Issue 01, Zhejiang
How did water shape the way Shaoxing works?
One place, one question. We follow a Zhejiang city's canals through its bridges, its calligraphy and its rice wine, and show where every detail comes from.
The first story
The Water Still Sets the Hours
Bridges built so cargo could pass underneath, a calligrapher's gathering in 353, and a brewery that left its lake and came back. Every claim links to its source.
Read the storyPlaces in this issue
All placesBazi Bridge
Yuecheng, ShaoxingBuilt 1201–1204, rebuilt 1256. Grooves from boat ropes are still in the stone.
Shusheng Guli
Yuecheng, ShaoxingA canal quarter linked to the calligrapher Wang Xizhi. How it got its name is still being checked.
China Rice Wine Museum
Yuecheng, ShaoxingShaoxing's rice wine, its winter brewing season and the lake water it relies on.
Anchang ancient town
Keqiao, Shaoxing1,747 metres of street along a river crossed by 17 old bridges.
China National Tea Museum
Xihu, HangzhouDay 1 of the journey. Opening days and the walk to Longjing are still being checked.
Tea, Ink & Rice Wine
From Hangzhou to Shaoxing and Anchang in three days, with a trip file that works offline.
See the journeyChinese cards
Big-type cards to show a driver or a shopkeeper when you have no Chinese and no signal.
Open the cardsWhere this issue stands
Everything here is built from Chinese public sources. Nothing has been field-tested yet. Each fact carries one of three labels: Field-verified Desk-checked Needs evidence