South Lake
South Lake, Nanhu in Chinese, lies on the south side of central Jiaxing. It is a small lake by Chinese standards, two linked basins that older writers thought looked like a pair of mandarin ducks, which is why it is also called Yuanyang Hu, Mandarin Duck Lake. Chinese Wikipedia gives the water area as about 41.6 hectares and the depth as 2 to 5 metres. Jiangnan has long ranked it with West Lake in Hangzhou and Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing as one of the region's three famous lakes.
Two things bring visitors. One is an old pleasure tower on an island in the middle. The other is a boat. In the summer of 1921 the founding congress of the Chinese Communist Party finished its business on a hired pleasure boat on this lake, and a replica of that boat, the Red Boat, is moored beside the island today.
How the congress ended up on a boat
The First National Congress of the party opened in Shanghai on 23 July 1921. On the evening of 30 July the French Concession police searched the meeting house, so the delegates broke off. With Wang Huiwu, the wife of the delegate Li Da, as their guide, they moved the meeting to South Lake, where hired painted boats were a normal sight. They took an early train from Shanghai, and the last session was held on a mid-sized silk net boat on the lake, ending with the declaration that the party was founded. Chinese Wikipedia's two articles disagree on the date, giving 2 August in one and 3 August in the other, so you will see both.
The original boat did not survive. In 1959 Jiaxing set up the South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall and rebuilt the boat from descriptions. The replica is about 16 metres long and 3 metres across at its widest, with a front cabin, a middle cabin where the meeting was held, a sleeping cabin and a rear cabin. It was launched on 1 October 1959. When the delegate Dong Biwu came back in 1964 he looked it over and said it had been built correctly, and a poem he wrote that day is carved on a stele in the Fangzong Pavilion on the shore nearby, built in 1985.
You can look at the boat from the island landing. It is a place of political pilgrimage, and on many days you will see party groups in matching caps taking photographs and making oaths, which is part of the experience whether or not it interests you.
The Mist and Rain Tower
The island's older story is the Mist and Rain Tower, Yanyu Lou. Local histories say the first tower was built in the Five Dynasties period by Qian Yuanliao of the Wuyue kingdom, as a lookout on the shore. It was destroyed and rebuilt more than once. In 1548 the Jiaxing prefect Zhao Ying had the city moat dredged and piled the silt in the middle of the lake. The tower went up on the new island the following year and kept its old name.
The Qianlong Emperor climbed it several times on his southern tours and liked it enough to have a copy built on an island in the lake at the Chengde Mountain Resort. The tower you see now dates from 1918. It is two storeys high with verandas on both floors and holds more than fifty old inscribed stones. Behind it the Baomei Pavilion of 1875 has plum blossom paintings by the general Peng Yulin carved into its walls. The island is round and only about a hectare, so a slow circuit of the halls, pavilions and rockeries takes under an hour.
On the shore
The lakeside paths are free and open all day. The main entrance is at Huijingyuan, where the ferry pier is. The Haogu Pagoda stands on the shore to the south and the Lanxiu Garden is nearby. The South Lake Revolutionary Memorial Hall, at July 1 Square on Yanyu Road, is a large museum of the party's founding. It is mostly in Chinese and aimed at Chinese visitors, though the scale of the building is a statement in itself.
Tickets, ferry and hours
Walking around the lake costs nothing. To reach the island you take the ferry from Huijingyuan. Jiaxing Bendibao and a January 2026 Qunar listing both give the return ferry fare as 20 yuan for adults, with children between 1.2 and 1.5 metres at half price, and the boats run about every 20 minutes. Bendibao also lists a combined ticket for the paid sights at 60 yuan and a South Lake and Yuehe combined ticket at 110 yuan.
Bendibao lists island hours of 8:00 to 17:30 from 1 April to 31 October and 8:00 to 16:30 from 1 November to 31 March, with the tower itself closing at 17:00 in summer. From November, plan to be on the island by mid afternoon.
The memorial hall is free and runs from 9:00 to 17:30 with last entry at 17:00. It closes on Mondays except public holidays, and listings say it needs an advance booking through the scenic area's WeChat account, with ID checked at the door. Fares and booking rules change, so check the day's notice.
Getting there
From Jiaxing station the lake is close by taxi. Jiaxing tram line 1 and several city buses stop near the scenic area. Jiaxing South, on the Shanghai to Hangzhou high speed line, is further out. Bendibao puts the taxi ride from the stations at about 15 minutes and says Jiaxing station is the closer one. For the water towns of the prefecture, see Wuzhen and Xitang, each worth a separate day.
Frequently asked questions
Is South Lake free?
Yes, the lakeside is free. The island ferry costs 20 yuan return for adults according to 2025 and 2026 listings.
How long should I allow?
Two hours for the ferry, the island and a short walk. Add an hour or two for the memorial hall.
Is the Red Boat the original?
No. It is a 1959 replica built from the memories of people who knew the boat.
Sources
Facts in this article were checked against the following sources, retrieved 22 October 2026.
- 南湖 (嘉兴), Chinese Wikipedia
- 南湖红船, Chinese Wikipedia
- 烟雨楼, Chinese Wikipedia
- South Lake (Jiaxing), English Wikipedia
- Jiaxing Bendibao, autumn outings with South Lake hours and fares
- Qunar, South Lake day trip notes, January 2026
- 避暑山庄, Chinese Wikipedia
- Jiaxing travel guide on this site
Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under the licences shown in each caption.