Time zone: GMT +8 time zone

Where To Stay in Ningbo: Wondering where you should stay in Ningbo? Consider Pan Pacific Ningbo. Comfortably appointed for both business and leisure travellers, we are located in the heart of Ningbo city, close to attractions such as the Old Bund, Tianyi Pavilion, and Dong Qian Lake—click here to learn about the selection of rooms and suites available for your stay. 

Weather in Ningbo: Ningbo has a subtropical monsoon climate, recording the highest rainfall in the months of June and September. Humidity is high, and typhoons may be frequent in September.  

Hottest months: July and August with temperatures reaching up to 28 degree Celsius. 

Coldest months: January with temperatures dipping to four degree Celsius.

Electricity Sockets in Ningbo: 220 volts, using the three-pin and two-pin plugs of these shapes:
 

Emergency: Dial 110 for the police (警察 jing cha), and 119 for the fire department (消防队 xiao fang dui). However, do note that it would be difficult to get an English-speaking responder on the line, so seek help from hotel staff if you do not speak Mandarin. Alternatively, ask a passer-by to call the police for you by saying 请帮我报警 (qing bang wo bao jing).

Getting around in Ningbo: There are currently two subway lines in Ningbo, with plans for another six lines by 2025 to 2030. There are over 570 bus routes, and most of the bus lines charge around 2 RMB for a journey, with buses coming in intervals of four to 20 minutes. 

Taxis are another convenient option, and drivers charge 11 RMB for the first 3 kilometres and 2.4 RMB for each subsequent kilometre.

Drinking Water: Tap water in most Chinese cities are not safe for drinking, so stick to bottled water, which is easily available from 2 RMB. 

Tipping: Not necessary, unless you are travelling in a tour group, staying in a luxury hotel, or dining in a Western restaurant. You can tip 5 - 30 RMB to a bellboy or a waiter, and 10 - 70 RMB a day to your tour guide and bus driver each. Some high-end Chinese restaurants may also include a 5% - 15% service charge in the bill. 
 

Laowaitan

Address: Renmin Road, Jiangbei District, Ningbo 315020, China

Thanks to the iconic 1980s television series The Bund (上海滩), you probably heard of the Bund in Shanghai, a waterfront area famed for its dazzling postcard views of skyscrapers and colonial buildings. Now, visit its lesser-known—but older—cousin, the Old Bund in Ningbo.

A thriving treaty port over 170 years ago, Ningbo’s Old Bund used to witness seafaring British and Dutch merchants loading and unloading precious cargo. These early trading activities played vital roles in modernising and transforming Ningbo’s economy.

Today, tourists throng the fashionable district for the Ningbo Museum of Art and to marvel at its classical European architecture—the most photographed of which is the Sacred Heart Cathedral. A protected historical and cultural site built in 1872 by the French, it was partially destroyed in a fire in 2014, and was only fully recently restored.  

Looking for a place to hang out after dark in Ningbo? Laowaitan is the place to be. Come nightfall, the neighbourhood transforms into a happening nightlife hotspot, drawing merrymakers with its many restaurants and drinking holes. 

Get directions to Laowaitan (The Old Bund)

Centuries ago, pious devotees prostrated before statues of deities at the Chenghuang Temple, offering joss sticks and prayers in return for bountiful blessings. 

Locals still gather here these days, albeit for the delicious snacks and bargain buys, making Chenghuang Temple Market a wonderful place to people-watch, mingle, and shop. The four-storey market is lined with little stores proffering cheap clothes—like most China markets, you are welcomed to indulge in polite haggling here. 

First built in 1371, the temple was destroyed by fires and rebuilt over the years. Its current buildings still date back to 1884. History buffs can delight in the antiquated architecture of the old gates, uncover an ancient theatre platform, and pore over 30 tablets of inscriptions and ancient wells from the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279). 

Get directions to Chenghuang Temple Market  

Hai Tien Lo

Address: Pan Pacific Ningbo, Level 2, Ocean Tower

Telephone number: +86 574 8911 8888

Opening hours: 11.30am to 2.00pm, and 5.00pm to 10.00pm daily

Fact: the Chinese people are fixated with food. Another fact: "Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible,” at least according to chef/author Eileen Yin-Fei Lo in her cookbook The Chinese Kitchen. 

So if you have an adventurous palate, sample Ningbo’s number one dish Bingtang Jiayu (Steamed Turtle Soup)—an exotic fare said to be highly fortifying which infuses either sweet or salty tastes with a strong fragrance.

For everyone else, you can savour the best of Ningbo’s signature dishes at Hai Tien Lo located within Pan Pacific Ningbo itself. Since Ningbo is a coastal city, it has an abundance of seafood, so do try our Ningbo-style Marinated White Crab, Deep-fried Yellow Croaker Wrapped with Tofu Skin, and Stewed Seafood with Gourd in Soup. End your meal with the Glutinous Rice Dumplings filled with Sesame Paste—another of the city’s top offerings. 

Visiting Ningbo soon? Stay with Pan Pacific Ningbo, and enjoy a complimentary buffet breakfast for up to two persons, 20% savings on in-room dining, and late check-out till 3pm. Two children under six years also receive complimentary stay with dining! Contact us to find out more. 

If you are a Pan Pacific DISCOVERY member, you will enjoy additional 10% savings on the best available rate, too. Not a member yet? Click here to join our loyalty programme.