A guide to Wuzhen

Wuzhen is a beautiful land that is representative of China's Jiangnan (south of the Yangtze River) area and its old towns. It sits in the "Golden Triangle", an area that holds Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces and the city of Shanghai, on a 67-sq-km area and with a population of 57,000 and convenient transportation and plenty of tourist resources and cultural relics under national or municipal protection. It is one of China's first Historic Towns, one of its Top 10 Charming Towns, a National Environmentally Lovely Town, and a National AAAAA Tourist Attraction.

It was established more than 1,300 years ago and is seen as the "last site of waterside households in China". It is also the home of many famous people and is rich in culture and folk customs. It is surrounded by a canal and is crisscrossed by rivers, with an East Gate, South Gate, West Gate and North Gate. It has maintained a number of unique Jiangnan-style residences that date back to the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Seeing Wuzhen

If you walk around the town, you might feel as if you were in an ink drawing when you see the white walls, tiled roofs, small bridges and streams or see the historical changes in the beams, painted pillars, stone lanes and old houses. And you might hear boats creaking their way past every now and then, or the hawking of goods at waterside shops.

Food

The town has a wide variety of restaurants and eateries with real gourmet food everywhere. Its most famous specialty is braised lamb that is crispy, sweet and a little bit spicy. The best time to enjoy is after the winter solstice. Then there is Baishui Fish, another local delicacy. For household dishes, there are the sauced chicken, braised pork with preserved vegetables, boiled crayfish and stir-fried shell fish, to name just a few. Some famous snacks are Gusao buns (sugar pastry with sweet bean paste or other filling), dried stinky toufu, Dingsheng steamed rices cakes, smoked bean tea, qingtuan herb-flavored glutinous rice balls filled with sweet bean paste, steamed pork rice wrapped in lotus leaf, and small wontons.