Yucheng Post Station 盂城驿

About Yucheng Post Station

Yucheng Post Station (盂城驿) is a Ming-founded government courier station on Guanyi Lane (馆驿巷) in Gaoyou (高邮), Yangzhou (扬州), on the east side of the Beijing–Hangzhou Grand Canal (京杭大运河). Chinese Wikipedia describes it as the largest post station on the canal in Ming and Qing times.

Yucheng, "bowl city", is an old name for Gaoyou taken from a poem by Qin Guan (秦观), who likened his home town to an upturned bowl (吾乡如覆盂). The station opened in 1375. Fire destroyed it in 1557, and Zhao Laiheng (赵来亨), who governed Gaoyou, rebuilt it in 1568; further repairs followed under the Qing, and most of what stands today is Qing rebuilding. Records credit it at its height with 18 courier boats and more than 200 grooms and boatmen. A People's Daily Overseas Edition feature lists its duties as rushing military reports, lodging travelling officials, shipping army clothing and escorting prisoners, and says the Kangxi Emperor stayed here on each of his six southern tours.

In January 1913 the Beiyang government closed every post station in China, and Yucheng was forgotten until a national cultural-relics survey noted it in 1985. China added it to its national list of key protected heritage sites (全国重点文物保护单位) in the fourth batch of 1996. The station reopened after full restoration in 2013 and became part of the Grand Canal World Heritage Site in 2014. It was made a national AAAA tourist attraction in 2015.

The compound covers about 16,000 m². Its landmark is a three-storey drum tower facing south, the tallest building on the site, with commemorative steles set into its ground-floor walls. People's Daily Overseas Edition describes a drum about a metre across on the upper floor and views from the top over the canal and Gaoyou Lake (高邮湖). Besides the gate hall, the surviving buildings include the main hall, Huanghua Hall (皇华厅), a five-bay Ming building where orders were announced and officials received, and the rear hall, Zhujie Hall (驻节堂), where the station master and the prefect received visitors.

What to look for

• The three-storey drum tower (鼓楼), with steles recording donations and the station's rebuilding in its lower walls
• Huanghua Hall (皇华厅), the five-bay Ming main hall, known locally as the officials' reception hall (接官厅)
• Zhujie Hall (驻节堂), the best-preserved building, with Ming columns and beams and redwood furniture
• The Horse God Temple (马神庙) and a life-size stone horse of red granite beside it
• Qinyou Guesthouse (秦邮公馆), the rest hall and the horse watering place
• The Grand Canal running past the station's west side

Location & getting there

Getting to Yucheng Post Station

• Search for 盂城驿 with 扬州市 and 高邮市.