Zhouzhuang (周庄) is the oldest and most famous of the Jiangnan water towns, a place that was drawing visitors long before anyone called it a tourist destination. The town sits on an island surrounded by lakes and threaded by canals, its Ming and Qing dynasty houses still standing with their private stone jetties over the water, their carved wooden facades intact, their arched bridges unchanged since they were built centuries ago. The Double Bridge — two stone spans joined at a right angle to resemble an ancient door key — is the image that has appeared on enough paintings and photographs to become an icon of rural China.
What makes Zhouzhuang worth visiting, despite its considerable fame, is the fact that the architecture is real. The Shen Family Mansion, built in 1742, has over a hundred rooms arranged around a series of courtyard lakes; the Zhang Residence from the Ming dynasty still has a section of river running through its central courtyard. These are not reconstructions. The town became wealthy from silk and grain trade during the Yuan dynasty, and its merchant families built accordingly — with an eye for permanence that has, somewhat accidentally, kept the fabric of the place alive.
The crowds are the honest caveat. On weekends and during national holidays, Zhouzhuang can be genuinely unpleasant: narrow lanes packed to a standstill, vendors pressing food and souvenirs at every turn. The solution is to arrive early — before ten in the morning the town is quieter and the light on the canals is at its best — or to stay overnight, when the day-trippers leave and the town returns to something closer to itself. An evening boat ride through the lit canals is one of the better ways to spend time in the Jiangnan region.
Zhouzhuang is located in Kunshan, on the border between Jiangsu and Shanghai municipality. From Shanghai, take Metro Line 11 to Huaqiao and pick up the Kunshan tourist bus; from Suzhou, it is about 38 kilometres by road. The entrance fee is steep at ¥160, but covers all the main sights within the old town.