A Moat That Became a City: Cruising the Haohe River
千年濠水抱城流，一舸灯影过画楼 Qiānnián háoshuǐ bào chéng liú, yī gě dēngyǐng guò huàlóu – A thousand years of moat water holds the city; one boat of lantern light passes the painted towers
正文：濠河 Háo Hé the Haohe River is Nantong’s oldest ring and its best evening walk – a roughly ten-kilometre moat dug with the city in the tenth century, still encircling the old town with water on every side. Unlike most Chinese city moats, it was never filled in: museums, temples, old residences and a string of small parks sit along its banks, and after dark the bridges and the painted pleasure boats light up together. Locals call it the city’s necklace; visitors usually meet it from a boat.
The night cruise is the signature. Boats leave from several docks and make a slow loop under stone and concrete arches, past willow banks, lit pavilions and the glass fronts of the museum quarter. Reflections do most of the work – violet and gold bands doubling on the water – and the city skyline stays low behind the trees.
By day the ring reads as a park system. Footpaths follow both banks, small bridges cut across the narrower reaches, and the museums, the old clock tower and the temple quarter all sit within a single waterside circuit. It is the easiest way to understand Nantong’s scale: a modern city built around a medieval outline that never went away.
Walk a section rather than the whole loop – the stretch between the museum and the old town gives the best concentration of bridges and buildings – and save an hour for the boat after dark. Spring and autumn keep the banks comfortable; summer evenings bring the crowds out for the breeze.
Practicalities
Beyond the water, the same 南通市 Nántōng Shì Nantong City keeps more places worth the detour: 狼山 Láng Shān Langshan Hill for the pagoda above the Yangtze, 南通博物苑 Nántōng Bówùyuàn Nantong Museum for Zhang Jian’s collections, 水绘园 Shuǐhuì Yuán Shuihui Garden for the scholar’s retreat at Rugao, or 啬园 Sè Yuán Seyuan Garden for the reformer’s tomb – four more doors into the same 南通市 Nántōng Shì Nantong City. Once the loop is walked, our Nantong food map fills the day.
Practicalities
Words and Names
flowcloud would say the Haohe is a city that kept its moat after the walls stopped mattering: no fortress, just water, bridges, and a boat route that still draws the outline. All checked November 2026.
Getting there: The Haohe ring sits around central Nantong, a short taxi or bus ride from the railway station; the banks are free to walk, night cruise tickets sell at the docks, and weekday departures are the quiet ones. All checked November 2026.