A visit to an ancient water town | Wuzhen, CHINA
Wuzhen has been on my travel list for a while. I remember mum telling me about the beauty of this ancient water town when I was little. It’s conveniently located a (relatively) short drive away from where my grandparents live so inevitably, when the other travel bunnie and I were planning our recent China holiday, Wuzhen made the list.
My grandparents live in a small city named Jiaxing which lies along the Grand Canal of China and it’s only a short train trip away from Shanghai. From there, we jumped into a nice air-conditioned van that my uncle and aunt had arranged, and were on our way to the water town.
You see the thing with unique and beautiful destinations is that, you can never keep them a secret. Well, not for long anyway, and definitely not in China given its population. The once quiet water town has become a well-known attraction and it’s not a place where you can roam free and get lost. Think of it as an amusement park, you pay an entrance fee to get in. Yes, it’s a bit commercialised but those old buildings surrounded by canals, the stone bridges and pathways, as well as the delicate wood carvings will no doubt charm you.
We stopped at a Chinese family’s home for lunch after a leisurely boat ride. There was no menu, so it was an impromptu fare. The wife stir fried wild vegetables, steamed fish and braised pork belly while the husband served us light scented green tea and cold beer. Lunch was homely, authentic and so delicious.
Luckily, it was a hot summer day so we hardly saw any tourists. The experience was simply mesmerising. China never ceases to amaze me.
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