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Visiting Zhouzhuang- the Oriental Venice |
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Visiting
Zhouzhuang- the Oriental Venice.
On June
10, we visited the famous water down Zhuzhuang which is regarded as the Oriental
Venice.
  
Zhouzhuang lies at the middle between Shanghai
and Suzhou, is an ancient town of Kunshan city, Jiangsu
province, where abounds with rivers and lakes. So it is thought by many to be
the best waterside town in China.
This ancient town has a history of more than 900 years old with many houses
built in the Ming and Qing dynasties. There are about 100 houses with
courtyards, and 60 of them have arch gateways made by carved bricks.
  
With lakes on four sides, the beauty of Zhouzhuang is specially to be found along the waterside
lanes and around a number of the stone bridges. A different vista at every turn
can be found here. All those make a visit most enjoyable. Also, one can enjoy
the fairyland atmosphere of the evenings here when the myriad stars twinkle as
though in communication with the glittering lights.
  
We took a
Chinese traditional boat in a group of 8 people at the most. The boatman slowly
paddles along the river so that you could have a closer look at the ancient
buildings of resident and bridges from a unique perspective. What makes you the
most unforgettable is the Double
Bridge which consists of
two connected bridges built between 1573 and 1619. One aperture of bridge is
with the shape of round while the other is of quadrate. In a whole, it looks
like an ancient key knowing as Key
Bridge. Chinese famous
painter Mr. Zhang Yifei drew it as the memory of his hometown. In 1985, the
painting was published on the first-day cover of stamps of United Nations. As a
result, more and more International friends start to know the Zhouzhuang and
are eager to see it.
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