Xitang (西塘)
3 April 2010, 17:22 by Jimmy Sie
If you’re going to Shanghai for a holiday, you probably might want to consider visiting the old water towns nearby. There are a few of them: Zhouzhuang (周庄), Xitang (西塘), Tongli (同里), Wuzhen (烏鎮) to name some. On my last trip to Shanghai I visited Xitang. I chose Xitang mainly because I was enticed by the promise of picturesque scenery of the town on some websites. I was not disappointed.
I started my trip from Shanghai by taking a bus to Jiashan, the nearest town to Xitang. You can also take train to Jiashan (嘉善). From Jiashan you can either take a taxi or bus. The bus from Jiashan to Xitang (bus no K216) costs 3 RMB. Some of the taxi drivers will offer to take you to Xitang and bring you in through the back door for a fee, so you don’t need to buy the entrance ticket. And if you take a bus, there will be some people that are offering room to stay in the village. They will also bring you in through one of the many alleys to the village.
The ancient town, or rather I would call it a village, is like a theme park attraction inside the modern Xitang. Entry to this ancient village is ticketed, though there are many small alleys that are used by the local people. The village itself is very small, you can cover all by walking in about half an hour (without stopping for sight seeing).
Night scenery in Xitang
Though it’s touted as an ancient village, most (if not all) of the local residents there now depend on tourists as their source of income. The houses have been converted to shops selling handicraft or some traditional food. Some others were converted to restaurants. There are also numerous guest houses for you to choose if you’d like to stay overnight. I actually stayed for two nights in one of the guest houses on the main canal. I paid 120RMB per night for the room which is air conditioned with attached bathroom (with western toilet and hot water).
The main draw for people to stay overnight is the night scenery of Xitang as well as early morning. During the day, there are plenty of tourists walking along the alleys in the village, so if you want to take photos of the village when it’s quiet, it will be in the early morning. The night scenery is also beautiful. There are boats you can hire to cruise a long the canals.
Boats in Xitang
I took quite a lot of photos during my stay there. Although some people will find it to be too commercialized, to me it was quite a worth while stay. For more photos of the village, please visit my gallery page
An arch bridge in Xitang
A boat in Xitang
Rainy morning in Xitang
