Archive for the ‘Suzhou Travel’ Category
Wuzhen Pictures – Wuzhen Photo Gallery
Monday, April 1st, 2013Wuzhen is a historic water town which lies in the center of a triangle formed by Hangzhou, Suzhou and Shanghai. Wuzhen Water Town is located in the city of Tongxian in the northen Zhejiang Province, 80km to the northeast of Hangzhou, 80km to the south of Suzhou and 140km to the southwest of Shanghai. There are daily long-distance buses going directly to Wuzhen from Hangzhou, Suzhou, Shanghai and Jiaxing.
If you are planning your Hangzhou tour, Suzhou tour or Shanghai tour, a side trip to Wuzhen is highly recommended. Wuzhen is the typical water town in the Yangtze river delta region. It has well preserved the layout and the style of a water town in Ming and Qing dynasties.
The waterways crisscross Wuzhen Town, mainly dividing the town into 4 areas Dongzha (east), Xizha (west), Nanzha (south), and Beizha (north). The water paths are incorporated into the ancient grand canal. Wuzhen ancient town dislays its charm and history through its ancient stone bridges, stone pathways, ornate wood carvings.
Beside its waterways, stone bridges and ancient buildings, Wuzhen also gives you the opportunity to appreciate the ordinary life in the Ming and Qing dynasties through its well preserved old house-turned theme museums, shops and organizations such as Ancient Bed Museum, Folk Custom Museum, Wine Distillery Workshop, Indigo Fabric Workshop, Woodcarving Museum, Coin Museum, The Former Residence of Mao Dun, Shadow Play, Fanglu Teahouse, Huiyuan Pawnshop, Wedding Museum, Zhaoming Academy, Chinese Footbinding Culture Museum, Wuzhen Post Office, Wuzhen Grand Theater, Heal town Pharmacy, and Yida Silk Workshop.
Follow me to have a photo tour of Wuzhen Water Town.
Wuzhen Water Town is dubbed as “Venice of the East”. The waterways form the water streets or lanes connect bridges and street buildings and houses.
A humpback stone bridge over the canal linking two blocks of the traditional houses.
The slab paved lanes flanked by the old wooden houses in Wuzhen.
A stone beam bridge spans the waterway.
The old wood houses built by the water pathway.
Many building protrude above the water for more spaces with stone pillars supporting in the water.
The narrow street with long chairs goes along the canal
Wuzhen Water Town is not a artificial replica of the historic town, and it is a natural town still inhabitated by the local residents.
Washing clothes by making the water of the canal.
Local residents still keep the original water town life.
A traditional shop for local wine and liquor
Stroll on the narrow lane paved with stone slabs with the hanging laundry that sways overhead
A traditional kitchen
A local souvenir shop
A traditional Wine Distillery Workshop
An indigo Fabric Workshop
What’s in his mind? Can the historic town survive the internet age?
Wuzhen Water Town is akin to a scroll of Chinese painting.
Painting a beautiful life! We need a slow life, we need clean water and fresh air more than the growth of GDP.
Any questions, just drop a line.
Zhouzhuang Pictures – Zhouzhuang Photo Gallery
Thursday, March 28th, 2013
If you are in the process of planning your Suzhou tour or Shanghai tour, a glimpse of Zhouzhuang Water Town is worth your time. Zhouzhuang is reputed as the No.01 Water Town in China and “Venice in the East”. Under the jurisdiction of Kunshan City, it is located 45km to the southest of Suzhou and 80km to the west of Shanghai. Zhouzhuang stands out from the numerous water towns dotted around the Yangtze River Delta mainly due to its complete and well preserved old houses, bridges and canals coupled with unique culture annd history. Now Zhouzhuang has been included in the UNESCO Tentative List for World Cultural Heritage Sites.
How to visit Zhouzhuang Water Town? There are plentiful buses running either from Suzhou or Shanghai to Zhouzhuang. Many local travel agencies operate daily bus tours visiting Zhouzhuang from Shanghai and Suzhou. So you can join in the coach tours starting from your hotel or go to your nearest long-distance bus station and jump onto a bus for Zhouzhuang.
Shanghai Suzhou Zhouzhuang One Day Bus Tour is available daily with complimentary pick up from your hotel in Shanghai. For more information on the public transport from Suzhou to Zhouzhuang, please refer to my post “How to visit Zhouzhuang Water Town“.
Follow me to have a photo tour of Zhouzhuang.
Passing through the center of Zhouzhuang Town, then walk to the entrance to the old water town of Zhouzhuang.
A traditional white-washed house
Zhouzhuang is surrounded and divided by lakes and rivers with over a dozen of stone bridges crossing the rivers. Boating on the rivers and canals are an interesting trip allowing you to have a close look at the houses and bridges on the both sides.
Zhouzhuang is quite famous for its stone bridges with different shapes. The beam bridge is across the river.
Zhouzhuang abounds in waterways. The old white-washed wooden houses are lined along the rivers and lakes with slab bases.
Rows of traditional houses stand by the rivers and bridges far away from the hustle and bustle
Some houses have been turned into tea houses and restaurants
A few waterways are quite narrow
This is the famous twin-bridge – round and beam bridges indicating the sky and earth.
Walking on the stone paths and slab bridges gives you a kind of spiritual comfort and quietness
Tired of the noisy world and get lost in Zhouzhuang
Overlooking the river sandwiched by the traditional houses from a bridge
Boats are docking on the narrow canal
Enter Shen House, the most wealthy family in Zhouzhuang in Qing Dynasty
Shen Family’s kitchen
Upturned roof or eaves along with white walls and black tiles reflected on th river.
A close look at the boats, the houses and the canal.
Any questions, just drop a line.
How to Visit Ming Xiaoling Tomb
Sunday, December 16th, 2012
Plan your Nanjing tour? The Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum is the primary attraction and the only world cultural heritage site in Nanjing. Ming Xiaoling Tomb is one of the three major attractions in Zhongshan Mountain National Park. The other two attractions are Zhongshan Mausoleum and Linggu Temple.
Ming Xiaoling Tomb is the burial site of the Hongwu Emperor (Zhu Yuanzhang), the first emperor and founder of Ming Dyansty (1368-1644) of China. The tomb construction took 24 yeas from 1381 to ended in 1405. The mausoleum is mainly composed of the Sacred Way and the Mausoleum Complex.
Taking the subway line 2 and get off at the station of Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station 明孝陵(苜蓿)站, then you can walk to the site of Ming Xialing Tomb.
Now follow me to visit Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.
Take the subway line 2 and get off at the station Ming Xialing Tomb (Muxu) Station 明孝陵(苜蓿)站, the exit at Exit 1. When you exit from the subway station, you will see a huge sign with 7 Chinese charactors “钟山风景名胜区” (Zhongshan Mountain National Park) and under the 7 Chinese charators, you could recognize two subtitles “Dr.Sun Yat-sen’ Mausoleum and The Ming Tomb” pointing to the passway to the two attractions.
A huge sign with 7 Chinese charactors 钟山风景名胜区
Zhongshan Maountain National Park mainly comprise three attractions – The Ming Xiaoling Tomb, Zhongshan Mausoleum and Linggu Temple. All the three attractions are linked by electric carts, a kind of shuttle service. The Ming Tomb is located in the west of Zhongshan Moutain area, Zhongshan Mausoleum in the middle and Linggu Temple in the east. The Ming Tomb is quite close to the subway station. So you can walk from the subway line 2 station to the entrance to the Ming Tomb.
After visiting the Ming Tomb, you may have a 30-minute walk and take the park electric cart to the next attraction – Zhongshan Mausoleum. Then again have a half hour walk to Linggu Temple or take a park cart to the temple. Each section for taking an electric cart costs you RMB 5.
In a several minutes, you will come to the entrance to the Ming Tomb. The entrance ticket fee: RMB 70 ( a combined ticket to the Meihua Hill which is the mausoleum of Sun Quan, King of the Kingdom of Wu in the Three Kingdoms period (220-265). If you RMB 90, you will get a all-one ticket for the Ming Tomb, Zhongshan Musoelum, Linggu Temple, Open-air Music Hall.
You first come across the two sections of the Sacred Way – the Elephant Road and the Wengzhong Road. The Elephant Road is flanked by 12 pairs of animals ( 6 kinds of animals including lions, xiezhi, camels, elephants, qilin, and horses), which guard he tomb.
Then you will find two columns called huabiao in Chinese. Starting from the two columns, you wander along the Wengzhong Road lined with four pairs of ministers and generals of stone standing there for centuries to escort the mausoleum.
Soon you will reach the main part of the Mausoleum including the Golden Water Bridge, Civil and Military Gate, Ming Tower and the Treasue Mound (the actual burial site). The construction system of Ming Xiaoling Tomb initiated the standard followed by thereafter the Ming and Qing dynastiies in building imperial tombs.
The Civil and Military Gate is the first gate to the graveyard of the Ming Tomb.
Behind the gate, the first hall you will see is the Imperial Tablet Hall. The hall has 5 steles standing. The tablet mounted on a stone tortoise in the middle is engraved with 4 Chinese characters “治隆唐宋”, which indicates the greatness of the Ming Dynasty founder Zhu Yuanzhang, matching (or outweight ) that of the founders of the Tang and Song Dynasties. The 4 charactors were written by Kangxi Emperor in Qing Dynasty.
The Inner Red Gate
The arched pine tree path leads to the Ming Tower.
The Ming Tower. The Ming Tower is built atop the rectangular citadel, a highest building in the mausoleumn compound.
The Treasure Mound behind the Ming Tower is the actual site of the Ming Tomb.
If you have any questions, just drop a line.























































