Taierzhuang Ancient Town

Dubbed the “Finest Town Under Heaven,” this rebuilt Grand Canal town blends eight architectural styles, with the Battle of Taierzhuang Memorial Hall, night cruises on the canal, and nearby Baodugu and Weishan Lake.

Taierzhuang lies in the south of Zaozhuang, Shandong Province, on the Shandong–Jiangsu border, with the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal running right through it; it is famous for the 1938 Battle of Taierzhuang. Today its centerpiece is the rebuilt Taierzhuang Ancient Town, a national AAAAA-rated attraction (China's top tier): restored along its original street plan, this water town blends eight architectural styles, including southern Shandong, Huizhou, southern Fujian, Lingnan and European, and preserves 53 wartime sites; the canal lit up at night and boat rides on the water are the highlight. West of the old town, the Battle of Taierzhuang Memorial Hall, together with the Revolutionary Martyrs' Cemetery to the north, forms a revolutionary-history route, while Shuanglong Lake Wetland and the canal scenic belt to the south are good for cycling. With the old town as your base, you can make day trips around Zaozhuang: Baodugu and Xiong'ershan Geopark in Shanting District to the north, the Guanshi Pomegranate Garden and Qingtan Temple in Yicheng, the former Zhongxing Coal Mine in Shizhong District, the red lotus wetlands and Weishan Island on Weishan Lake to the west, and the Mozi Memorial Hall and museum cluster in Tengzhou. Spring and autumn are the best seasons; in Jul–Aug you can see lotus blooms on Weishan Lake, and the old town's Chinese New Year lantern festival is very festive but crowded. Zaozhuang Station, Taierzhuang high-speed station (Taierzhuang Station) and Xuzhou East Station all serve the area; the old town is about 1 hour by car from Xuzhou. Allow 2–3 days: one for the old town by day and night, one for the revolutionary sites and wetlands, and one for Shanting or Weishan Lake. Local food includes Zaozhuang spicy chicken, vegetable jianbing, mutton soup and canal fish.

Top sights

• Taierzhuang Ancient Town – A rebuilt canal town on the Grand Canal, where waterfront streets and lanes blend eight architectural styles. Known as the “Number One Vill…
• Taierzhuang Battle Memorial Hall – A dedicated memorial hall presenting the 1938 Battle of Taierzhuang in full. It is an important place to learn about the frontal battlefiel…
• Taierzhuang Old Mosque – A Qing-dynasty mosque inside the old town, its walls pocked with bullet holes, a witness to the fiercest street fighting of the Battle of T…
• Taierzhuang Canal Night Cruise – Glide through the water streets and canals of the old town on a sculling boat, watching the lights along the banks and water performances…
• Shuanglong Lake Wetland – A canal wetland south of the old town, with reed ponds, lotus pools, and birding boardwalks, ideal for cycling and walks at dawn and dusk.
• Taierzhuang Revolutionary Martyrs Cemetery – A cemetery for martyrs of the Battle of Taierzhuang and the War of Liberation, with a monument and a battle history gallery.
• Biyang Ancient City Ruins – The capital ruins of the Spring and Autumn-period state of Biyang, site of the 'Jin Conquest of Biyang' battle, and the setting of the tale…
• Baodugu Mountain – 'The First Mountain of Southern Shandong,' a lone peak rising steeply with sheer cliffs and a flat summit that offers views over the Lunan…
• Xiong'er Mountain – The core of the Zaozhuang National Geopark, where earthquake collapse features, the Shuanglong Great Rift, and karst caves are concentrated.
• Guanshi Pomegranate Garden – An ancient pomegranate orchard of ten thousand mu in Yicheng, where century-old trees form continuous groves, blooming in fiery red in spri…
• Qingtan Temple – An ancient temple in the Qingtan Mountains of Yicheng, where millennium-old qingtan trees (Pteroceltis) grip the rocks with their roots bes…
• Zhongxing Coal Mine Site & Square – The site of the Zhongxing Coal Mine, founded with domestic capital in the late Qing dynasty, now converted into a city square and cultural…
• Weishan Island & Railway Guerrilla Memorial – The largest island in Weishan Lake, home to a Railway Guerrilla memorial park and the tomb of Weizi, reached by boat through lotus ponds an…
• Weishan Lake National Wetland Park – A wetland scenic area on the largest freshwater lake in northern China, where tens of thousands of mu of lotus flowers stretch across the w…
• Mozi Memorial Hall – A memorial hall in Tengzhou, hometown of Mozi, presenting the Mohist ideals of universal love and opposition to aggression, along with Mohi…
• Tengzhou Museum – A county-level city museum with a rich collection of bronzes from the Xue and Teng states and artifacts from Beixin culture, of very high q…
• Tengzhou Han Stone Relief Museum – A themed museum on the Han-dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in Tengzhou, with vivid scenes of carriage processions, feasts, music, and acrob…
• Longquan Pagoda – An ancient pagoda in urban Tengzhou, first built in the Tang dynasty; an octagonal, thirteen-story brick tower in pavilion style and the ci…

Where to eat

• Taierzhuang Yijue Canal Fish Restaurant (West Gate Branch) – An affordable fish restaurant on Xingzhong Road outside the West Gate of the old town. Its canal carp and spicy chicken…
• Zhaohua Xishi Chinese Restaurant (Fuxing Square Branch) – A Lunan restaurant on T-Shaped Street, directly opposite Fuxing Square in the old town. Spicy chicken, canal carp and d…
• Huajiadi Art Restaurant (Ancient Town Scenic Area Branch) – A restaurant at the south end of T-Shaped Street near the Yue River. Its Gold Medal spicy chicken won an award at the a…

Itineraries

• Grand Shandong Loop Self-Drive Tour – Starting from Jinan, this loop covers central, southern, and coastal Shandong before returning via Qingzhou, connecting…
• Southwest Shandong Grand Canal Self-Drive Tour – Drive south along the Shandong section of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal, from Linqing and Liaocheng to Weishan Lake…