Ningbo is famous for its natural scenery, historic relics and cultural heritage. As one of the first-batch China Excellent Tourism Cities, it boasts 11 state-level protection units of cultural heritage among the 255 protected historic and cultural sites. They include: the Neolithic Hemudu culture ruins dating back 7,000 years; Tianyi Pavilion, the oldest private library in China; Baoguo Temple, the oldest wooden structure south of the Yangtze River, Shanglinhu porcelain kiln remains of Yue; Tuoshanyan Water Conservancy Project; remains of the Zhenhai coastal defense and Mr. Chiang Kaishek’s former residence in Xikou, Fenghua. Besides, there are Tiantong Temple, the second of Chinese top 5 Temples of Zen Sect of Buddhism, King Asoka Temple noted for the preservation of one parietal bone of Sakyamuni, and Xuedou Temple. And amongthem, Xikou Scenery Area, Tengtou Ecological Tourism Area, Tianyi Pavilion museum and Songlan Mount seashore for tourism& 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. And there are also a number of industrial and agricultural tourist spots at state level, such as Ningbo Tentou, Gleely Auto Manufactory, Ningbo Da Hongying Cigarette Factory and Tiangong Fazenda.

  The area is central to many scenic destinations: metropolitan Shanghai to the north, the sacred Buddhist site, Putuo Island to the East, splendid Mount Yandang to the south, and the picturesque West Lake in Hangzhou(the capital of the Province) to the West. At present, there are 156 travel agencies and over 168 hotels with stars. In the year of 2005, the city hosted 438,000 overseas tourists and 23.52 million domestic tourists with an increase of 36.1% and 62.09 % respectively. The total tourism earnings amounted to 25.82 billion Yuan RMB, including foreign exchange earnings of US$248 million and domestic earnings of 23.84 billion Yuan RMB, showing an increase of 25.8%, 62.09% and 23.7%.