For incredible cheap products head to the clothing and trinket store lined Guoqing (国庆路) and Ganquan roads (甘泉路). Don’t be afraid to bargain here as well. Any items normally found in Yangzhou's touristy areas can be found on these streets for half the price. This area is within the old section of Yangzhou, and its tree lined narrow streets exudes a very different, time warped feel when compared with other parts of the city. The junction of Guoqing and Ganquan roads marks the historic center of Yangzhou, a location fortunately still without a stop light. Riding a pedicab through this area is a classic way to explore Old Yangzhou.

The Yangzhou Museum is big. Any visitor to Yangzhou quickly finds out the city is proud of its history, but you don’t really get a feel for its age until you visit this newly constructed museum. There are extensive displays here of artifacts, crafts, models and so on from Yangzhou’s pre-history to the Qing Dynasty, with plenty about the future as well.

Nearly every exhibit includes informative, intelligible English captions.

Starting at the top, the 3rd floor is a vast history section that sprawls through thousands of years along with a multi-floor block printing exhibit with live demonstrations and a huge library of printing blocks.

The 2nd floor exhibits Yangzhou's love for the skill of carving various materials into art. Intricately carved jade, bamboo, stone, porcelain, peach pits (incredible!), and wood objects are on display, spanning around two thousand years. The 2nd floor also features a painting and calligraphy exhibit of the famous Yangzhou “Eight Eccentric” artists, and a huge Tang Dynasty dragon boat.

The 1st floor is a 'model lovers' dream. There is an enormous model of a somewhat unrealistic, albeit futuristic city plan and a statistical frenzy of graphs and data hanging on the walls.

Strangely enough, visitors emerge from displays of Yangzhou's beautiful and proud culture back outside into the modern day China of construction and homogenous housing blocks.

Allow about an hour and a half to visit the museum, which is certainly worthwhile for appreciating one of China’s most legendary cities.

Bus numbers 26 (running the length of Wenchang Road), 308, and 22 all stop at the museum. A cab ride from the center of town should cost around 15 Yuan.

The sleek towering new black tile and glass lit neon SOS dance club is one of the hottest night life spots in Yangzhou these days. The ancient city of Yangzhou seems a long ways away when you’re inside this sparkling disco. Try heading to the back of the first floor where people congregate around the elevated dance stage. Otherwise mosey through the other three floors of KTV (karaoke), and who knows what else you might happen upon.  

Unfortunately, drink prices just skyrocketed here to a painful 25 yuan for a small bottle of Qingdao and SOS is no longer the bargain it used to be.

No surprises here at Champion Pizza. They serve pizza, steak, and other Western choices for decent prices and offer a quieter, less smoky  alternative to other Chinese restaurants. If anything, the English menu will provide entertainment. Champion Pizza is located on Wenhe North Road between the two big pavilions.

The Palace is large, pulsing, and fun. Head upstairs where the music is generally more suited to Western tastes, or ’danceable’, as the crowd usually stays until the wee hours of the morning. Admission is free, but there’s not such luck with drink specials.

To find the Palace (huang gong), head north from the large white Wenchang Pavilion and take a right through the towering red traditional gates. Then head for the undeniably gaudy building.