Shaoxing Travel Guide

What to buy: These hats are called wu1 zhan1 mao4 in Chinese, and used to be a signature unique to Shaoxing. Somewhat conical with a turned-up brim, these are warm and comfortable, and can be worn year-round except during the hot summer. Nowadays, these warm hats find their most faithful following in the wupeng boatmen (now usually elderly, grizzled men) and other elderly male residents during colder weather.
A few years back, my American girl friend and I bought one of those hats and wore them around town just for laughs. We attracted a lot of curious stares as we were apparently the only female, non-elderly persons wearing it! :P
Nevertheless, these hats are a good keepsake to bring away from Shaoxing. Light, unbreakable, inexpensive, and yet very representative of the history and traditional craftwork of Shaoxing. They can be found at the shops lining the pedestrian street outside Lu Xun's residence.

What to pay: Up to about 20 RMB for one.

These hats are called wu1 zhan1 mao4 in Chinese, and used to be a signature unique to Shaoxing. Somewhat conical with a turned-up brim, these are warm and comfortable, and can be worn year-round except during the hot summer. They used to be popular with labourers, farmers and anyone who needed to be outdoors.
Nowadays, these warm hats find their most faithful following in the wupeng boatmen (now usually elderly, grizzled men) and other elderly male residents during colder weather. I suppose the younger generation finds them too passe for their taste.
A few years back, my American girl friend and I bought one of those hats and wore them around town just for laughs. We attracted a lot of curious stares as we were apparently the only female, non-elderly persons wearing it! :P
Nevertheless, these hats are a good keepsake to bring away from Shaoxing.

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This tip is about the Lu Xun museum/memorial hall. I think there was airconditioning installed, but for some reason when I last visited in mid-March, it wasn't turned on! Perhaps the administration thought the weather was at a comfortable temperature so they wanted to save on the electricity bill. Unfortunately this meant that the interior of the museum was uncomfortably stuffy and perhaps a little warm for some of my friends. Hopefully they do turn on the airconditioning in summer and winter. In any case, I'd advise sightseers visiting this spot to dress in layers if possible.

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At either end of the pedestrian street (and also elsewhere, goodness knows which one is the real one) are the Xianheng Restaurants selling the snacks that're oft-mentioned in his works.
In these restaurants as well as other small roadside stalls along the pedestrian street, you can taste these snacks such as aniseed-flavoured beans (hui2 xiang1 dou4), along with stinky tofu (a local specialty) and Shaoxing yellow wine. A word of warning though, the Shaoxing yellow wine sold here is cheap but not really tasty (it's more of an acquired taste, plus the stuff sold here won't really be of good quality) -- pay more and get a better experience elsewhere! If you really must, get a small portion and share between a few people. Same goes for those snacks which're more expensive here. Also, at some of the places we noticed flies everywhere, which wasn't hygienic.

Unique Suggestions: If you like quaint "local flavour" then at least you could take photos of the local vendors cooking and serving their fare.

Fun Alternatives: I found the Shaoxing yellow wine that we ordered along with dinner at the Shaoxing Hotel restaurant to taste much better. If there's ONE splurge in Shaoxing, I would strongly recommend the dinner and yellow wine there!
Otherwise, buy your own yellow wine at the China Yellow Wine Museum, or from shops on Cangqiao old street, or even from the local supermarket! :P