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Located
in southwest Kunshan County in Jiangsu Province, Zhouzhuang is
a famous town crisscross with rivers and lakes in South China.
It is renowned for its quiet and exquisite surroundings, and simple
and ancient houses. The original construction style characteristic
of a market town on a water land, has basically remained
unchanged through the past 500 years. Over 50% of the buildings
were constructed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Nearly 100 old
houses with courtyards and over 60 carved-brick arches have still
been preserved.
In Zhouzhuang, there are 10 stone arch bridges picturesquely arranged. These old bridges appear all the more hoary with
grotesque trees growing out of the arches and vines hanging down, and covered with dark green moss here and there. Viewed from the balustraded bridges, one can appreciate the life-style of the waterside dwellers as well as the scenery of
farmhouses and fields. The upside-down reflections of the bridges in the clear rippling water present a fantastic scene of myriad bridges.
The revetments, ferry crossings, river ports and bridge passages are all marked with striking features of a water land. Zhouzhuang is filled with the elegance and charm typical of an ancient town in
South China, and so fascinating with streets flanked by flat houses with a river at the back, the overhead building projections spanning a lane and the roads topped with flat and smooth slates as well as row upon row of small towers and
pavilions.
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