Today we decided to get out of the city and visit one of the water towns nearby, using the metro. Which was super easy to use, clean, efficient and frequent. Even better; with decent aircon.
We headed to East Nanjing Road station from our hotel which is about a 5 min walk, and got a ticket to Zhujiajiao with a change at Hongqiao station (the airport). All in all it took about an hour door to door.
When we arrived, there was the usual confusion of not being sure where to go and no obvious sign posts, but we spotted some boats right outside the metro entrance and assumed they would probably be for the Old Town.
So with some pointing and gesturing at the guy at the boats, we deduced we had to buy tickets from a kiosk nearby and then we could board. Better than walking on this occasion as it was absolutely roasting, sun beating down, 37*, real feel – furnace. Plus I will always pick being on water v being on land.
The boat took us down the picturesque canals with housing along the edges to the old town, some canal side buildings were transformed in to restaurants or shops, while others remain the local’s residences.
Zhujiajiao itself is a 1,700 year old ‘water town’ in Shanghai’s Qingpu district, known as the ‘Venice of Shanghai’ and ‘The Pearl Stream’ (lots of pearls are grown here).
It is famous for its waterways, ancient stone bridges, narrow stone lanes and architecture from the Ming and Qing dynasty eras.
It is pronounced joo-jee-ah-jow.
It is one of the most well preserved historical water towns in Shanghai, and is basically a network of canals with 36 ancient stone bridges, including the famous Fangsheng Bridge, below.
When presented with one, Ray, on this occasion did not eat a scorpion, and we were all pretty disappointed. Even goading and peer pressure didn’t crack him.
We spent a few hours mooching about, but should have ventured off the main lanes more in hindsight, to explore the more attractive side buildings. But it was just too hot to venture out into the scorching sun for long and so we stuck to the shade of the lanes.
When everyone started to look like they were melting, we walked back to the metro (eschewing the boat this time) and headed back to our hotel.
Tomorrow we fly to Vietnam for a very short 24h stop before flying to Cambodia 🇰🇭. Then we’ll fly back to Vietnam and work our way down to central Vietnam.
danilovescats 