Ningbo, often outshone by northwestern neighbor Hangzhou, is one Zhejiang Province coastal city subject to frequent overlooking by tourists from both China and abroad—despite its cultural heritage and abundant natural beauty. As far as attractions go, there's not much to keep the average tourist busy for more than a day or two, but if getting back to nature and escaping the crowds is on your mind, you might want to stay a little longer. Check the attractions page for more information on Ningbo's nature areas.
Like it's neighbor to the north, Shanghai, Ningbo has experienced periods of rapid growth brought about by trade with the outside world over the centuries. Unfortunately for the locals, in the early 20th century, Shanghai attracted much of region's inbound business and many traders and merchants moved to where the money was, leaving Ningbo far from reaching its full potential. Ningbo later made a recovery and now enjoys a booming economy centered around the textile and food processing industries and the city itself is well developed and cultured.
History
Ningbo and the surrounding areas is place of origin of Hemudu culture—a culture dating back to the Neolitic period, over 7,000 years ago. In the early 1970's a Hemudu cultural site was unearthed by archeologist and found contain some of the earliest examples of Neolitic tools, constructed of animal bones. It is believed that the Hemudu people were some of the first to master the cultivation of rice.
Along with Guangzhou, Xiamen, Fuzhou and Shanghai, this Zhejiang Province town was one of the treaty ports China opened after the first Opium War of the 19th Century. During World War II, the Japanese bombed the city of Ningbo with weapons containing fleas carrying the bubonic plague which it is estimated have killed up to 50,000 people.
Climate
The region's climate is sub-tropical monsoon with an average annual temperature of 16.2 º C (62 º F). Humidity is high more often than not. It's a good idea to plan your trip based on what attractions you'd like to see. The mountains and hot springs are better suited to winter visits while some other nature related activities are best saved for warmer months.
Ningbo is not short of a hotel and is sure to have something to meet your needs, short or long-term stay. Most hotels tend to congregate in the downtown area or tourist spots like Moon Lake. If you arrive in town by train, you'll be faced with a few mediocre options, but it's best to head to the downtown area near Tianyi Square. There's also a few decent options in the dock area, not more than 3km (1.86 mi) from downtown.
Ningbo has the usual array of Chinese cuisine, with restaurants serving food from all corners of the Middle Kingdom. Foreign food is well covered too. Popular choices include the Indian Kitchen, Ningbo Lebanese Restaurant, the Brazillian Steak House in addition to a few others featuring Korean and South East Asian favorites.
The downtown area of Ningbo is packed with the usual suspects—Aushan, Carrefour, Wal-mart, and a selection of multi-storey department stores. The most prominent shopping districts are on Zhongshan Lu, Jiefang Nanlu, Kaiming Jie and Dongmen Kou.
Think of Ningbo as kind of a miniature Shanghai, it's got pretty much the same kinds of things to do, just not on such a grand scale—it's even got its own Bund. The steadily increasing expat community has brought with it an increase in watering holes more suited to Western tastes, but Ningbo is still catching up in other areas such as the arts.
Clubs & Bars
There's a couple of Irish style pubs in town, the Shamrock and O'Reilly's (of course) at 72 Zhongma Lu & 46-9 Caihong Beilu respectively, if you feel the need for a Guinness. If jazz is more your style, there's only one place to go—Z Place Jazz Club on Jicao Jie. There are plenty of other places to enjoy a drink or spend a night on the tiles, pick up a local magazine (there are monthly English language publications) for further details.
Festivals & Events
Ningbo hosts an International Fashion Festival each year in October which was recently named China's most influential international festival. Other local festivals include a Seafood Festival in May, a berry picking festival in late June and a fisherman's festival held in mid to late September annually.