You would never expect to describe an ancient city as "trendy"

Dare to imagine describing a thousand-year-old ancient city as "trendy" The tide is not just the tide of Qiantang River The flow is not just the flow of Jiangnan waters Here is filled with music and fashion The ancient tide-watching city visited by Qianlong six times on his southern tours - 📍 Yanguan Tide Music City 🚗 30+ mins drive from Hangzhou, 2+ hours drive from Shanghai 🚄 Haining West Station / Tongxiang Station (🚗 transfer) 🚶‍♀️ Day 1: Yanguan Tide Wall ➡️ Gongchen Gate ➡️ North Street ➡️ Imperial Wharf ➡️ Chen Ge’s Old Residence ➡️ Police Station ➡️ Lead Singer Music Resort Hotel ➡️ Tide Watching Day 2: Confucius Temple and School Official ➡️ Sea God Temple ➡️ Jin Yong Academy ➡️ Wang Guowei Former Residence ➡️ Tide-Watching Park ➡️ Zhan’ao Tower (The ancient city is quite large and cannot be fully explored in one day. You can choose to stay at the Music Home Resort Hotel, which offers shuttle service.) - About check-in spots 📷 1️⃣ Lead Singer Music Resort Hotel: A resort hotel favored by many celebrities, the hotel lobby is both avant-garde and elegant. The basement level features the Music Home Museum where you can learn about musicians’ stories and listen to various instruments. On the fifth floor, there is an infinity pool where you can swim while watching the tide. The hotel connects to the city wall, which lights up at night with a music show. After dinner at the buffet, you can relax here with a drink. 2️⃣ Yanguan Tide Wall: Two walls at the entrance of the scenic area where the tide pours down in sync with music at scheduled times. 3️⃣ Gongchen Gate: Over 600 years old city wall covered with green plants. The round arch gate on the water can be passed by boat. 4️⃣ Imperial Wharf: The wharf where Qianlong arrived. 5️⃣ Tide-Watching Park: The place to watch the tide in the ancient city. You can climb Zhan’ao Tower to overlook the front-line tide. (Hotel guests can walk from the hotel entrance to the riverbank to watch the tide.) 6️⃣ Sea God Temple: Qianlong came here to pray for blessings. The ancient building is grand and tall, and photos taken at the stair entrance look great. 7️⃣ Confucius Temple and School Official: Here you can take photos with the red walls similar to those in the Forbidden City. Below is an in-depth travel guide for Yanguan Tide Music City, combining natural wonders, historical culture, and special activities to help you plan your trip efficiently: --- ### 🌊 **1. Must-Experience Highlights** 1. **World Wonder "Qiantang River Tide"** - **Front-line Tide**: The best spot is under Zhan’ao Tower in Tide-Watching Park, where the tide looks like a white ribbon across the river, majestic and powerful. Occurs twice daily; arrive 1 hour early to secure a spot. Scan the AR telescope QR code for real-time tide height and flow speed data. - **Return Tide & Fish Scale Tide**: The Old Salt Warehouse (15 minutes by car) offers views of the return tide. Rare fish scale tides may appear around the 1st and 15th days of the lunar calendar. - **Tide Timing**: The best tide-watching periods are from the 1st to 6th and 15th to 20th days of the lunar calendar. Check the mini-program "Qiantang River Tide Watching" in advance. 2. **Crossing Millennia of Historical Relics** - **Chen Ge’s Old Residence**: A Ming Dynasty grand scholar’s mansion, explore the "Qianlong’s origin mystery," touch the 600-year-old ancient Luohan pine, and find the secret passage entrance. - **Sea God Temple**: Known as the "Forbidden City of Jiangnan," built by Emperor Yongzheng’s decree. Must-see are the Han white jade stone-carved "Nine Dragons Plaque" and the imperial stele pavilion. The red walls and plum blossoms make for beautiful photos (Hanfu recommended). - **Jin Yong Academy**: Founded by Jin Yong himself, the library displays his manuscripts and the martial arts world. The osmanthus tree was personally planted by the master. 3. **Cross-Integration of Music and Tide Culture** - **Music Home Museum**: One of only three worldwide, featuring interactive holographic images where you can become a conductor performing "The Blue Danube." It houses Beethoven’s clothing and authentic pianos. - **Tide-themed Art**: The Tide City Art Center offers a cross-over show of intangible heritage shadow puppetry and electronic music. The fifth-floor "Tide Sound Terrace" at the Lead Singer Hotel provides tide-themed afternoon tea. --- ### 🚗 **2. Transportation Guide** - **Self-drive**: About 40 minutes from Hangzhou. Navigate to "Yanguan Tide Music City P4 Parking Lot" (10 RMB/day). - **Public Transport**: - High-speed train to Haining West Station, then taxi 30 minutes (about 50 RMB) or transfer to tourist line G5 (2 RMB). - Hangzhou Metro Line 9 → Hangzhou-Haining Intercity to "Yanguan Station," then transfer to a free shuttle bus within the scenic area (hail to stop). --- ### 📅 **3. Recommended Itinerary (1-2 days)** **Day 1: Historical Immersion** - Morning: Gongchen Water City Gate (Yuan Dynasty) → Chen Ge’s Old Residence (secret passage exploration) → Imperial Wharf (Qianlong’s landing spot). - Afternoon: Sea God Temple (red wall photo spot) → Wang Guowei Former Residence (authentic manuscript of "Renjian Cihua") → Confucius Temple and School Official (ancient imperial examination culture). - Evening: Climb the ancient city wall to admire plum blossoms (blue hour photo opportunity), watch the "Tide Wall" artificial waterfall at night (daily at 9:00/12:00/15:00, lasts 15 minutes). **Day 2: Tide Music Adventure** - Morning: Jin Yong Academy → Tide-Watching Park Zhan’ao Tower (front-line tide). - Afternoon: Music Home Museum (holographic concert) → Yufeng Sauce Garden (183-year-old sauce culture) → Tide Market cultural and creative market. - Night: Join the "Rivers and Lakes Poetry and Wine Party" or Tide Dream Music Live (tide sounds + fireworks show). --- ### 🍜 **4. Taste of Yanguan** - **Clay Pot Meat**: Signature dish of the Prime Minister’s Mansion restaurant, tender and flavorful paired with yellow wine. - **Banquet Balls**: Fish balls made from pounded silver carp meat, with the freshest shepherd’s purse filling at the "Fengqing Street Snack Shop." - **Yellow Wine Drunken Crab**: Rich crab roe soaked in fragrant wine. - **Hidden Menu**: Steamed shad fish at "Chaoyunge" around the 18th day of the eighth lunar month (reservation required). --- ### 📌 **5. Practical Tips** - **Tickets**: Buying individual tickets for Tide-Watching Park (about 35 RMB) + Sea God Temple (about 20 RMB) + Chen Ge’s Old Residence (about 15 RMB) is more cost-effective; combo tickets may include redundant spots. - **Accommodation**: Lead Singer Music Resort Hotel (sound wave-themed rooms), Sauce Garden Inn (rustic style), booking includes Hanfu experience and double breakfast. - **Gear**: Non-slip shoes (due to water mist at the tide wall), windproof jacket, hat (strong riverside wind). - **Off-peak Travel**: Spring (March-June) has fewer crowds and more flowers, with rich "Qianlong IP" activities; autumn (18th day of the eighth lunar month) has the strongest tide but crowded. --- ### 🎉 **6. Dragon Boat Festival Limited Events (May 31 - June 2)** - **Folk Experience**: Zongzi making (Sauce Garden Inn), colorful rope DIY (bamboo shop), Five Poisons science class (Xuande Gate). - **Music Party**: Grassland concert (Changmu Bridge Lawn), drum set experience (free badge gift). - **Tide Market**: Explore music and cultural creative products and try novel snacks around the ancient stage. --- ### 💎 **Classic Routes and Time Reference** Below are recommended durations and highlights for main attractions to help you arrange flexibly according to your interests: | **Attraction Type** | **Recommended Spot** | **Suggested Duration** | **Core Highlights** | |---------------------|---------------------|------------------------|---------------------| | **Natural Wonders** | Tide-Watching Park | 1.5-2 hours | "Front-line tide" spectacle, best view at Zhan’ao Tower | | | Tide Wall | 30 minutes | Artificial waterfall, tide release 3 times daily | | **Historical Relics**| Chen Ge’s Old Residence | 1 hour | Ming Dynasty grand scholar’s mansion, secret passage exploration | | | Sea God Temple | 1 hour | "Forbidden City of Jiangnan," Nine Dragons Plaque, red wall photo spot | | | Jin Yong Academy | 1 hour | Jin Yong manuscripts, martial arts culture display | | **Cultural Experience** | Music Home Museum | 1.5 hours | One of three worldwide, holographic concert experience | | | Yufeng Sauce Garden | 40 minutes | 188-year-old brand, traditional sauce culture | | **Special Activities** | Ancient City Wall | 30 minutes | Plum blossom viewing, blue hour photography | | | Tide Market | 1-2 hours | Cultural creative products, specialty snacks | --- The charm of Yanguan lies in the grandeur of the rising tide and the flowing melodies in the alleys. It is recommended to watch the tide early, explore deep residences at noon, and enjoy music and feast at night to fully experience this thousand-year tide sound journey.