【Zhouzhuang Ancient Town – Qiandeng Ancient Town – Qiandeng eco-agricultural leisure tourism zone – Dianshanhu】

Features: enjoy life in the water town of Zhouzhuang, go to the modern countryside in Qiandeng, experience the excitement of water sports in Dianshan Lake and find a colorful life in the south of the Yangtze River.

Route:

Day 1

Point of departure: Zhouzhuang Ancient Town Leave for China's No 1 water town – Zhouzhuang Ancient Town in the morning

11:30

Enter Zhouzhuang Ancient Town from the Ancient archway (entrance ticket: 100 yuan – $ 16.32 – per person), or gather at the Aidu wharf and then enter the ancient town by an old gaily–painted pleasure–boat (entrance ticket: 100 yuan per person; boat ticket: 50 yuan per person).

12:10

Taste delicious local food in a century-old shop – Shen Family restaurant in Zhouzhuang. (80 yuan per person)

13:00

Check in Zhenfeng Xuan Inn (580 yuan per room, but 680 yuan per room on Saturdays and Sundays), or Blossom Hill Hotels & Resorts (680 yuan per person, but 780 yuan on Saturdays and Sundays), or Zhengfu Caotang Hotel (480 yuan per room), or other hotels.

13:30

Visit Quanfujiang Temple, a Buddhist country in water; go to the Kunqu opera, father of other operas; appreciate the beautiful watery scenery along the waterways by self-powered boat (100 yuan per boat for six people at most. About ten minutes); take a boat along the watercourse, listening to melodious songs and ancient millionaire Shen Wansan's miracle and legend (150 yuan per one-way ticket and 180 yuan per round-trip ticket); walk over the Twinbridge; visit Zhang Family and Shen Family; experience the local life in twelve workshops in Zhenfeng Cultural Street, like bamboo weaving; drink tea and listen to storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect in the Guests–gathering Building; send postcards in the Cat's City of Sky; enjoy erhu performances in Ma Xiaohui culture salon; and learn about Zhouzhuang's long history in museums. (About 4.5 hours)

Kunqu opera [Photo from yangchenghu.net]

18:00

Have supper (150 yuan per person in Kikyo restaurant of Blossom Hill Hotels & Resorts, 60 yuan per person in Carton King Restaurant, or other restaurants)

18:50

Go to the water stage in Jiangnan Renjia together to enjoy the large live–action performance Zhouzhuang in Four Seasons, which encourages you to have a taste of the plain and elegant Zhouzhuang. (Ticket: 150 yuan per person, VIP: 280 yuan per person; Dates: April 10–November 10)

In the evening, drink and enjoy music in 1086 Slow Life District to experience another lifestyle of the water town.