Zhouzhuang Water Town

Zhouzhuang is the best known of the Jiangnan water towns, a grid of canals crossed by old stone bridges with houses opening straight onto the water. The Twin Bridges, one arched and one flat, meeting at a right angle, are the image most people come for. Behind the waterfront stand two large merchant compounds, the Shen and Zhang houses, with sequences of halls, courtyards and private landings where boats once tied up. Hand-poled boats work the canals on a fixed circuit and a fixed price. Away from the two main lanes the town thins out quickly into ordinary residential streets with laundry hanging over the water.

What you actually see

• The Twin Bridges - the arched and flat stone bridges meeting at a right angle over the canal junction.
• Shen House - a large merchant compound of courtyards running back from its own boat landing.
• The canal boats - hand-poled trips along the waterways, sometimes with a sung verse.
• The back lanes - quieter residential canals where the town is not staged for visitors.

When to go

Spring and autumn. Day trippers arrive from Shanghai and Suzhou late morning and leave by five, so early morning and the evening are the only calm hours. Staying overnight inside the old town is the way to see it empty. Winter mist over the canals photographs well; summer is humid and the water can smell.

Honest expectations

It is thoroughly commercialised: the main lanes are wall to wall with stalls selling the same pork knuckle, snacks and trinkets, with loudspeakers competing. The entrance fee is steep for a town you can walk in an hour, boats are priced per trip rather than per person, and on holidays the bridges become queues. Other water towns nearby are cheaper and quieter.

Nearby

Tongli and Luzhi are similar canal towns within easy reach, and Suzhou's gardens are an hour away.