Huishan District 惠山区

What to see

The Yangshan Taohuayuan scenic area (阳山桃花源景区), a national 4A site, combines peach orchards with an ancient volcano. It has a volcano geology exhibition hall in four sections, a park of two large islands and three islets, and Hulu Valley (葫芦谷), enclosed by hills on three sides and counted among the ten old sights of Anyang Mountain (安阳山).

Lishe village (礼社) dates from the Southern Song. Its old street, more than 200 metres long and as narrow as a carrying pole, is lined with courtyard houses, shikumen gateways and carved beams from the Ming to the Republican era. The district government notes that two of modern China's leading economists, Sun Yefang (孙冶方) and Xue Muqiao (薛暮桥), came from the village, which is nicknamed the "village of professors".

In Yanqiao (堰桥街道), the ancestral home of Lu Dingyi (陆定一祖居), built in the Qianlong reign, is a south-facing Jiangnan house of three courtyards with an exhibition on his life; it is a Wuxi municipal protected site. In Qianzhou (前洲街道), the Feng Qiyong Academic Museum (冯其庸学术馆), a 3A site, has five halls on the life, scholarship, calligraphy and photography of the Dream of the Red Chamber scholar, and the neighbouring Jinxiu Garden (锦绣园) is a 25-mu classical water-town garden with small museums of local history, water management and folk customs.

Food and local products

Yangshan juicy peaches (阳山水蜜桃), named after Yangshan town (阳山镇) in the district where they grow, have been cultivated on a large scale since around 1930; more than 20 varieties ripen from mid-June to early September, and Chinese Wikipedia links their flavour to the volcanic soil of Yangshan. Yangshan wheat cakes (阳山麦饼) are baked slowly over a low fire until thin as paper and round as a full moon, with salt-and-pepper or sugar-and-sesame fillings; fresh wheat cakes appear at Wuxi markets in August and September. Yuqi water celery (玉祁水芹), grown in deep black mud, is white, tender and fragrant, and is stir-fried or served cold; Yuqi is also known for its yellow rice wine.

Highlights

• Yangshan Taohuayuan scenic area 阳山桃花源景区: National 4A area of peach orchards and an ancient volcano, with a geology hall.
• Lishe village 礼社: Southern Song village with a narrow old street and home of economists Sun Yefang and Xue Muqiao.
• Lu Dingyi ancestral home 陆定一祖居: Qianlong-era courtyard house, Wuxi municipal protected site.
• Feng Qiyong Academic Museum 冯其庸学术馆: National 3A museum with five halls in Qianzhou.
• Yangshan juicy peaches 阳山水蜜桃: Grown at scale since around 1930; over 20 varieties.
• Yuqi water celery 玉祁水芹: White, tender celery grown in black mud, stir-fried or served cold.