Jinxi Water Town - Home of Museums

With a history of over 2000 years, the Jinxi water town enjoys a reputation of the “Home of Musuems”. Ancient teapots, stone statues, bronze and porcelain artworks and tiles are the major collections of the museums in Jinxi.

Jinxi water town is only 50 kilometers away from Suzhou and 100 kilometers to the west of Shanghai. It is convenient to take a bus from the two cities to the water town.

Most houses in Jinxi were built more than 100 years ago. They belonged to the local officials or merchants. You will learn the most authentic water town culture in these houses.

Top Things to Do in Jinxi

The various museums are must-visits in Jinxi. You can learn about the history and culture via the exhibitions in these interesting museums. Most museums in Jinxi are smaller than the museums in big cities, but their exhibitions are even more exquisite than the ones in big museums. Besides, the water town views are also charming.

Ancient Tiles Museum

People in Jinxi began to produce tiles over 2000 years ago. The Ancient Tiles Museum in Jinxi was initially built in 1980s and enlarged in 1996. Over 1000 pieces of tiles are collected in the museum now. The oldest one was produced in Qin dynasty (221 BC to 207 BC), while the newest one was made in 1950s. The carvings and paintings on the tiles are animals, flowers and various ancient stories. These decorations make these tiles priceless artworks.

Redware Teapots Museum

A video about the process of producing a readware teapot, an indispensable part of the tea culture in China, is broadcasted in the museum. Watching the video will help you understand the value of the teapots collected in the museum.

Other Museums

Golden Stone Family – Collections are Chinese paintings, calligraphy works and signets Garden of Persimmon Trees – The owner of the garden likes the two persimmon trees in the garden very much, so he used the trees as the name of the garden. The collections in the garden are the owner and his second son’s paintings and calligraphy works.

Lianchichan Temple

It is said the temple was built by an emperor in order to commemorate one of his concubines. The tomb of the concubine was built in the river in front of the temple. The emperor hoped his concubine can rest in peace under the care of the Buddha in the temple. Both the temple and the tomb are available to tourists now. It is said the tomb is always above water level no matter how high water level rises.

Wenchang Tower

With a history of 400 years, the 15.6-meter-high tower was built for local people to pray for good school performance of their children. In ancient times, being the top three of a royal exam meant enormous wealth and power. Nowadays when new semester begins, local people also pray in this tower for good luck. The tower is one of the best reserved ancient relics in Jinxi. Standing on the top of the tower, tourists can admire a charming lake view.

Tianshui and Taiping Bridges

Located in the central area of Jinxi, these two bridges are the landmarks of the water town. Both of the bridges were made from big stones and have a history of over 500 years. There are old Chinese mottos printed on these two bridges to encourage people to work hard and be grateful.

How to Travel to Jinxi

There are no buses from Suzhou, Shanghai or other cities to Jinxi. So it is better to take a high-speed train to Kunshan first, and then take a bus to Jinxi. It takes 30 minutes and costs 5 RMB for the bus.

Jinxi Small Group Day Tour from Shanghai, $127