Zhouzhuang (dead link: June 2020) (周庄) is China's oldest water town. It is southeast of the city of Suzhou and south of Kunshan. Like several other places, including Suzhou, Zhouzhuang has been described as the Venice of China because it has many picturesque canals. There are a lot of tourists (predominantly from China), which means high prices and lots of people hustling you to buy things. On holidays and weekends the old town will be so packed that it is difficult to move around. This aside it's worth the visit.
Zhouzhuang was known as Zhenfangli in ancient times. In the Spring and Autumn Period, Zhouzhuang was a part of the Kingdom of Wu and called Yaocheng. The town was renamed as Zhouzhuang after Zhou Digong donated more than 200 mu (13.3 hectares) of land to the local Quanfu Temple during the Northern Song Dynasty (1086). By the mid-Yuan Dynasty, the wealthy merchant Shen Wansan was using the town's geographical advantage to do trade, hence, Zhouzhuang became a distribution center for food, silk, ceramics, arts and crafts in the south of China.
The town retains the styles and patterns of its ancient past. Its most famous attractions are Fu’an Bridge, Double Bridge, Shen's Residence and Zhang's Residence. Zhouzhuang is surrounded and crisscrossed by lakes and rivers, and no less than 14 stone bridges cross the rivers, giving the town its distinctive appearance. All houses were built on the river banks and every family has its own pier. “Small bridges, flowing water, and people” are the words Chinese people typically use to summarize Zhouzhuang's characteristic features.
Administratively, it is part of Kunshan which in turn is part of Suzhou, but it is located right on the border with Shanghai Municipality.
There is no seasonality in Zhouzhuang’s tourism industry, but it's probably better not to go there on public holidays when it typically becomes overcrowded and you can hardly move, expecially when walking the narrow alleys and bridges. If you stay there overnight, don't miss the vistas at nightfall and in the morning.
As the transportation is well-developed, it is very convenient to get Zhouzhuang. It is 60 km from Shanghai downtown; 38 km from Suzhou downtown; 30 km from Kunshan downtown.
From Shanghai: A9 highway-getting off at Jinze- go about 4 km of 318 State Road-Shangzhou Road- Zhouzhuang From Kunshan: Kunzhou Road-Jinxi-Zhouzhuang, 38 km From Suzhou (via Tongli): Suzhou-Sujia Road-Songling Town- Songbei Road- Pingwang-Huqingping Road-Beiku-Jinjiabei-Zhouzhuang From Suzhou (via Yongzhi):Suhong airport(via Yongzhi and Zhangpu)-Zhouxiang- Kunzhou Road-Dashi-Jinxi-Zhouzhuang,71 km From Zhejiang: Jiaxing exit of the Huhang highway-Sujia Road-Pingwang-Huqingping Road-Beiku-Jinjiabei-Zhouzhuang
Shanghai: 1. Shanghai People Stadium (Shanghai Indoor Stadium, Subway Line 1 and 4). Tel: 24095555. Departure time: 07:00, 08:30, 09:30, 10:10, 10:45, 12:10, 14:00; the price is ¥150 include round-trip fees and visiting tickets ¥120. 2. Hongkou Football Stadium. The No.5 gate. Departure time: 08:15 and 16:15 to return. The price is ¥240 include round-trip fees and enter the tourist area of Zhouzhuang (¥120).
In general, the price is reasonable, because the entering fee of Zhouzhuang is ¥160. But it gives you only 5½ hours in the town. It is not enough to enjoy the beauty spot to lots of people.
If you go there at night (after 21:30 or even later), you can directly go into it without any payment. It is really a good way to save money. Also, you can get up early the next day and travel around in it, the morning is not crowded, and so you can have a better experience in it. The majority travelers will come after 10:00am.
Suzhou: 1. Ferry Terminal. Departure time: 10:40, 14:30. 2. Wuxian bus station. Departure time: 07:15, 9:40, 14:15, 14:20. 3. North bus station. It is a tourist bus. Departure time is 06:45 and 18:00 to return. It comes every half an hour and takes about 60 minutes.
From Shanghai, take a metro train on Line 11 and get off at Huaqiao Station (花桥站) at the end of the line. From there, it's still approximately 44 kilometres to Zhouzhuang, so you would need to transfer to a bus or taxi. The bus route you would need to catch is Kunshan Tourist Route No. 7 (昆山游7路), which stops at a few other tourist attractions along the way, including the town of Jinxi (锦溪) , which is another ancient water town. The bus fare is ¥5. The last bus back to Huaqiao Station departs Zhouzhuang at 18:30 .
In April, Tea Culture Exhibition (the teas that are Lady Tea, Wedding Rea, etc.)
In May, Dragon Boat Festival (visiting ghost boat, dragon-boat race, eating salted egg, dumplings and seasonal fresh fruit, etc)
There are many boat tours that will take you all around to see the entire town. A typical boat tour will cost you around ¥20-40.
There are many special snacks in Zhouzhuang and the most famous one is Wansan's pig shank, locally called “Wansan's elbows” or “Wansan's hoof”, which originated in Wansan Shen’s family in the Ming Dynasty. It is commonly eaten when entertaining guests.
The other local snacks are Wansan cake, Sesame cakes, peanut cakes, walnut cakes, salt and pepper cake, green cake, tiny cucumber, shrimp and a water vegetable called “Chuncai” commonly used in soup.
“Wansan's Family Feast” restaurant located on the Fu’an Bridge is recommended for classical style food and still retains the Ming-style. Specialties include Wansan's pig shank, glutinous rice balls, steamed mandarin fish, steamed eel stew, bass soup with Shuncai, ginger snail, Cypriot meat oil wrap, Venetian meat package, stewed dried tofu, steamed lotus root and more.
Fish and shellfish are available all the year round and the best of them are perch, white clams and freshwater whitebait.
There are several traditional crafts including woven Bamboo and Zhuanglu. Zhouzhuang teapots are also unique and while usually made of porcelain or ceramic, in Zhouzhuang they are made of stone. There are also lots of Suzhou embroidery and pearls.
Usually Zhouzhuang is considered a day trip destination. Most of visitors come back to Shanghai or Suzhou. There are many star graded hotels in Zhouzhuang are in the new city area. Yunhai Resort (a four star hotel) stands beside beautiful Baixun Lake and the price starts at ¥260. Three Oxens Garden Hotel (a three star hotel) is situated in central Zhouzhuang and has rooms from ¥210. Yunting Villa (a four star hotel) is located in the ancient town. This hotel is close to some famous sights such as the Double Bridge, Shen’s House and Zhang’s House and rooms start from ¥190.
There is also a youth hostel named Twinbridge Hostel in Zhouzhuang which is only a few steps to the symbol of Zhouzhuang, the Twinbridge. The price is quite competitive for backpackers and it is very near to the other noteworthy sights. The hostel staff speak fluent English and can help you with all your visit to Zhouzhuang. High demand has given them a rather cavalier attitude towards bookings, however, so be warned and do not assume that even a booking deposit will be honored.
If you enjoy a romantic setting, you can choose private guesthouses. These are situated along the river and the price range is ¥100-300 a night.
Be aware that Zhouzhuang, while indeed an old, beautiful and cool town, can be very commercialized, and contains aggressive sales people and vendors, and that can spoil your visit. Suzhou-area locals seem to strongly concur with this perception. There are also many other beautiful little water towns throughout this area of southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang.
Since there many canals, be safe around water edges. Many areas do not have fencing.
Do not be scammed by vendors. Many will say items are handcrafted and hand painted. If an item is in extreme abundance the item is likely made in mass quantity. Some vendors will even have paint sitting out to portray the idea that the items are handcrafted
The bus station (not the sightseeing bus parking lot at Fuguiyuan) is located at the north end of town on Daqiao Lu. According to the ¥3 map sold by old ladies in various parking lots around town, the bus schedule runs like this:
To 青浦(Qingpu) from 06:30 to 17:20, every 30 minutes.
To 苏州 (Suzhou) from 06:10 to 17:00, every 30 minutes.
To 上海 (Shanghai) 06:00, 08:30, 09:15, 11:40, 12:50, 14:20, 16:20
To 嘉兴 (Jiaxing) 08:50, 12:35
2nd-order administrative division
Primary administrative division