Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions

Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions

Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

The Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions Scenic Area in Zhenhai is located in Xiapu Town, a coastal town in Zhenhai District, Ningbo. It is adjacent to National Highway 329 and situated 240 km from Shanghai, 170 km from Hangzhou, and 40 km from Zhoushan. It is well connected via the Hangzhou Bay Cross-sea Bridge, Zhoushan Island-connecting Bridges, Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway, and Yongtaiwen Expressway, making transportation extremely convenient.

Seventeen Mansions is an ancient architecture scenic area, featuring mostly Ming and Qing dynasty buildings. However, unlike similar ancient towns in China such as Wuzhen and Xitang, it is not a city or a town, but merely a village.

Aside from a few structures from the Ming dynasty, the majority of the buildings in Seventeen Mansions date from the Qianlong to Guangxu periods of the Qing dynasty. These include: the Central Mansion, East Mansion, and West Mansion along the road; the Prosperous Zheng Mansion at Miaojitou; the Third Mansion Hall, Ancestral Hall Mansion, Little Ninth Mansion, Hengde Mansion, Hengxiang Mansion, Rear Hall Building, Xing Mansion, Warehouse Mansion, Yuanmao Mansion, Li Mansion, Dingfeng Mansion, Pawnshop Mansion, Zheng Clan Ancestral Hall, and others.

Through generations of expansion, Seventeen Mansions now boasts a grand and imposing scale. More remarkably, the overall architectural layout remains well preserved. According to reports, “Seventeen Mansions is one of the largest and best-preserved ancient Ming and Qing architectural villages in China. It holds significant value for the study of Qing dynasty architecture and represents the final heyday of feudal Chinese residential architecture following the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Ming periods.”

Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions was established by the Zheng ancestors who migrated from Xingyang, Henan to Zhenhai during the Southern Song Dynasty. After protective restoration and development, it has become a folk culture tourism destination and a heritage base for traditional Chinese festival culture. The village design is chessboard-like, with individual buildings forming courtyards. It blends the grandeur of northern “courtyard houses” with the delicate elegance of southern pavilions. The first phase of the scenic area’s protection project covers over 100 acres and features a magnificent and imposing scale.

Historical records say: Seventeen Mansions has three treasures—the most and tallest flagpoles, visible even from Ningbo; even if it doesn’t rain for three years, the river here won’t dry up; and it has the most horse-head walls, each higher than the last, so typhoons can’t blow them down.

Zheng’s Seventeen Mansions in Zhenhai is one of the earliest birthplaces of the Ningbo Businessmen Group. The mansions have streets above the residences, markets within the streets, and shops, stores, and workshops in the markets. Outside the residences is a surrounding river, with docks at every household. Beyond the small river is a larger river, with small bridges, flowing water, willows brushing the banks, and reflections cast sideways.

The water system of Seventeen Mansions connects directly to Ningbo and the sea. From here emerged a number of business magnates, including Zheng Jingfeng, founder of the largest private mail agency in the late Qing dynasty, Quansheng; Zheng Xi, founder of “Lao Feng Xiang”; Zheng Shichang, founder of the “Si Heng Yinhang” in old Beijing; Zheng Fang, pioneer of China’s first large refrigeration enterprise; and Zheng Zunfa, originator of Hero Ink. Back then, inscribed by Prince Cheng, the beloved son of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty, the poetic line “Mist on the Qi River half veiled” remains, seemingly telling the world of the former glory and dreams of the Zheng family business group, the earliest Ningbo Businessmen.

Address: No. 777 Kaiyuan Road, Zhenhai District, Ningbo

Type: Historic Architecture · Characteristic Streets · Ancient Towns · Ancient Villages

Rating: AAAA

Recommended Visit Duration: 2 hours

Phone: 0574-86251717

Social Media Accounts:

Opening Hours:

8:00–16:30 (Summer); 8:30–16:00 (Winter)

Xiapu Town: Located at the eastern end of the Ningbo-Shaoxing Plain in eastern Zhejiang, Xiapu Town is 23 km south of downtown Ningbo and 14 km from Zhaobao Mountain Subdistrict. It faces the Huizi Yang sea area to the east, across which lies Jintang Island. To the north, it borders Longshan Town in Cixi across Daping Ridge, and adjoins Jiaochuan and Luotuo Subdistricts, while to the west it neighbors Jiulonghu Town. The total area is 25.44 square kilometers. There are four islets and reefs in the sea: Xiapu Mountain (Niluo Mountain), Bazi Mountain, Chessboard Mountain, and Zoumatang. The town government is currently located in Juodu Village. It governs 1 residential area, 8 administrative villages, 1 fishing cooperative, and has a population of 34,200. Xiapu Town lies against mountains to the west and borders the sea to the northeast, belonging to the Yao... More details about Xiapu Town++