WHEN people think about the Yangtze River Delta, they usually think of the economic powerhouse of Shanghai. They might mention Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and famous cities such as Suzhou, Nanjing and Hangzhou.

Yet, there are many important and interesting smaller cities with good places for sightseeing, shopping, hiking and eating. There are many quiet water towns, hiking trails and ancient temples that beckon visitors. And they are a few hours' drive from Shanghai.

There are vast caverns, hot springs and the world's biggest tidal bore that draws visitors every year around this time to see the power of the sea.

And there's plenty of seafood.

Urbanization and industrialization are changing the face of the delta region, turning farmland into factories and people of vision and ambition into successful entrepreneurs.

Many cities have become major manufacturing centers for garments, luggage and bags, toys and other items, not only for China but the world as well.

Consumers can buy these items at lower prices in their city of origin because there's no cost of shipping, marketing and other overhead.

Pinghu City in Zhejiang, for instance, is China's biggest clothing export center. One of every 100 garments made in the world is made in Pinghu, which produces for global brands such as Armani, Adidas and North Face.

Danyang on the Yangtze River in Jiangsu Province is one of the world's leading manufacturers of optical lenses. But it also boasts more than 2,000 years of history, satisfying travelers with ancient temples and stone carvings.

Another small city, Fuyang, is nestled in beautiful mountain scenery in Zhejiang Province. It produces 80 percent of China's low-to-mid-cost tennis and badminton racquets.

Drive or take a train to the cities and you will not only be able to enjoy the natural scenery but take home many cheap and good-quality products.

Yiwu small commodities

The world's largest small commodities market is in Yiwu City in Zhejiang Province. The market contains around 60,000 stalls, offering almost two million pieces of merchandise ranging from Christmas ornaments to toys and jewelry.

An estimated 210,000 merchants a day, including 13,000 from abroad, buzz about the marketplace.

Yiwu merchants used to sell around two-thirds of their products to foreign buyers. Now, with Europe facing a debt crisis and the US in a slow and shaky recovery, orders are drying up. The once-noisy marketplace has lost some of its buzz.

Due to the downturn in wholesale volume, stall owners now sell to individual buyers.

The new four-story, air-conditioned Yiwu marketplace has a quieter environment for shopping these days. Merchants sit in front of their stalls with little to do but chat with fellow stall owners. Some sleep or while away the time playing computer games. So visitors will have enough time to browse and bargain with them.

Yiwu was such a thriving marketplace that the State Council, China's cabinet, also made it home to the nation's small commodity index, a barometer of global consumer goods prices.

How to get there:

Take a train from Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station to the Nanranglian Station in Yiwu. Then take the No. 803 bus to the market. By car: The G92 Expressway takes around 3.5 hours.

Pinghu clothing market

Visitors driving into Pinghu cannot miss the Pinghu China Garment Market, a modern shopping mall in the new district of the city.

Many factories making garments for big brands hawk the remainders from production of famous-brand clothes. Leftovers are cheap.

A child's jacket with a DKNY label, for instance, only costs 80 yuan. A Gant men's coat sells for 300 yuan, but prices can be bargained.

"The garments of famous brands are far more popular than our local brands, and many customers come here especially to buy them," said Ding Wenli, a shop staffer from the Xingshang garment factory.

The Pinghu government built the market last year and offered low rents to encourage local factories to sell their own brands there. Visitors can find some garments by domestic brands that are said to have the same high quality of famous brands, said Li Ying, general manager of the market.

Li said the market is now negotiating with Shanghai's Qipu Road, also known as "Cheap Road," to sell Pinghu local brands there.

How to get there:

Take a train from Shanghai Hongqiao Station to Jiashan South Station. Take a bus from Jiashan new bus station to the Pinghu South bus station. Then take the No. 5 bus to the market. By car: The Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway (G60) takes around 1.5 hours.

Zhoushan seafood market

Shenjiamen area of Zhoushan has long been a popular destination for foodies.

The small fishing town near Putuo Mountain in Zhejiang Province is near the mouth of the Yangtze River and offers 360 types of fish, 60 types of shrimp and 100 crustacean species.

The fresh sea air whets the appetite for seafood, and the sight of small fishing boats docked in port creates a scenic atmosphere.

The harbor is especially tantalizing at night, when around 70 seafood vendors cook the fruits of the sea in orange-tented stalls until the early morning hours. Fully licensed, the vendors served daily catches of sea fish, crab, shrimp and shellfish. Visitors can pick out their dinner and order it prepared exactly as they like.

Local specialties include the long red, an eel-like, duck-billed fish.

The stalls were renovated in late 2010 and now there are new tents, ventilation systems and electronic screens to show prices to visitors, said Ni Ligang, a press official with the Putuo District government, which administrates Shenjiamen.

Guitarists and other musicians, including one man playing an antique saxophone, stroll along the food area to entertain diners. The musicians are required to perform at an annual competition to obtain their licenses.

After dining, visitors can drive to nearby Mt Daqing, which is the highest place on the island at 378.6 meters. In clear weather, it offers a panoramic sea view. But clouds and mist often shroud the drive to the summit lookout.

How to get there:

Take a long-distance bus from Shanghai to Shenjiamen at Shanghai's Nanpu Bridge Transport Hub; it takes around 5 hours. By car: The A2 Expressway takes around 3 hours.

Wuyi hot springs

Wuyi County, in the center of Zhejiang Province, is the region's best spot for naturally heated spa pools since it is rich in hot springs.

The scenic Qingshuiwan Hot Spring, which opened in 2002, is considered by some to be the best hot spring in eastern China. The annual water temperature averages 41 degrees Centigrade.

Every day more than 4,000 tons of water from 330 meters underground, rich in sodium, sulfates and other minerals, flow through the area. The spot is surrounded by mountains on three sides.

Located on the edge of the city atop a secluded hill, Tangfeng Hot Spring Resort features an outdoor area of 30 different pools with all manner of different ingredients in the water from milk and coffee to rice wine. Other pools contain aloe, green tea and ginseng. There's a large central pool, without additives, modeled on Hangzhou's West Lake, and a smaller area containing "spa fish" that nibble away at the dead skin on visitors' feet. In summer there's decent-sized swimming pool and a cold waterfall to cool spa goers.

In Wuyi town center stands a stone arch bridge dating back more than 800 years. The Shuxi Bridge over the Wuyi River was built in the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279); it's 140 meters long and 4.8 meters wide. During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), a wooden roof was added to make it a covered bridge with 49 small pavilions along both sides for rest and entertainment.

The fine design and workmanship on both bridge and roof are preserved.

How to get there:

Take the train K8401 at Shanghainan Railway Station (formally Shanghai South Railway Station); it takes around 6 hours. By car: Take the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway to the Hangjinqu Expressway, then head to Wuyi City via the Jinliwen Expressway. Take the Wuyi exit. The drive takes around 4 hours.

Longmen Ancient Town

A popular destination is Longmen Old Town, around 50km south of Hangzhou on the southern back of the Fuchun River. The old town contains ancient temples and cobblestone streets.

Longmen literally means "dragon gate." Legend has it that a scholar of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 25-220) praised the local scenery and said it looked like the great gate of a dragon.

More than 90 percent of the townsfolk are surnamed Sun, proud descendants of the 3rd century warlord Sun Quan (AD 182-252). Today, the Suns of Longmen still hold ceremonies honoring their ancestors every autumn, gathering to watch traditional Chinese opera and offer sacrifices to Buddha and their ancestors.

Older residents delight in regaling visitors with stories of the past that aren't found in the history books. Most buildings date from the Ming and later Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. Around 40 buildings are listed as heritage sites, including ancestral halls, residences, pagodas and memorial arches. Some of the ancestral homes are still occupied by Sun families.

A 400-meter-long cobblestone street is said to be the oldest feature in the town. Residents said some of the smooth cobblestones date back to when the warlord Sun Quan first began building the town for his family members.

How to get there:

Take a train from Shanghai to Hangzhou. Take a bus to Hangzhou West Station and then take a direct bus to the town. By car: Shanghai-Kunming Expressway (G60) takes around 2 hours.

Changyu Stone Cave

The Guinness Book of Records lists Changyu Stone Cave northwest of Wenling City in Zhejiang Province as the world's largest manmade grotto. It's a much-visited national tourist site.

It was created by more than 1,500 years of quarrying into 150-meter high Changyu Mountain for stone used to build houses and bridges. Actually, there is a series of caves from which an estimated 100 million cubic meters was quarried. The quarrying began in the Southern and Northern dynasties (AD 420-589) and ended around the 1920s.

"Ancient quarry workers started digging from the top of the mountain and switched to another spot after reaching the bottom," said Luo Qiaohui, marketing manager of the Changyu Stone Cave Tourism Co.

There are four major caverns and 1,314 smaller caves. Modern developers connected the caves, creating a 16-square-km tourist area that includes Chongguo Temple. Admission ranges from 10 to 105 yuan, depending on the popularity of the spots.

How to get there:

Take a train from Shanghai to Wenling. Take a bus from Wenling New Bus Station to Changyu. By car: The Shanghai-Kunming Expressway (G60) takes around 4 hours.

Haining tidal bore

The world's largest tidal bore occurs on the Qiantang River near Hangzhou. It's up to 9 meters high and travels at up to 40 miles per hour up the river. Tourists come from around the world to see the surging power of the sea.

Viewing the tidal bore is part of the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations in the area where the sound of the surge has been compared to the sound of a thousand galloping horses.

There are bores throughout the year but the peak this year is October 3, so a couple of days before and after that date are prime. It's the 18th day of the eighth month of the Chinese lunar calendar, when the sun, moon and earth are aligned and the forces of Haining contains three famous spots for watching this tidal bore rush up the river: Daquekou, Yanguan and Laoyancang.

Viewers must be careful and over-adventurous people can be swept away.

A tidal bore, or aegir, is formed when the leading edge of an incoming tide forms a wave that is funneled up through a river or narrow bay, causing a surge of crashing water.

How to get there:

Take a train from Shanghai South Station to Haining Railway Station, then take the No. T109 bus to Yanguan.

Take a train from Shanghai Hongqiao Station to Haining West Railway Station. Take the No. T222 or T223 bus to the Yanjiadi Station, then take the No. T109 bus to Yanguan.

By car: The Hangpu Expressway (G92) takes around 2 hours.