The East Quarter is the older section of Wuzhen, more compact and museum-dense than the West. The main street follows a narrow canal past residences converted into displays of traditional life — an old pharmacy with its drawers of medicinal herbs, a bed museum showing the ornate carved wooden beds of wealthy Jiangnan families, and a leather-shadow puppet theatre that gives performances several times a day.
The quarter's main historical building is the Xiuzhenfang Theatre, a traditional stage built over the water where punters watch from boats. The theatre still hosts performances of Huju opera in the evenings during peak season. The East Quarter is smaller than the West and can be covered in two to three hours; most visitors do both quarters in a single day, but the combination favors arriving early at the East and moving to the West for the late afternoon and evening.