Zhejiang Tourism: Self-driving Jiangnan Water Town Wuzhen (Photo)

Number of days:3 days
With whom:
Tour kinds: food, shopping, photography, self-driving, humanities, free travel
The author went to these places: Wuzhen Beijing Mao Dun's Former Residence Mao Dun Memorial Hall Cultivation Theater

There are many water towns in Jiangnan, such as Zhouzhuang and Tongli in Jiangsu; In Wuzhen, Xitang, Nanxun, Shaoxing, etc. in Zhejiang, in October 2005, the last stop of the reporter's self-driving tour of Jiangnan with Beijing was to Wuzhen and Nanxun Ancient Town in Zhejiang, which is also according to the actual situation of the whole itinerary, carefully planned and selected these two different styles of water towns, so that the riders felt that the trip was worth it after sightseeing.

convoy to Wuzhen

early morning of October 5, 2005, the convoy left Shaoxing for Wuzhen. The rainy weather still hasn't improved. Li Ruicheng, a car friend who served as a propaganda car driver, laughed and talked to reporters that he was not optimistic about the yellow calendar when he came out, so he caught up with the continuous rain for five consecutive days. After more than two hours of travel, the convoy arrived in Wuzhen Water Town, Tongxiang City in the drizzle.

arrived in Wuzhen, a water town

Tongxiang is located in the west of Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province, at the intersection of water and land in the three major metropolises of Shanghai, Suzhou and Hangzhou, with an area of 723 square kilometers and a population of 640,000. The ancient canal of Jiangnan runs diagonally through the entire territory and is a typical Jiangnan water town. National Highway 320 and the Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway both pass through it.

Wuzhen Water Town Photo (Photo: Cao Qun)

Tongxiang is not only known for its developed economy, but also for being a cultural country where celebrities gather. The construction of celebrity culture with the famous ancient town of Wuzhen in Jiangnan and the four "golden phoenixes" as the main frame has become the characteristics and advantages of Tongxiang's tourism culture.

Wuzhen Water Town Waterway

Water Township, is located at the northern end of Tongxiang City, west of Huzhou City, and north of Wujiang County, Jiangsu Province. The county-level highway Yaozhen Line runs through the township, and can be connected with the provincial highway Salt Lake Highway, National Highway 320, Highway 318 and Shanghai-Hangzhou Expressway through the Yaozhen Highway.

rain scene in a water town

Wuzhen is 13 kilometers away from Tongxiang city, 27 kilometers, 45 kilometers and 60 kilometers away from the surrounding cities of Jiaxing, Huzhou and Wujiang respectively, 80 kilometers away from Hangzhou and Suzhou, and 140 kilometers away from Shanghai.

Rafting in Wuzhen, a water town

Wuzhen has a history of more than 1,300 years and is one of the top ten historical and cultural towns in China. Wuzhen has been prosperous since ancient times, for thousands of years, the ancient town houses are built by the river, the bridge is the city, the town is simple, is a model of "small bridge, flowing water, people" in Jiangnan water town, and Wuzhen has a waterfront building that other towns do not have - water pavilion, so Wuzhen is also known as "China's last pillow water people".

Water Town Pavilion

Wuzhen has a long history and is a typical ancient town of Jiangnan culture. The style of Wuzhen water town is complete, maintaining a complete pattern of Jiangnan water town. Wuzhen has strong folk customs and is a living fossil museum that reflects the life of Jiangnan water towns. Wuzhen has developed rapidly and is a famous rich town in the Yangtze River Delta region.

overlooking the water town of Wuzhen

2001, Wuzhen was included in the World Cultural Heritage Tentative List; In 2002, it won the title of national AAAA scenic spot; In 2004, it was named one of the first batch of China's top ten historical and cultural towns by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage of the Ministry of Construction, ranked first among the top ten most popular tourist attractions in Zhejiang Province, and won the "2003 Asia-Pacific Region Heritage Protection Outstanding Achievement Award" issued by the United Nations. Wuzhen has been selected as a key scenic spot in China's "Golden Week" holiday tourism forecast statistics for four consecutive years. Wuzhen is gradually growing into a world-class tourism brand.

Shoreside Buildings in Water Towns

walking into the Wuzhen Scenic Area, the unique style of Jiangnan Water Town will immediately be displayed in front of people's eyes. In the narrow waterway hidden in the shade of greenery, there are continuous black boats. Tourists can comfortably experience the water town style on the boat. along the river side are old houses built by the water; On the other side is a stone road facing the water. Not far away, there will be a small bridge across both sides. Standing on the small bridges with different architectural shapes and looking around, the unique water town style is like a beautiful picture that is fascinating.

the commercial street of Wuzhen

in Jiangnan Water Town, there are many ancient towns like Wuzhen, which are as beautiful and quiet as pearls. In addition to the small bridges, flowing water, water town style and exquisite and elegant residential buildings that everyone has, Wuzhen has a strong historical and cultural atmosphere. This may be because it has the longest history and the most developed culture.

Wuzhen buys tea

Wu Town not only has beautiful water town scenery and well-preserved Ming and Qing architecture, but also gave birth to a generation of literary heroes Mao Dun. Mao Dun's former residence is an old house where the ancestors of revolutionary writer Mao Dun (Shen Yanbing) lived, built in the middle of the 19th century, with a construction area of 650 square meters, and is a Jiangnan residence in the Qing Dynasty.

in the courtyard of Mao Dun's former residence

opposite Mao Dun's former residence is the Lin family shop. I think that the Beijing Film Studio was adapted by Xia Yan in 1959 based on Mao Dun's works; "Lin's Shop" filmed by director Shuihua once left a deep impression on reporters. And my childhood perception of Jiangnan water towns also came from this movie. Decades later, looking at the real Lin family shop in front of me, although it is different from the scene in the movie, it still makes the reporter have an indescribable different feeling for this place.

A dazzling array of small goods

unfortunately, the tourism boom of the National Day Golden Week has made this place full of tourists. The small streets and alleys are crowded with tourists visiting and shopping. Squeezed into Mao Dun's former residence, and with the crowded crowd, I finally paid a relatively complete view of the former residence of the literary master.

took a photo with car friend Wuzhen (Photo: Lin Lan)

it is understood that Mao Dun was born on July 4, 1896 until he left his hometown to study in the spring of 1910, and lived here for thirteen springs and autumns, and was still in touch for decades to come. Mao Dun's former residence has a study designed and renovated by Mao Dun in 1934, hand-planted heavenly bamboo, and palms. In 1982, it was listed as a provincial-level cultural protection unit, prepared for restoration in August 1983, completed and opened in July 1985, and announced as a national key cultural relics protection unit in January 1988.

Water Pavilion in Wuzhen

After the opening, the ancillary rooms and exhibition halls were successively expanded, with a total construction area of 1731.5 square meters, and in August 1994, it was renamed Tongxiang Mao Dun Memorial Hall, with three basic displays: "Mao Dun's Hometown Wuzhen", "The Road Mao Dun Walked", and "Mao Dun's Former Residence (Restoration)".

Watching a play in the rain in Wuzhen

Mao Dun's former residence, together with the Xiuzhen Theater, the Tang Dynasty Ginkgo, the Zhaoming Study Room and the style of Wuzhen Water Town, are integrated into a vivid Mao Dun research living dictionary. The reporter thought that when traveling to Wuzhen, Mao Dun's former residence was a must-see.

teahouse in Wuzhen

In the water town of Wuzhen, the distinctive flavored snacks and local products are dizzying. Like sister-in-law cakes, chewing gum, rose halva, peanut cakes, black hemp cakes, etc., looking at the large bags and small bags in hand; The happy riders can see that they must be very happy to purchase local products with folk characteristics here.

Purchasing local products

It is reported that the tourism brand of Wuzhen Water Town has also opened up a unique and novel way of promotion in the national tourism market. They used the form of a tourist carriage to show people the unique charm of the water town of Wuzhen through vivid pictures of Wuzhen water town on the car.

Wuzhen style in the water town

Gao Yuping, then manager of sales at Wuzhen Tourism Development Company, told reporters: "No matter which big city our tourist car drives to, those pictures of water town style with a strong visual impact will attract many tourists to stop and watch." Today, our RVs have been to many places in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, as well as Beijing, the three northeastern provinces and Guilin in Guangxi. We hope that through this intuitive publicity and promotion method, tourists across the country can gradually understand the characteristics of our water town Wuzhen. Thus, we will also make some contributions to promoting the development of tourism.