Ningbo, located in the middle of China's coastline and in the south of Yangtze Delta, is one of China's coastal cities to be opened to the outside world. It is divided from Shanghai by the Hangzhou Bay. With an area of 9365 square kilometers and a population of 5.3 million people, Ningbo enjoys a privileged right of economic management at provincial level, which gives a great impetus to its economic prosperity.

Ningbo has enjoyed a history of over 7,000 years. In ancient times, Ningbo was the starting point of "road of silk" and "road of china" through sea. Now Ningbo has grown into one of the four international deepwater harbors in China, which can berth 300,000-tonnage vessels. In 1997, its handling capacity of cargo amounted to 82.2 tons and therefore jumped to be the No. 2 harbor in mainland China.

Ningbo offers a subtropical monsoon climate, featuring mild temperatures, moderate humidity and distinct seasons. The annual average temperature is 16.4 C, with hottest month, July (28 C in average) and the coldest one, January (4.7 C in average). No-frost season lasts 230-240 days a year. The annual average precipitation is around 1,400mm, of which the precipitation in the months from May to September accounts for 60%.

As for Ningbo cuisine, it tends to favor more steaming, roasting and stewing, and is slightly richer in taste. Yellow croaker, eel and crab are popular in Ningbo, and there is also a sweet soup made of turtle stewed with rock sugar.

The Hangzhou Bay Bridge, a combination cable-stayed bridge and causeway across Hangzhou Bay opened to public on 1 May 2008, connects the municipalities of Shanghai and Ningbo, and is considered the longest trans-oceanic bridge in the world, and the world's second-longest bridge, after the Lake Ponchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, USA. The port of Ningbo is one of the World's busiest ports, ranked 4th by cargo tonnage in 2005, and 15th in TEU.

Ningbo is famous for its natural scenery, historic and cultural heritage. As one of the first batch of the China Tourism Cities, it boasts 22 state-level cultural heritage units among the 255 protected historic and cultural sites including the Neolithic Hemudu Culture ruins dating back 7,000 years; Tianyi Library, the oldest private library in China; Baoguo Temple, the oldest wooden structure in Southern Yangtze River, Shanglinhu Porcelain Kiln Remains of Yue; Tuoshanyan Water Conservancy Project; Remains of the Zhenhai Coastal Defense and Chiang Kaishek's Former Residence in Xikou, Fenghua.

Besides above, Tiantong Temple, the second of China's top 5 temples of Zen Sect of Buddhism, King Asoka Temple noted for the preservation of one parietal bone of Sakyamuni, and Xuedou Temple. Xikou Scenery Area, Tengtou Ecological Tourism Area, Tianyi Museum and Songlan Mount Seashore forTourism& Holidays, Younger Zoo, Jade World Resort, Siming Mountain Scenery Area, Fishing Village of China and Five-Dragon Pool Scenery Area are national 4-A scenery sites.

There are also a number of industrial and agricultural tourist spots at state level, such as Ningbo Tengtou, Geely Auto Manufactory, Ningbo Dahongying Cigarette and Tiangong Fazenda. There are 176 travel agencies and over 204 star hotels. In 2006, the city hosted 542,000 overseas tourists, with an increase of 23.6% from 2005, and generated US$340 million, increased from the previous year by 35.6%. The year 2006 saw 26.85 million domestic tourists with an increase of 14.2 % from 2005. The tourism of Ningbo in 2006 earned 28.96 billion and increased from 2005 by 21.5%. The total tourism revenue in 2006 was 31.6 billion.