Zhouzhuang Water Town

National 5A Tourist Attraction · Kunshan, Jiangsu

Often called the first water town of China: a canal village of whitewashed houses, stone bridges and willow-shaded lanes on the flat lakelands between Suzhou and Shanghai, where life has revolved around boats for more than 900 years. It grew rich in the Ming dynasty through the trade of Shen Wansan, one of the wealthiest merchants of his age, whose family mansion still stands beside the canal with its halls, furniture and the family's famous braised pork knuckle, now the town's signature dish. Zhouzhuang won international attention in 1984, when a painting of its Twin Bridges - two linked Ming stone bridges shaped like an old-fashioned key - by Chen Yifei was bought by the American businessman Armand Hammer and presented to Deng Xiaoping, making the bridges a symbol of the town. Today visitors ride wooden boats rowed by women singing local boat songs, wander through the Zhang and Shen family mansions, cross the Fu'an Bridge with its bridge-top teahouse, and watch the canals glow with lanterns after dark. It is heavily visited, but early mornings and evenings recover some of the quiet charm that first made it famous.

Twin Bridges, Zhouzhuang Town, Kunshan, Suzhou, Kunshan, Jiangsu, China

Day ticket roughly 7:30-20:00, with a night ticket about 16:00-20:00; entry reported free before 7:30 and after 20:00, when the mansions are closed.

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