Shanghai: Zhouzhuang Water Village

During our trip to Shanghai, we spent one day in Zhouzhuang Water Village, which is an hour and half drive from Shanghai. There are many small villages south of the Yangtze River which are surrounded by water and canals. Zhouzhuang, with it's 900 year history, is the most famous one and is known as the Venice of China. We had a great time exploring the village with Josephine, Marissa, Christine, and Laura. Part of the movie Mission Impossible 3, with Tom Cruise, was filmed here, too!!!
The Venice of China- People in Zhouzhuang live a simple life with a boat as their main mode of transportation.
Very small alleyways filled with shops and restaurants were throughout the village.

We also walked passed many people making crafts and food.

Gondola Ride: We were able to take a boat ride around the canals for only about $15...about a fifth of the price for a gondola in Venice. This was the highlight of the day!

The six of us on the boat (Frank, Josephine, Marissa, Christine, Laura, Melissa)

Our gondola driver...we kept trying to get her to sing for us, but she wanted us to pay her extra, so we just listened to singers on other boats for free. :)

Christine was so excited that the World Expo will be in China this year. This blue character was all over Shanghai.

pagoda

coffee break

There are several bridges throughout the village that cross the rivers. Some of the bridges date back to the 14th century, with the oldest one being built in 1355. The bridge above is supposed to resemble an ancient key.

Frank in front of one of the arch bridges.

600 Year Old House

We walked through a couple of 600 year old houses.

A kitchen replica inside an old house.
This was a well built outside a house. Our guide told us that when a baby boy was born, the family built a well which symbolized the bloodline continuing. When a girl was born, they planted a tree.

A chicken on a leash...not sure if it was a pet or dinner!

Women doing laundry in the river.

A very delicious, but messy, snack made of honey with nuts inside.

Street Parade

We were thrilled to come across this street parade!

A video of the parade

Another video- This one is of a group of men on a parade boat that went throughout the village.

Silk Factory-

We also visited a silk factory in Zhouzhuang.

This is a lady extracting silk from a silk worm at the factory.

silk

the final product

The bathroom stalls were really short at the silk factory! hahaha
Neighborhoods

On our way back to Shanghai, we drove passed some beautiful gated, golf-course communities with 2 car garages and Spanish tile roofs...really surprising!

We headed back to Shanghai in the evening. Visiting this water village was wonderful and made us want to visit more of China if we ever have the chance.