Walking Tours of Gaoyou - South Loop

The Pagodas, Yucheng Post & Old Town

Gaoyou is a small city that lends itself well to walking around. I’ll start the tours from where you would most likely be staying, the Runyangcun Holiday Hotel on the SW corner of Wenyouzhong Lu and Haichao Lu (street signs in Gaoyou are written in characters and pinyin). Wenyouzhong Lu is the primary north-south arterial through Gaoyou, and Haichao Lu runs through the center of the city from east to west. This makes a great starting point for walks to the north and south.

This 2½-mile loop will take you past both of Gaoyou’s historic pagodas, as well as the old city wall and Old Town. The Yucheng Post is also included, but it is probably best to visit it with a guide to get the most out of the exhibits. Make sure and carry some drinking water.

From the hotel, start by walking south on Wenyouzhong Lu. Being a major thoroughfare, the street is often busy with cars, trucks, and bicycles. The sidewalks are wide though, and all the streets are level.

Continue south to the next major cross street, Pipa Lu and turn left (east). Through a couple of alleys on the left, there are views of the 600 year-old Jingtu Pagoda (see pg. 20). In November 2006, the pagoda was being readied for visitors but the facilities weren’t complete.

Continue west on Pipa Lu for another block and the Kuixing Pavilion, perched on a remnant of the Gaoyou city wall, will come into view. To view the pavilion closer, circle around through the large plaza to the north east of the Pavilion. The plaza is popular for exercising, and contains a small children’s carnival.

Continuing west along Pipa Lu the street will start a gradual incline and pass over another street. From this overpass, you can look south, through a large arch, down into Old Town Gaoyou. A walk through Old Town is short but rewarding. Tour guides tell visitors that the buildings here are up to 600 years old, but this is hard to verify. This is about the only place in Gaoyou to find “antiques” and other curios. There are only a handful of shops, with limited selection, but you can some treasures, and bargaining is welcome.

At the south end of Old Town there is another arch, through it the Drum Tower of the Yucheng Post is visible. Opening hours for the museum vary, so it would be best for to have a guide arrange your visit. The museum includes a monument commemorating Marco Polo’s visit to Gaoyou. There is a small gift shop at the museum but it has a very limited selection (sorry, no Yucheng Post t-shirts).

As you exit the Museum, return to Old town and climb the stairs to the small pavilion on the dike. The pavilion houses a large tablet commemorating the post Museum with an ancient version of the Gaoyou name on one side.

From this point on the dike, you may look out on a “marina” of houseboats moored in the Grand Canal. Proceeding north on the dike you can leisurely take in all the activity on the Grand Canal, and on the other side of the dike, look down onto the homes of Gaoyou. From the dike, you can easily see how the canal is above the city, and imagine how disastrous past dike failures must have been. You can also see the Zhenguosi Pagoda and Temple (see pg. 21) on the far side of the canal.

Approximately ½ mile north of Old Town there is a wide set of stairs leading off the dike, through a ornate gate, and down onto a major street, Fuqian Jie. A roughly ¾-mile walk down Fuqian Jie will take you past the Post Riders Sculpture and back to the hotel.

South Tour Map

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