Brief Introduction
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.
Transportation
Zhouzhuang has no airport, nor railway station and the town can only be reached via highway or water.
Buses: Zhouzhuang is very accessible via bus. There are many buses from Shanghai and Suzhou to Zhouzhuang. Suzhou-Zhouzhuang: a bus leaves from Suzhou north long-distance bus station from 7:05 am to 5:00 pm every 20 minutes. Shanghai-Zhouzhuang: there are around 7 buses heading for Zhouzhuang from Shanghai long-distance bus station daily.
Ferries: Zhouzhuang is connected by the jishui river with shanghai and Hangzhou. Visitors from Hangzhou can travel along the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal to get to Zhouzhuang. Travel via that waterway may slow, time-consuming and exhausted but the riverside country scenery probably provides you a quite memorable experience.
Local transportation: vehicles including bicycles are not allowed within the town and small boats are the only transportation tool there.
Accommodations... Most of the star-grade hotels in Zhouzhuang are in the new city area and there are many of them, including the Zhouzhuang hotel, Zhouzhuang grand hotel, yunhai resort and much more. To meet budget need, a lot of private guesthouses have been built.
Local Products and Specialties Wansan brand wine and liquor: Wine-making industry in Zhouzhuang is very flourishing as the paddy area around teems with rice. Wansan brand liquor or spirit is the best  of the wines.
Wansan pig's upper leg: it is famous dish promoted as the no.1 course among all the dishes in zhouzhuang. The pork of leg is chosen from among the best as the material and stewed in brown source over slow fire. The cooked pork is very tender and easily boned. Though, it looks fat, yet not greasy. It suits to the taste of all different people.
Xiangjiang (white clam river) aquatic products: aquatic products in Zhouzhuang are available all the year round and the bests of them are perches, white clams and fresh – water white baits, which have long been known as the three treasures of xiangjiang. In addition, the water area is teemed with eels, soft -shell turtles and shrimps and so and so forth.
Tourist Attractions
Zhouzhuang is mainly famous for the small water lanes and the riverside ancient buildings. highlights in Zhouzhuang includes waterlanes & stone bridges, the twin bridge, fu'an bridge, shen's house, zhang's house and so on. |
