Zhejiang · China
Ningbo travel guide
Ningbo is a city in Zhejiang, China, home to about 9,404,000 people.
- Best months
- November
- Nearest airport
- NGB10 km · Ningbo Lishe International Airport
- Currency
- CNYrenminbi
- Time zone
- Asia/Shanghai
- Language
- Chinese, Putonghua, Standard Chinese
About
About Ningbo
Ningbo is a sub-provincial city in the northeast of Zhejiang, People's Republic of China. It comprises six urban districts, two satellite county-level cities, and two rural counties, including several islands in Hangzhou Bay and the East China Sea.
Ningbo lies on the south edge of the populous Yangtze Delta region and faces the East China Sea to the east. It has two main mountains within the prefecture boundaries, Siming Mountain and Tiantai Mountain. The Yuyao, Fenghua and Yongjiang rivers flow through the city area. Nearby Mount Putuo is an island with a major Buddhist temple on it that has been declared a national park and attracts both pilgrims and tourists. The people of Ningbo have throughout their history had a deep affinity for the ocean.
Wikipedia and Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Things to do
What to see and do in Ningbo
See
- Baiyun Manor
- Drum Tower
- Fufu Shi
- Hemudu Site
- Ningbo Banking Guild Hall
- Qing'an Guild Hall and Anlan Guild Hall
- Shanglin Lake Kiln Site
- TianYi Pavilion
- Ningbo Mahjong Museum
- Ayuwang (Ashoka) Temple
- Baoguo Temple
- Cathedral of Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
Do
- Dongqian Lake
- Hua'ao Stone Forest
- Moon Lake
- Nanxi Hot Spring
- Ningbo Five Dragon Pool
- Songlan Mountain Beach
- Sun Lake
- Tiantong National Forest Park
- Xuedou Mountain
- Zhaobaoshan
- ZheDong Grand Canyon
- Ningbo Delson Green World Golf Club
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
When to go
The best time to visit Ningbo
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Ningbo are November. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; June is the wettest, with about 219 mm of rain.
Comfortable means average daytime high between 18 °C and 29 °C and under 80 mm of rain in the month. Averages for 1991–2020 over the surrounding area, a grid square about 50 km across, so a coast or a nearby mountain can make the town itself warmer or cooler. Data: CRU TS v4.10, Climatic Research Unit, University of East Anglia (Open Database License).
Getting there
Getting to Ningbo: airports and arrival
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ningbo Lishe International Airport (NGB), about 10 km from the city centre in a straight line; Zhoushan Putuoshan International Airport (HSN, 79 km) and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH, 115 km) are also within reach.
Getting in
From Hangzhou there are frequent high-speed "D" and "G" trains from Hangzhou East Station (杭州东站) to Ningbo Railway Station, taking 1-1½ hours. Perhaps another dozen "K", "T", and "Z" trains travel to Ningo from Hangzhou or Hangzhou East Station daily, taking as long as 3½ hours. The high-speed line from Hangzhou through Ningbo continues through Wenzhou, Fuzhou, and Xiamen to Shenzhen, and there are several high-speed ("D") sleeper trains each evening from Shanghai via Ningbo to Shenzhen and Guangzhou (although most do not stop at Ningbo on the return journey).
Getting around
Ningbo is so much bigger than the small downtown area, staying downtown can fill a few days but it's just like any major city. To really see some jaw dropping parts of Ningbo, you have to adventure into the outer districts. There are breathtaking mountain ranges steeped in a deep and meaningful history that has been relatively undisturbed.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
NGB · Ningbo Lishe International Airport
HSN · Zhoushan Putuoshan International Airport
HGH · Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport
Local knowledge
Eating, drinking and staying safe in Ningbo
Drink
Beer at cheaper restaurants is quite weak and bland, and often not very cold. Foreign and more expensive Chinese restaurants have export-quality Tsingdao and European or Japanese beers. All over Ningbo many bars often have happy hour specials with buy-one-get-one until 20:00 or buy-two-get-one after 20:00 on select beers, just ask before you order. In the Lao Wai Tan area there are many bars yet they're always empty and over priced as the competition is fierce. Home to Le Cargo the late night sleazy disco that normally end up in a fight and the police being called.
Wikivoyage contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0; excerpted.
Questions
Ningbo: questions travellers ask
When is the best time to visit Ningbo?
The most comfortable months for a city stay in Ningbo are November. July is the warmest month, with average highs of 32 °C; June is the wettest, with about 219 mm of rain.
Which airport is closest to Ningbo?
The nearest airport with scheduled flights is Ningbo Lishe International Airport (NGB), about 10 km from the city centre in a straight line; Zhoushan Putuoshan International Airport (HSN, 79 km) and Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH, 115 km) are also within reach.
What currency is used in Ningbo?
renminbi (CNY).
Nearby
Destinations near Ningbo
Sources: city facts from Wikidata and Wikipedia; airports from OurAirports; climate from CRU TS v4.10 (University of East Anglia Climatic Research Unit), 1991–2020 monthly means, 0.5° grid; places to stay, guest scores and amenities from each operator's own public pages. How this guide is made.