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	location:Home > My Impression of Watertown Wuzhen Tour
	My Impression of Watertown Wuzhen Tour
	Wuzhen is a typical canal town in the south of China. People lived by the water and streets were built along the rivers. Every morning local residents cross several stone bridges to go to school or workplaces and they usually eat their breakfast in the snack restaurants along the way.  Through wooden windows you could see people cooking and washing. Women stuck their heads out of windows calling for their children to come home. All these lively scenes in some other parts of China would have soon disappeared following the city reconstruction, starting in the mid-1980s. Even though new concrete bridges were built and the water seems to be cleaner than before, the aged people still miss their old water towns very much and they might only see it again in their memories - until they have a chance to visit Wuzhen, and the similar ones. Wuzhen is an ancient water town, located in the boundary area between Shanghai and Hangzhou, but far enough away to escape the annoyance and influence of massive economic development. Its antique buildings, mostly from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, old streets and bridges are well-preserved. It became one of the first Ten Famous Historic Cultural Towns in the country in 2003. You can rent a small boat to row in the Dongshi River. The boatman or woman would be more than happy to be your guide. These middle-aged villagers used to fish in the Grand Canal and have been working a boat in the town since 2001. You will be told that all residents built dwellings with the same layout. The kitchen is always on the riverside, the dining room on the roadside and the bedroom is upstairs. "In the past, people bought food and vegetables from boats, through the windows of their waterside houses. Even now, many residents still have a bamboo basket hung up outside the window to keep a fish alive in the river. It is also convenient for people to draw water for the washing-up," they would introduce to you. The everyday life of the local people is interesting. As your vessel pass along the water channels, you  could see someone kneeling down to wash clothes on the riverbank; a senior watering his flowers on the balcony; women playing mah-jong, laughter flowing from an old house. No one care about outsiders¡¯ being there. It is really a living show, displaying how people have behaved for centuries. Wandering the old streets paved with bluestone would be a great fun. On the roadside, ancient buildings of timber construction would remind the aged of the past. There are no iron gates or window-grilles like those city residents use to protect against burglary, instead, low wooden doors stood in the doorframes, enabling tourists to easily see inside where a young mother is holding her baby doing a slow dance around the table and an old man is sitting peacefully enjoying a pot of green tea. Below the roof covered by black tiles, there are bamboo poles for drying clothes and hanging salted meat or fish. There are more than 100 bridges connecting the streets, with some built between the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and Ming Dynasty. Each bridge has its own character, locking up their stories over the water. The town is dotted with many craft workshops -wood carving, printing and indigo print cloth and brewing of Three White Wine for instance. Whether or not a spirit drinker, but you might still attracted by the mellow smell to walk into the workshop to see how the transparent beverage is made. It would be a nice surprise to discover so many urns piled up in the open yard. Try a bowl of the drink with a full plate of stewed beef and you will definitely dream you are a hero in the Chinese classical novel All Men are Brothers. Another translation: Outlaws of the Marsh. When you get exhausted from strolling around the town, you will be guided to see a shadow play. Watching Monkey King Fights with the Ox King and sitting on the narrow wooden chairs - so aged they seem to shine in the dark ¨C it makes people feel you were back to the period of 50 years ago.  There are many snacks offered on the streets, such as dingsheng cake, sister-in-law cake and fried tofu.  You could not have time to try all of them, but you can sample the malt sugar candy. Watching the process of candy production was far more interesting than tasting it, because it is so sticky that your tooth might get adhered to the thick paste. You can leave Wuzhen for Hangzhou at the dusk although you should have stayed there longer.  Never mind, I bet you will return to the water town again: Wuzhen is not a place you can explore completely in just one visit.
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