Zhejiang province: Jishan Mountain Historical and Cultural Block in Shaoxing

Jishan Mountain Historical and Cultural Block in Shaoxing
绍兴市蕺山（书圣故里）历史文化街区

The Jishan Mountain Historical and Cultural Block, renowned as Chinese calligraphy master Wang Xizhi's (303-361) hometown, is noted as important site by the historical and cultural conservation plan for old Shaoxing city.

Located on the north side of old Shaoxing city and at the foot of Jishan Mountain, the block starts from Zhongxingbei Road in the east and extends to Jiefang Road in the west, and stretches from Huanchengbei Road in the north to Shenglidong Road in the south.

It covers an area of 0.8 square kilometers, and includes two protection zones: an eastern zone centered on Jiezhu Temple and a western zone built around the former residence of Cai Yuanpei (1868-1940), the prominent educator, former education minister and former president of Peking University.

Listed as a key national cultural relics site, the former residence of Cai Yuanpei is located in the bifeinong, or pen-flying alley, where is a well-preserved building complex of taimen architecture, or Shaoxing-style large and independent courtyard of the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Main attractions:
Former residence of Cai Yuanpei, Jiezhu Temple, Jishan Academy of classical learning, Tishan Bridge, Tanhua Courtyard, Murals of Taiping Heavenly Kingdom

Tishan Bridge was named after Wang Xizhi and is inscribed with a Chinese traditional paper fan in memory of those sold by an old woman on the bridge.

Tanhua Courtyard is a traditional Shaoxing-style taimen courtyard dwelled in by the person who ranked third nationwide in the National Imperial Examination in feudal China.

Taiping Tianguo, known as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851-64) was the unrecognized renegade southern regime that challenged the imperial Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and was later defeated.