Zhujiajiao (朱家角 - "Zhu Family Settlement") is one of the best-preserved Chinese "water towns", which became prominent cities in history through trading on rivers and canals. I'd never heard of these water towns before my friends suddenly decided to make a day trip there, but it was definitely worth it! Comparisons with Venice are obvious when you see pictures or visit - the dreamy gondola rides, the houses built precipitously close to the water's edge, and the breath-taking stone bridges - all with China's unique oriental twist. Zhujiajiao is also steeped rich in history, having originally been founded 1700 years ago, and then rose to prominence for its trade and markets. It is clearly a town that since slipped into a sleepy state, as it became overtaken by the bigger cities in China's industrial revolution, but is now coming into a new era, turning its attention to tourists and bohemians alike. Although during peak times it can get a little busy because of this, it still makes a pleasant relief for a day away from the hustle and bustle of the streets of Shanghai.
Initially, to get in to the old part of town, there is supposed to be an entrance fee, but we were stopped by a fellow on our way in, who promised us an alternative route into the city to avoid this fee, and a place where we could park our car, for another, but slightly lower fee, of course. I struggled to believe how my friends could buy this guy's story, but they assured me that this is quite normal in China, so we paid him some nominal sum and we did actually end up at a convenient parking spot. I've since found out that there is supposed to be a 10 yuan fee to get into the old part of town, but with so many entrances, it is difficult to patrol, and so it is almost never enforced.
The little alleyways and side streets offer up an immense number of street stalls and shacks selling everything from sweets, snacks and little trinkets to take home for tourists. I bought several things, including crispy fried beans, some sweets that I had no idea what they were but were delicious, some stinky tofu (Chòu dòufu 臭豆腐) and also some folded leaf figurines as gifts for family. There were also a vast array of other items available to buy, and since it was nearing the Dragonboat festival time, there were plenty of making and selling zongzi (粽子) which are packets of glutinous rice filled with different things and all wrapped up in a pyramid shape by a big bamboo leaf.
With my visit being so short, we were limited for time, which meant that we ended up going on a cloudy afternoon. This actually worked out quite well since it was less busy, and we saw some beautiful sights that I imagine must be breath-taking on a beautiful sunny day:
The town has no fewer than 36 stone bridges intact, yet somehow, I only managed to take a picture of this one during the trip!
The most iconic bridge is the 70-meter long Fangsheng bridge (which I'm really disappointed about, because I only took pictures from its summit, not OF it), that carries the grandeur of the Rialto bridge, as a clear focal point of the town. It provides a wonderful view of the city down the river, and is also a point where I saw locals buying strange tortoises and other sea creatures. I assumed they were being bought to eat, since the Chinese know seemingly no bounds for what could make it onto their platter. But my friends explained that the creatures were being sold to be re-released into the river, as part of an ancient Buddhist "life release" ceremony - or "Fangsheng" (放生) - the very name of the bridge. The ceremony of saving an animal in this way is a means of bringing good karma for oneself or one’s relatives, living or dead (although I don't quite get how this works out if you have to catch the animal in the first place).
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| Red-eared slider turtles, waiting to be bought so that they can be released into the river, as part of Fangsheng or "life-release" ceremony are non-native, invasive and can damage the local ecology |
Traditionally, the practice involves buying an animal that was previously destined to be killed, such as a fish from a market, or a cow from a slaughterhouse, and then setting it free. But since this practice seems to be having a bit of a resurgence at the moment, this is a growing business, so the obtaining of animals is now somewhat dubious, and the release of non-native species having some potentially negative consequences for the environment, out-competing native species. This means that fangsheng has become a contentious topic, and a very good discussion on this can be found here.
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| Similarly, alligator snapping turtles are also not native in China, hailing from North America, and has similarly devastating effects on local ecology |
The sounds of the alleyways mingle with calls from the street-sellers, freshly frying food but also music. We came across a lady practicing her Guqin (古琴), an ancient Chinese instrument known in English as a type of "zither" , which is kind of like if you took out the strings of the piano and plucked them yourself. It makes a beautiful harp-like sound, and is an integral part of traditional Chinese music. I initially mistakenly thought that this was a guzheng (古箏), a more commonly seen instrument in modern day China, which is brilliantly showcased in this popular cover of "See You Again" by Whiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.
The guqin however is a predecessor to the guzheng, and in ancient times was considered integral to Chinese cultural skills, alongside calligraphy and painting. However, nowadays, there are very few people still able to play it.
Not only was this lady very gifted in playing the guqin, as we approached closer, I realised that she was not an instrument seller but a painter. She had many beautiful paintings to which we were drawn, and my friends decided there and then that they would buy me a painting as a 30th birthday gift, with which I can always remember them (despite having completely spoiled me already, as Chinese hosts are wont to do).
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| My friend's husband Hang (航) perusing through the choice of paintings |
It was hard enough to choose from between the beautiful designs, but I didn't realise until the lady got out a clean scroll that they had asked her to paint a new picture especially for me! I was somewhat taken aback by this (and even more surprised at the low price for such a service - roughly 120 yuan), so I filmed the whole process from start to finish, which ended up being the most talked about part of my video that I made from this trip. It all became very soppy towards the end, as they asked the painter to write "A gift from Hang and Lu to Eva" with the date added. Now I have the painting hanging up on the wall of my bedroom and I see it every day.
This painting was certainly a special memento from my trip, and definitely a memorable one of this beautiful village. If you do get a chance to go, I definitely recommend a visit to Zhujiajiao, and catch its charm before it is completely overwhelmed by tourism.
