FranknMary

We are traveling to China in Sept. and will have a few days in Shanghai and would like to spend one day at one of the nearby water towns. We were in Tongli in 2006 and would like to visit a different one. Can anyone give us any info on other locations. Thank You

PeterN_H

It's a little further afield but look up information on Shaoxing, which is larger, but both laced with canals and with large areas of ancient housing, ancient bridges (particularly the Ba Zi Qiao--Bridge in the Shape of an Eight), and other historical sites. Amongst these are the mansion where Lu Xun (early 20th C, China's greatest modern writer) was brought up, the little schoolroom where he studied, and another mansion where he later lived. The area of ancient buildings called 'The Master Calligrapher's Native Place' is also pleasant (home of 4th C calligrapher, Wang Xizhi), with samples of calligraphy and copies of famous works (e.g. The Preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection) on display in old halls. All are easily accessible in the town centre. It has few foreign visitors--far fewer than it merits--whereas the officially cute water towns are rather overrun (Zhouzhuang in particular).

A short journey (bus, taxi) outside Shaoxing is yet another smaller water town called Anchang, which is very pleasant to walk round, with some ancient banks and well-preserved houses, several of which you can enter and which have interesting collections of traditional crafts, household objects, etc .

Shaoxing is certainly doable as a day trip by train or bus from Hangzhou, but the new Hangzhou Bay bridge (the longest in the world?--probably a spectacular ride in its own right) ought to make Shaoxing comfortably accessible from Shanghai, too, by bus or chartered taxi.

Actually, I've just looked up the trains, and there are now about a dozen trains a day from Shanghai South directly to Shaoxing, taking two hours and a few minutes for the journey, e.g. the D377 at 8am arriving 10.01am, costing ¥69. Better still, possibly, to make a good day of it, the D3105 at 07.25.

Getting back the K76 at 18.23 arrives at 21.34, and the D5552 at 20.17 gets back at 22.18.

You may want to stay for dinner in Shaoxing as it is famous for the invention of 'stinky' doufu (tofu), and also for producing 'yellow wine' (actually a sorghum spirit) used in cooking several local dishes.

A little Googling on all this will tell you more.

Peter N-H

sylvia3

I would like to recommend Qibao ("cheebao"), an ancient water town situated within Shanghai proper. There are photogenic bridges, waterboats, alleys with shopping galore, many eating options, and it's within walking distance of the lovely Qibao temple, with a pagoda open to the public and very pretty grounds (about $1.50 entrance fee, 10 yuan). It's an easy metro ride from anywhere in Shanghai, and I don't think many western tourists find the time to go there.
A wonderful surprise within Shanghai, and best of all, no trains or cabs!

sylvia3

BTW, I hasten to add that this isn't in lieu of larger, more famous water towns, just an unexpected, lovely way to while away some hours without leaving the city.

sylvia3

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attr...cient-town.htm

One of many informational sites about Qiboa ancient town.

FranknMary

Thank You both for info. I'll start my research on Shaoxing & Qiboa.

PeterN_H

Take all these 'informational' sites run by Chinese tour companies with a truck-load of salt: the history is usually inaccurate, the photographs very carefully chosen, and all sorts of recently invented to amuse tourists activities presented as ancient. Everything's always fascinating and perfect and much is trumped-up. Chinahighlights, travelchinaguide, etc. etc. and sites run by destinations themselves want to put their hands in your pockets and should be read with a very sceptical eye.

Foreign traveller blogs are of course always incomplete and often misled, but as has been pointed out elsewhere, are at least not driven by commercial interest. See:

http://sevencastles.spaces.live.com/...iRg!1628.entry

and

http://www.bearspage.info/h/tra/ch/q.html

There must be something similar for Shaoxing somewhere, but I wasn't able to find anything. The easier of access a place is, of course the more visitors it gets, including those inclined to write on-line. Shaoxing's own account of itself should be avoided--it certainly isn't overall as pretty as suggested, but the pockets mentioned are, and Anchang certainly is, with nary a concrete building in sight. Apparently Shaoxing is also China's capital of malware and hackery. Who'd have thought?

There is actually a Shaoxing travel report on this very site, however. Use search box for more, or see:

http://www.fodors.com/community/asia/shaoxing-query.cfm

Entering Qibao (note spelling) and other water town names in the search box will probably find more of the same.

sylvia3

Of course, I spelled Qibao correctly in my first post, and not in my quick addendum, which was merely the first starting place I found when I Googled the name. However, the pictures on that particular site seemed accurate (just like mine). The temple grounds are only a short walk away; don't visit one without the other!

sylvia3

By the way, on the 1-2 block walk to the temple, there are several tiny shops that specialize in "soup" dumplings; delicious, but don't burn your mouth!

ShanghaiManta

I live right outside Qibao and whilst a couple of years ago it was interesting it has now been totally taken over by commercial interests. The old shops selling traditional goods have gone and been replaced by crappy shops selling children's plastic toys etc. I would now avoid it if you are on a limited timeframe and not living in Shanghai (if you live here it's OK for an hour or two at most). Easy to get to ... Line 9 from downtown to Qibao and walk across the Husong Highway. Not a patch on 'real' water towns though.

Try this for some water town shots :
http://www.flickr.com/groups/theshan...7624040388102/

ekscrunchy

I thought Xitang was lovely; my visit was in 2007. I hired a driver to take me there but there are (tour) buses from Shanghai, too.


http://www.xitang.com.cn/en/zxxt3.asp

sylvia3

"it has now been totally taken over by commercial interests"
Unlike anywhere else in China

I found lots of shopping opportunities, along with cheap toy shops. But certainly not a destination shopping stop, and as I said, "this isn't in lieu of larger, more famous water towns."
The temple pagoda and grounds are worth the 10Y, for sure!

dgunbug

Ekscrunchy - what exquisite pictures! Thank you for sharing.

Shanghainese

If you don't have a full day, Qibao can be seen on 1/2 day.

NeoPatrick

When my time was running short in Shanghai, and we were finding trains and buses impossible to get due to the crowds in Shanghai at Expo, my Shanghai friend suggested we do something easier. We took a subway line to the end and then a public bus (unreserved) which was very comfortable to Zhujiajiao. The whole trip was a little over an hour -- maybe an hour and a half -- I think from downtown Shanghai. While I don't have anything to compare it to, I found it perfectly delightful, including a boat ride along the canals and a wonderful dinner sitting alongside the canal -- where my friend went to the kitchen and picked out some things that he thought I'd like -- the "puffer" fish in soup was not a winner, however! While there were of course plenty of tacky souvenir shops and plastic toys, there were a number of very good craftsman working as well

Of course the water towns are all about tourists these days, but as kind of a good sign, I guess, I never saw another Caucasian in the whole town. It was mainly Chinese tourists, and it was not crowded as I've heard most of the others are. As my friend said, "you see one water town, you've seen them all."

fdwoo

Yeah, Zhujiajiao is recommended. I have the same opinion - you see one water town, then you've seen them all.