Highlights

Zhouzhuang，with its quiet waterways and relaxed atmosphere,is a unique attraction. Most of the ancient buildings and bridges are accessible by boat or walking. The major attraction of the town is the atmosphere and the water view of Southern Yangtze River area.Shenting Hall and Zhangting Hall will tell you how luxury life the old Chinese family once enjoyed.

Day Tour to Zhouzhuang Water Town from Shanghai

The guide and driver will come to pick you up at your centrally located hotel in Shanghai around 8:30Am, it takes about 1.5 hours from downtown to the water town. You will begin your tour by wandering along the ancient canal. Then, heading to a local stage and there is a small collection of Beijing opera costumes. There are a couple of residential garden in the town which are worth a visit, such as "Zhang Hall" and "Sheng Hall" both of them were built in Ming Dynasty by the local rich family.

After the visit of the building we will introduce you the local flavored food on the street and it is a nice experience if you are interested in Chinese food. Afterwards, we will recommend a boat tour which is about 20 minutes to enjoy the leisure life as local on the waterway. Finally, you will be transferred back to your Shanghai hotel and end the tour there.

Zhouzhaung Ancient Water Town

The town of Zhouzhuang (originally Yaocheng, Zhenfengli), was first built by the ruler of State Wu in the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC). In Northern Song Dynasty, Zhou Digonglang settled down here, and he was a devout believer in Buddhism. Later he and his wife donated all their properties to Quanfu Temple. Then the local people renamed the town to Zhouzhuang (Zhou Village) to show the appreciation and respect to this generous contributor.

Almost every piece of the ancient town is an art work. According to the Suzhou Tourism Bureau, they have invited all the best archaeologists in China to manage a deteriorating carved brick gate in Zhouzhuang, but none of them could handle the job. No living archaeologist has mastered this ancient skill.

The town benefits from the beauty of rivers and lakes. The 14 ancient bridges on the river were built during the Yuan (1271 - 1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644 -1911) dynasties. Double Bridge is one tourist clamor to visit, where two bridges positioned to form a right angle over the stream. Another noteworthy bridge is Fu'an Bridge, which is the oldest bridge in Zhouzhuang - built in 1355.

Residents of the ancient town built their houses and streets along the rivers. Over 60% of the town's buildings date back to the early Ming Dynasty. Two buildings in particular attract lots of tourists: Shen Ting (Hall of Shen) built in 1742 and Zhang Ting (Hall of Zhang). Tourists can also take a gondola to experience the small water town.

What is included

*Pick-up and drop-off from your hotel

*Private vehicle with driver

*Excellent English speaking private tour guide

*Entrance fees of all sites as mentioned

*Typical Chinese lunch with drink

*Service charge & Government taxes

What is excluded

*Tips for the guide and driver

*Hotel in Shanghai.

*Dinner

Note

*Free Pick-up and drop-off services are offered for visitors staying in dowtown area of Shanghai city, so please SPECIFY the hotel name and address when you enroll this tour.

*The night before the tour departure about 8:30Pm, a guide will call you directly if you have left us a China mobile number, or he/she will call to the hotel room to inform the pick-up time next morning.

*A message will be left at the hotel front desk if you are not in the room when he/she calls.

*Please call this emergency number +86-18086842467 to confirm the pick-up time if you didn't receive any message from our guide the night before departure.