Xuzhou 徐州

About Xuzhou

The museum provides context for objects recovered around the region, while the Shizishan royal tomb exposes the rock-cut architecture and nearby terracotta figures in their broader burial setting. Yunlong Lake offers a contrasting outdoor landscape below Yunlong Mountain. Begin with the museum before choosing a tomb complex, then use the lakeshore as a separate change of pace. The major sites are distributed across the city and need individual transport planning.

The Xuzhou region's early archaeology is linked mainly to the Dawenkou culture. In the Shang dynasty the polity of Dapeng, or Peng, associated with the Dongyi people, dominated the area until it was subordinated to Shang authority. During the Western Zhou period the Xu people migrated south from Shandong to found a polity there, later annexed by the State of Song. Pengcheng, named after Dapeng, first appears in records in 573 BCE as a Song fortified city at the confluence of the Bian and Si rivers, and Song is said to have later moved its capital there.

After Song's annexation by the State of Qi in 286 BCE, Pengcheng became a frontier stronghold; it later fell to Chu and was incorporated into the Qin Empire in 223 BCE. During the Qin collapse it became a centre of Chu cultural revival, and in 206 BCE Xiang Yu made it the capital of the Western Chu he founded. Despite Xiang Yu's victory at the Battle of Pengcheng in 205 BCE, the city subsequently passed to Han control.

What to look for

• The Shizishan royal tomb combines rock-cut chambers with nearby Han terracotta finds.
• Yunlong Lake places open water beneath the slopes of Yunlong Mountain.

The surrounding area

A northern extension focused on Han culture, with its own travel days rather than a short detour from Suzhou.

Location & getting there

Getting to Xuzhou

Xuzhou Station is just east of the central city; Xuzhou East is a separate high-speed station in the eastern outskirts. Check the Chinese station name, 徐州 or 徐州东, and arrange the onward city transfer accordingly.