Zhouzhuang, the Ancient Water Town

For our first venture outside of Xiamen, we flew to Shanghai for a long weekend.  So much to see, so little time to see it! 

We started on Friday with a day in Zhouzhuang, an ancient town an hour and a half outside of Shanghai where rivers and lakes abound. We saved ourselves a few hundred dollars by taking a tour bus from Shanghai with a Chinese guide rather than an English-speaking guide. It made for a fun bus ride with all Chinese tourists. The very enthusiastic guide had a loud microphone that kept us awake for the whole bus ride, although we understood nothing! We had read up on the city before we left home, and there were some signs in English, so once we got to town we could find our way around.

We got off the bus and took this boat across the lake to get to the town. How cute is that? The boat is set up with tables to sit around, and everybody else pulled out their food and had quite a meal. We may have been foodless, but we drank in lots of beauty and enjoyed sights we had never even imagined.
The winding rivers, stone bridges, and willowy trees have a very relaxing beauty. 













Zhouzhuang's history goes back more than 900 years, and many of the houses built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties are still standing with their courtyards and carved stone gateways. The roofing is fascinating! Loved the carving on the walls.

The stone bridges that link the houses on either side of the stream date back to the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasties too. Bridge after bridge,  the reflection in the water forms a lovely circle.










Loved these narrow passageways.
Zhouzhuang  is very commercialized, and we had fun at the little shops. We came home with posters, purses, and pillows! The food was very fun to look at, but we passed on these eggs and  few other unidentified items. We did buy some very nice jasmine tea. And Christine and I ate a street food version of the specialty -- "glutinous rice balls." Love how they cook their own meal in the street in front of their store. Every wok has a five-quart bottle of oil beside it, and an extra one in stock!

To round out our day, we treated ourselves to a ride on one of the traditional boats. The charming captain broke out into song as he winged us down the waterway. Our day was over way to quickly -- we could have strolled the streets for hours more! Wondering if I will ever be back to Zhouzhuang!