Saturday, September 23, 2006
Pictures speak a thousand words (Zhou Zhuang)
Zhou Zhuang is a water city situated at Su Zhou. It is a 2 hours bus ride from Shanghai. The admission ticket is 100 yuan so it is more economical to follow the tour that charge 130 yuan for the bus ride and the ticket. It is an ancient water city that is well preserved.It is the hometown of Shen Wan Shan (good buddy of Tang Tai Zong n was the richest guy during that era). It tells the story of him and how he got rich by making use of the ports to do trading. We were told that he contributed lots of money to help Emperor Tang to build his Great Wall. Though so, Emperor Tang showed his gratitude by putting him to jail and place him in exile.
This water city is a place worth going. The serenity and view is amazing (but avoid going during weekend and holiday). Sitting in the boat , going around the city, listening to people singing shang ge,drinking ah po tea,tasting the famous pig trotter (u might be disgusted by it, but it is the speciality)...............it is a wonderful place to spend an afternoon