China’s greatest port between the Song Dynasty and Ming Dynasty, Ningbo is located upstream from the coast on the Yong River. It was later eclipsed by Shanghai, but has recently regained some importance due to its deep natural harbor. The city has had a long association with commerce. When Shanghai and Guangzhou prospered in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Ningbo’s residents were employed as “compradors,” agents or mediators by the foreign companies.

Ningbo’s main sight is the Tianye Ge, a 16th-century private library, the oldest in China. It resembles a traditional garden with bamboo groves, rockeries, and pavilions, one of which exhibits ancient books and scrolls. To the southeast off Kaiming Jie, is the 14th-century Tianfeng Pagoda. The former foreign concession lies at the northern end of Xinjiang Bridge, with a 17th-century Portuguese church and a French-built hospital. Outside the city, Baoguo Si temple’s Mahavira Hall is the oldest surviving wooden building in the Yangzi delta region.