Shaoxing City enjoys a history of 2400 years. Approximately in 400 B.C., during the Spring and Autumn periods, Shaoxing was made the capital of the Kingdom of Yue, and today the Terrace of King Yue is as much a place of historical interest as hundreds of years ago. Not far from the town, there are the mausoleum and temple of Da Yu, a lengendary hero for flood control. There is also the "Orchid Pavilion", where the renowned Jin Dynasty calligraphist Wang Xizhi wrote the "Prologue to the Orchid Pavilion Poems". Lu Xun, a great man of letters in modern China, was born in Shaoxing and in the town proper one can find his old home and the Three-Flavour Study, a private school he attended. Also there is the old home of Qiu Jin, the Wind and Rain Pavilion and a tablet to commemorate her heroic death. Qiu Jin was a well-known woman revolutionary in the effort to overthrow the Qing Dynasty, the last monarchy in China.

Shaoxing city lies between 29。15' and 30。 11'E, and between 120。02' and 120。15' N. With a subtropical monsoon climate the area has plenty of rainfall and sunshine. The four seasons are distinct. The annual mean temperature is 16.5 C. The annual precipitation is 1,397 millimeters. The frost free period lasts 237 days. The relative humidity is 81 percent.

Shaoxing is China's famous home of rivers and lakes in Jiangnan (region to the south of Yangtze River), home of thousands of bridges, home of Shaoxing Rice Wine, home of Chinese calligraphy, etc., and is also the hometown of Cai Yuanpei, an educator, Luxun, a writer, and Premier Zhou Enlai, reputed as the home of celebrities by Chairman Mao. Shaoxing owns many celebrities and cultural relics and the natural scenery of Jiangnan rivers and lakes, becoming a tourist city with distinguished features.