Xuzhou

Getting there

By train 1 Xuzhou railway station. Xuzhou is a major rail hub - very easy to get to by train. It is three hours from Nanjing on an express train. Most importantly, it's the half-way point between Beijing and Shanghai on the Shanghai-Beijing train route. (On average, it's 8 hours from China's political capital and 8 hr from China's fashion and enterprise capital. However, the train speeds can vary from 2½ hr to 13 hr for the same distance depending on the type of train.) (updated May 2019) Caution: Many foreigners wanting to travel to Xuzhou have accidentally bought tickets to Suzhou (苏州, near Shanghai) instead of Xuzhou because the names sound so similar - and possibly because so few foreigners go to Xuzhou by train. So, it is highly useful to show the Chinese characters of Xuzhou (徐州) in order to convince the ticket officer and to overcome the phonetic confusion. Once you arrive at the Xuzhou Station (徐州站) just east of downtown, ascend the steps, show your ticket and exit. Outside, there will be a KFC, a McDonald's -- and a line/queue of taxis on the left. There is also Xuzhou East Station (徐州东) in the eastern outskirts, where you can take high speed trains.

2 Xuzhou East railway station. This is where the high-speed trains go. It is on the high-speed line from Beijing to Shanghai, and is also connected to the northwestern frontier and other destinations further west via the line to Xinjiang. (updated May 2019)

By plane 3 Xuzhou Guanyin International Airport (XUZ IATA). Flights from Singapore, Bangkok and many cities in China (updated May 2019)

Getting around

The first metro line (Line 1) opened in 2019. It runs from the east to the west of the city, and stops at both railway stations. Line 2 is due to open in October 2020, and Line 3 in June 2021. The urban buses are cheap, regular, and easy to figure out within the city. There are also minibuses that travel outside of the city to neighboring rural towns.

See

Walk the city and explore the old downtown neighborhoods. Narrow alleys and old 小区 (xiao qu) give access to hundred year old wet markets neighboring temporary encampments of migrant workers and traveling farmers, one room restaurants without menus (don't worry, they'll tell you what they've got, or you can glance at other tables), dog meat butchers, public toilets, backstreet whorehouses with eerie blue lights, arcades in scavenged brick huts with corrugated tin roofs. Then, walk along the New Yellow River, a diverted portion of the river created by the floods of 1938, when Nationalist forces bombed dykes to stymie the Japanese (instead, they succeeded only in killing millions of their own country's farmers). You can have your fortune told, buy most kinds of medications (that are prescription-only in Western countries) and raw tobacco, get something good to eat, and catch small traveling musicians performing on traditional instruments. After that, stroll into the downtown, identical in every Chinese city of this size, home to a KFC, department stores, and massive, empty squares.

1 Xuzhou Museum (徐州博物馆), 118 Heping Road, Yunlong District (云龙区和平路118号) (the nearest bus stops are Yunlong Park South Gate 云龙公园南门, Yunlong Mountain 云龙山, and Xuzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine 中医院; over two dozen bus routes use one or more of these stops), ☏ +86 516 8380-4412. Tu-Su 09:00-17:00. A museum about the history and culture of Xuzhou. Free. (updated Dec 2017)

2 Huaihai Campaign Memorial Museum (淮海战役纪念馆), 2 Jiefang Road South, Quanshan District (泉山区解放南路2号) (take bus nos. 11, 11w, 19, 20, 35, 35w, 51w, 61, 61w, 64, 64w, 65, 65w, 83, 83w, 118, 199, 601, 601w, 603, 603w, 604, 701, 838, 夜14, 游1 or 游2路外环 and get off at the Memorial Tower 纪念塔), ☏ +86 516 8384-3254. Tu-Su 09:00-17:00. A museum about the Huaihai Campaign, a major military campaign during the Chinese Civil War. The museum is in a large park. Free. (updated Dec 2017)

3 Guishan Han Dynasty Tombs (龟山汉墓), No. 3 Xiangwang Road North, Gulou District (鼓楼区襄王北路3号) (take bus no. 37 and get off at the bus stop of the same name), ☏ +86 516 8577-0107. 08:30-17:30. These tombs contain the remains of Liu Zhu, the sixth ruler of the ancient principality of Chu, and his wife. ¥80 (Covers all attractions within the Guishan Scenic Area). (updated Jan 2018) 4 Mausoleum of the Chu Prince (楚王陵), 1 Bingmayong Road, Yunlong District (云龙区兵马俑路1号) (take bus nos. 49, 65, 65w, 71, 71w, 97, 97w, 605, 608 or 608w to the bus stop of the same name), ☏ +86 516 83566263, +86 516 83167053, [email protected]. Believed to be the final re

Do

Xuzhou Concert Hall (徐州音乐厅), No. 7 Binhu Park, Quanshan District, ☏ +86 516 8561-3988. (updated Jan 2018)

Eat

Diguo ji (地锅鸡) is a savoury combination of chicken, chillies and bread. It is exactly chicken cooked à la diguo which was a popular cookery among the fisherfolk of the Weishan Lake. They used a cauldron to boil the fish, and put the squashed doughs around the cauldron inside, thus they could have fish with bread. Now you can order its chicken version in most local restaurants. The half-singed bread is essential in this dish (or it would be common braised chicken). Dip it into the broth, which is the traditional thing to do. Dog meat tacos on Heqing Lu, between Pengcheng Lu and Jie Fang Lu. There are two alleys leading off from Heqing Lu and you want the one closest to Pengcheng Lu. Quite easy to find. Look for a collection of skinned dog carcasses hung up on the corner, usually having the last bits of fur cleaned from them with a propane torch. The bread is amazing, cooked in a stone oven, a bit salty, a bit sweet, coated in sesame seeds. The dog meat is tender and flavorful and stringy, torn from a pile of bones in a big metal tray (you can't dog meat with a knife). Sha tang (𬲱汤). Everyone in Xuzhou knows the cute but fantastic story about the emperor tasting this soup and asking what the name was. The chef thought the emperor was calling it "What? soup," so he changed the name to that. It's a thick, mucilaginous soup full of eel, chicken meat (originally pheasant or other game meat), beans, and a ton of black pepper. The best place to cop it is Ma Shi Jie (马市街), a joint on Jie Fang Lu that's the city's recognized favorite sha tang place (there's also a branch on Heping Lu, near the church but popular opinion says it's just not as good). The soup here comes from a massive pot, as tall as the man ladling it out. Outside, you buy your dipping items: fried dumplings, salty fried dough, etc. The clientele is mainly ancient men that have been eating it for breakfast every day for fifty years and come equipped with their own bowls and spoons.

Drink & nightlife

1 No.99 Bar. A bar in the Hubu Hill area, part of the cluster of nightlife venues on and around the pedestrian street near the hill. 2 Britain Bar. A British-themed bar, one of several Western-styled venues in central Xuzhou.

Sleep

Cheap hotels are everywhere. Most hotels in the city only run about ¥200 but they don't offer much more than the ¥80 joints near the train station. Remember, ask to look at the room before you agree to stay (just say, "kan kan", smile and check).

1 Bayview Holiday Hotel (徐州海天假日酒店), 1-252 Huaihai Road West, Quanshan District (泉山区淮海西路252-1号) (take bus nos. 1, 1w, 8, 35, 35w, 59, 59w, 65, 65w, 67 or 67w and get off at the Mining Bureau 矿务局), ☏ +86 516 85398888 (Main desk), +86 516 85398188 (Room reservations), [email protected]. Check-in: 14:00, check-out: 12:00. Four-star hotel. Prices start from ¥308. (updated Feb 2018) 2 The Qube Hotel Xuzhou East (徐州东区绿地铂骊酒店), 21 Zhannan Road, Jiawang District (贾汪区站南路21号) (Near the Xuzhou East Train Station), ☏ +86 516 61886777. Check-in: 16:00, check-out: 12:00. Five-star hotel. Prices start from ¥502. (updated Feb 2018) 3 Haiyi International Hotel Xuzhou (Hiya International Hotel, 徐州海逸国际大酒店), 50 Huancheng Road, Gulou District (徐州市鼓楼区环城路50号) (catch bus nos. 2, 2w, 夜55, 73, 73w, 76, 76w, 201, 607, 607w, 610, 610w, 829, 830, 831 or 858 and get off at the No. 3 Hospital 市三院), ☏ +86 516 83572999. Check-in: 08:00, check-out: 14:00. Four-star hotel. Prices start from ¥288. (updated Feb 2018)