A Thousand-Year Dream - Zhujiajiao

🎥 Zhujiajiao Ancient Town
-- Founded during the Song and Yuan dynasties, it became an important commercial hub in Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing periods. It preserves a large number of Ming and Qing buildings and traditional styles. Its core area is surrounded by water systems such as the ancient canal and Dianshan Lake, forming a unique Jiangnan water town pattern.

It features the typical Jiangnan water town scenery of "small bridges and flowing water, ancient alleys crisscrossing," including historical buildings like Fangsheng Bridge (the largest five-arch stone bridge in East China), the Old Qing Dynasty Post Office, Yuanjin Zen Temple, City God Temple, Hexinyuan, and Kezhiyuan.

In 1991, it was named one of Shanghai’s "Four Major Cultural Towns," and in 2017, it was included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage lists, covering traditional crafts, folk customs, and other intangible cultural heritage.

Tickets: The ancient town is free to enter; some attractions charge extra
-- Some attraction combo tickets can be purchased online for 75 RMB
-- Boat rides cost 200 RMB per boat (there are different price levels, some more expensive) with A and B routes; there are 3 boarding points at the dock (choose when buying tickets)

Opening hours: Open all day
-- Ticketed attractions: 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Recommended visit duration
-- Half a day to 1 day

Our travel route:
Eat outside the scenic area - Ginkgo Square/Cimen Street - City God Temple Bridge - Old Qing Dynasty Post Office - City God Temple - Yuanjin Zen Temple - Taian Bridge - Jiangnan’s First Teahouse - North Street - Fangsheng Bridge - Nayuki Tea/Luckin Coffee - Fangsheng Bridge - Zhushi Market - Grandma’s Teahouse - Yong’an Bridge - Simin Residence Sales Center - Xijing Street Caohatan/No. 121 Xijing Street - Hexinyuan - Kezhiyuan - Quanhua Watercolor Art Museum/No. 1 Gate of Zhujiajiao Ancient Town - Jingxuyuan - McDonald’s - Handalong Sauce Garden - Tongtianhe Chinese Medicine Shop (under construction)
ps: 1) The last two places can also be visited together with the area around the Old Qing Dynasty Post Office after seeing it. We chose them on the way back to the original bus stop.
2) If you don’t buy tickets for extra-charge attractions, you can still wander freely.
I made this guide mainly to avoid retracing steps and optimized the plan a bit.
But in reality, it’s almost impossible not to backtrack at all; some areas require crossing bridges back and forth.
However, since the scenery along the ancient town is very gentle and pleasant, walking those few times feels quite romantic.

Parts I didn’t quite understand:
1) The Old Qing Dynasty Post Office is now a place selling cultural and creative products.
Loose stamps, said to be for ordinary letters and postcards, but an 80-cent stamp is sold for 5 RMB...
I only realized after paying that the stamp’s face value was just 80 cents... felt cheated.
2) Opposite Jiangnan’s First Teahouse is "Orange is Hot," a store selling dried fruits. Different dried fruits were supposed to be half a catty each, but when picking each kind, they took a lot, and the total weight was over the limit. Even before my mom heard clearly, Alipay had already deducted the payment...
Luckily, I came over later.
After noticing something was wrong and speaking up, the staff reluctantly took some back and refunded the corresponding amount.
But after this back-and-forth, the impression was spoiled.

It feels like... if they want to quickly strive for a 5A scenic spot rating,
they need to eliminate these kinds of merchant behaviors that make consumers feel "cheated."

Otherwise, the hygiene and service of the scenic area are quite good.
Definitely worth a visit~

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For detailed introductions related to the scenic area, you can refer to the "Happy Tour Zhujiajiao" WeChat public account~