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Voykit pocket guide · China
Yangzhou
扬州
Give Yangzhou 2 nights: one full day for Slender West Lake and the gardens, one for the old-town canals and the Grand Canal Museum. Skip it if you only have 3 days in Jiangsu.
Yangzhou is a 2,500-year-old canal and salt-trade city on the Yangtze plain, 1.5–2 h by high-speed rail from Nanjing or Shanghai. Its draw is a compact set of classical gardens, the slender lake park and the old Grand Canal, not a big-ticket monument. Two nights covers it well; one night is a squeeze.
- Country
- China
- Local name
- 扬州
- Best months
- Apr–May, Oct–Nov
- Avoid
- Jul–Aug (hot, humid, heavy rain), Chinese New Year week
- Stay
- 2 nights
Checked 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change; anything marked (check) is not confirmed.
Essentials
- Currency
- CNY
- Money
- Alipay and WeChat Pay accept Visa, Mastercard, JCB and Amex cards; single payments over ¥200 carry a fee of about 3% on a foreign card (smaller ones are free), and per-payment and yearly caps apply — check the app. Keep a second way to pay.
- Daily spend
- Budget ¥250–450 excl. bed · Mid ¥450–900 excl. bed · High ¥900+ excl. bed (estimate; check)
- SIM and data
- A roaming eSIM from outside China routes traffic through its home network, so Google, WhatsApp and Instagram work without a VPN — the simplest setup.
- Emergency
- Police 110 · Fire 119 · Ambulance 120
- Plugs
- Types A, C, I · 220 V · 50 Hz · Many sockets take flat two-pin (A), round two-pin (C) and angled three-pin (I) plugs; UK plugs need an adapter.
- Tipping
- Restaurants: No tip; upmarket hotels add 10–15% service.; Taxis and DiDi: No tip.; Tour guides and drivers: Expected on organised tours: about ¥100–200 a day for a guide, ¥50–100 for a driver.; Hotel porters: Not expected; ¥10–20 in luxury hotels.
- Water
- Not for drinking from the tap; bottled water ¥2–5, and kettles and free bottles in hotel rooms. Restaurants serve hot water or tea.
- Toilets
- Public toilets are frequent and free; squat toilets outside hotels and malls. Carry tissues — many have no paper.
What things cost
| Item | Price |
|---|---|
| Bowl of noodles or Yangzhou fried rice | ¥15–40 |
| Morning dim sum (baozi, congee, tea) | ¥15–35 |
| Coffee in a mall café | ¥20–40 |
| Beer: draught in a bar / can at a convenience store | ¥15–30 / ¥5–10 |
| 5 km taxi ride3.1 mi taxi ride | ¥15–25 |
| City bus ride | ¥2 (check) |
| Garden or temple entry | ¥30–120 |
Desk estimates, checked 2026-09; check locally.
Get in
By air
- YTY · Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport
- About 40 km east of the centre; mostly domestic routes plus Osaka and Seoul. Airport express bus to town, roughly 75 min.About 25 mi east of the centre; mostly domestic routes plus Osaka and Seoul. Airport express bus to town, roughly 75 min.
- NKG · Nanjing Lukou International
- About 60 km southwest; express buses run to the Yangzhou city terminal downtown.About 37 mi southwest; express buses run to the Yangzhou city terminal downtown.
Typical fares
- Zhen-Yang ferry, Guazhou → Zhenjiang
- ¥3 on foot, ¥5 with a bicycle, ¥15 per car; every 5–10 min, 24 h weather permitting (check)
- Taxi, Wenchang Ge → Yangzhoudong station
- about ¥25–35, 20–25 min (check)
- High-speed train, Yangzhoudong → Nanjing
- about ¥60–90, 1.5–2 h (check)
Get around
City buses cost about ¥2 a ride but many routes stop around 18:00–19:00. Routes Z6, K1 and 88 run along Wenchang Rd between the two railway stations; tourism routes 游1/2/3 link the main sights. Taxis and ride-hailing are cheap and easy; shared bikes work well on the flat grid, but watch the mopeds.City buses cost about ¥2 a ride but many routes stop around 6:00 PM–7:00 PM. Routes Z6, K1 and 88 run along Wenchang Rd between the two railway stations; tourism routes 游1/2/3 link the main sights. Taxis and ride-hailing are cheap and easy; shared bikes work well on the flat grid, but watch the mopeds.
See and do
Known for
- Slender West Lake
- Ge Yuan and He Yuan gardens
- Grand Canal heritage
- Yangzhou fried rice and morning dim sum
Day trips
| Where | How | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Zhenjiang | High-speed train from Yangzhoudong, or the Zhen-Yang ferry from Guazhou (¥3 on foot, every 5–10 min, 24 h weather permitting) | About 1–1.5 h |
| Nanjing | High-speed train from Yangzhoudong or Yangzhou station | About 1.5–2 h |
| Gaoyou | Bus or train from Yangzhou; Gaoyou is a county-level city under Yangzhou | About 1–1.5 h |
| Suzhou | High-speed train, usually with a change at Nanjing or Zhenjiang | About 2.5–3.5 h |
Sleep
- Wenchang Ge / city centre
- Around the Wenchang Pavilion roundabout: malls, hotels and restaurants, walkable to the old-town lanes.
- Slender West Lake south gate
- Quiet, green and close to the lake park; best if the gardens are your main reason for coming.
- Yangzhoudong (East) station area
- Convenient for an early train out, but 7 km from the sights and thin on evening food.Convenient for an early train out, but 4.3 mi from the sights and thin on evening food.
Phrase card
| English | Say or show |
|---|---|
| Hello | 你好nǐ hǎo |
| Thank you | 谢谢xiè xie |
| How much is it? | 多少钱？duō shao qián |
| Can I pay by card? | 可以刷卡吗？kě yǐ shuā kǎ ma |
| Where is the toilet? | 洗手间在哪里？xǐ shǒu jiān zài nǎ lǐ |
| I don't want it | 我不要wǒ bú yào |
Etiquette, safety and scams
Etiquette
- Greeting: Handshake and a nod; use surnames with a title; avoid: Hugs and cheek kisses
- Face: Disagree privately and indirectly; avoid: Correcting or embarrassing someone in front of others
- Gifts: Give with two hands; expect the gift to be refused once or twice and opened later; avoid: Clocks, umbrellas, white flowers, sets of four
- Business cards: Present and receive with both hands, read it, keep it on the table; avoid: Writing on it or pocketing it at once
- Queues and crowds: Hold your ground politely in scrums at buses and lifts; avoid: Taking pushing personally
- Temples: Walk clockwise around Tibetan stupas and prayer wheels; remove hats; avoid: Touching statues or photographing where signs forbid
- Politics: Listen; follow your host's lead; avoid: Raising Tibet, Taiwan, Xinjiang, 1989 or the party leadership
- Numbers and colour: Red and 8 are lucky; red envelopes carry money gifts; avoid: Writing names in red; the number 4
Scams and watch-outs
- Many bus routes end around 18:00–19:00: plan the last leg by taxi.
- Slender West Lake charges a steep admission (¥120 as listed); other parks nearby are free.
- Mopeds often ignore traffic rules, including on bike lanes.
- The Run-Yang bridge to Zhenjiang is an expressway: no bicycles or mopeds, use the ferry instead.
Yangzhou is a low-crime city and safe for tourists day and night. The real risks are summer heat and rain, mopeds on bike lanes, and unmarked pedicab or teahouse bills: agree the price first.
One and two days
No timed day plan for Yangzhou yet. Suggested stay: 2 nights. Build a day from the list below, mornings for the big sight.
- Slender West Lake
- Ge Yuan and He Yuan gardens
- Grand Canal heritage
- Yangzhou fried rice and morning dim sum
Sources
Written by Voykit; facts cross-checked against these sources, last desk check 2026-09. Prices, hours and rules change: check on the day.
- Yangzhou Taizhou International Airport: www.yztzairport.net/
- China Grand Canal Museum: canalmuseum.net/English.html
- Wikivoyage: Yangzhou, revision 5320225 (CC BY-SA 4.0): en.wikivoyage.org/w/index.php?oldid=5320225
Pocket card
Cut along the border and keep it in your wallet. Show the local-script lines to a driver.
Yangzhou扬州
请到这个地址
To this address, please
My hotel (write the name and address in the local script)
No US or UK embassy in Yangzhou; the US consulate-general is in Shanghai and the UK consulate-general in Shanghai too. Most nationalities rely on their embassy in Beijing (check).
Alipay or WeChat Pay linked to a foreign card is the practical way to pay; small shops may not take cash easily.
Voykit · checked 2026-09
Printed from Voykit (/yangzhou). Written by Voykit; checked 2026-09. Estimates only: confirm prices, hours and entry rules on the day.