Yesterday we drove more than an hour to visit the 1700-year old water town of Zhujiajiao. Built during the Ming-Qing dynasties and situated along Dianshan Lake, it’s often called Shanghai’s Venice because of the many canals that run through it. The town has 36 distinctive stone bridges, Fangsheng Bridge being the most iconic one. It spans the Caogang River and was originally built by a monk in 1571, then rebuilt in 1812. The bridge’s central arch is decorated with eight dragons surrounding a pearl, all carved in stone relief, and its pillars are in the form of sculpted lions. The town’s main thoroughfare is North Street, hundreds of years old and full of teahouses, art shops, and what looked like many different kinds of pickled meats. Wooden boats, that reminded me not only of Venetian gondolas but also of Kashmiri shikaras, can be seen traveling down waterways throughout the town. Quite a change of pace from Shanghai.
