Wuzhen Ancient Water Town（烏鎮(zhèn)）

Wuzhen Ancient Water Town [nipic.com]

About an hour's drive from Hangzhou, the town of Wuzhen is situated in Tongxiang, in the north of Zhejiang Province. It is a typical ancient water town and ranks among the top six ancient towns in southern China.

With a history covering 1,200 years, the small town is famous for its ancient buildings and layout, with bridges of all sizes crossing the streams that wind through the town. It has a residential area, a workshop area, a cultural area, a dining area, a shopping area, and a scenery area that features local traditions and customs.

The streets all run alongside the rivers with bridge spans serving as intersections. The houses built along the rivers are typically very impressive, with spacious courtyards, overlapping roofs and high eaves.

In 2007, the reconstructed western part of town, Xizha, was opened up to the general public. Xizha used to be the largest and most prosperous area of the town, and dozens of intact Ming-and-Qing style buildings still line its streets today.

Visitors can also experience the old Xizha lifestyle by either sipping tea in a traditional tea house or enjoying an opera performance in the theater.

Admission: Dongzha: 100 yuan (US$15.69)/person

                      Xizha: 120 yuan (US$18.83)/person

                      Joint ticket: 150 yuan (US$23.54)/person