蘇州 - 周莊

Zhou Zhuang --
It's a tiny town with about 4000 inhabitants located between Shanghai and Suzhou, in an area with abundant rivers and lakes. There are several towns with canals in China but this one is today definitely one of the most famous. This ancient town has a history of more than 900 years with many houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.
There are nearly a hundred well-preserved old mansions and over 60 gateways made of carved bricks built during the Ming or Qing dynasty. The mansions were named after owners ' surnames, such as "Zhang", "Zhou" or "Shen". The great mansion is "Shen-Ting" (Hall of Sheng) and was built in 1742 by the descendants of Shen Wan-Shan, the wealthiest person in the area under the Ming dynasty. The two-story mansion has more than 100 rooms and is an extreme example of how the rich lived during feudal China. The house has also been used as the set for several Chinese movies.
The other is the Zhang-Ting (Hall of Zhang) residence, which was built later during the Ming Dynasty. It is one of the few well preserved mansions in China and the oldest one in the city. Whereas the other houses in Zhou Zhuang are built along the streams and rivers, the Ruojing River actually runs through Zhang-Ting so that small boats can enter the house through its backyard.
There's a gondola service for tourists to take the city in from another perspective and get a quick tour of probably the most famous attractions, the 14 stone bridges built during the Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The Double Bridge being the most visited one. The Double Bridge, two bridges positioned so they form a right angle over a canal, was first built during the Wanli Reign (1573-1619). The other noteworthy bridge is Fu'an Bridge, which supposed to be the oldest bridge in the City having been built in 1355.