 'clear water, green transparency, flourishing culture, and beautiful city' of Xinghua, and to appreciate the Xinghua spirit of 'piling up earth to form ridges, striving upward.' Xinghua is a place where 'buildings can be read, streets can be strolled, culture can be felt, and the city has warmth.'

It can be said that this trip, with the Crab Tasting Festival as a medium, showcased Xinghua's cultural charm and tourism vitality, and I was deeply moved by Xinghua. I will definitely come again to this delicious and fun place!