Country living

Tourists visit Wucun for its pastoral appeal. The village in the famous water town Wuzhen in Zhejiang province has been developed into a tourist attraction that brings city people close to nature, and they can enjoy fresh food directly from the fields. Photo by Yang Feiyue / China Daily

A village in Zhejiang's celebrated Wuzhen water town has been reinvented as a tourism attraction that proffers a pastoral charm. Yang Feiyue explores this rural retreat.

Green fields and white-walled farmhouses with black-shingled rooftops color Wucun's agrarian allure.

It's a land where rice paddies and wooden fences emanate from a vast lake.

Farmers in straw hats plant, tend to and harvest crops.

The village saddles up against the ancient Grand Canal that connects Beijing to Zhejiang's provincial capital, Hangzhou. Boats bob along the waterway.

Wucun is the newest attraction in Wuzhen, a water town whose canals have long lured travelers from around the world. But while Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) architecture remains the main attraction for Wuzhen's Xizha and Dongzha areas, Wucun's appeal is pastoral.

Visitors immerse themselves in farm life. They can grow vegetables, catch fish and collect water caltrops amid stunning scenery.