14 Days in Huzhou

The canal quarter built on salt and silk fortunes; arrive early, walk the Hundred Rooms river row before the crowds, and take the first evening slowly over the water.

1. huzhou nanxun old town

Small Lotus Villa from 1885 unfolds garden, ponds and ancestral halls; the 1924 Jiaye Library kept a private collection of some 160,000 volumes — a bookish morning, a bridge-and-tea afternoon.

1. huzhou xiaolianzhuang garden
2. huzhou jiayetang library

Shanlian's workshops run the hu brush through a hundred-plus hand steps; the museum collects the craft's history. Walk the Ming-Qing river row of the Hundred Rooms on the return.

1. huzhou shanlian hubi town
2. huzhou baijianlou

The Deqing hill reads 724 meters, with some 200 villas left from its resort years; streams, pools and the sword-sharpening legend carry a full day in the cool.

1. huzhou moganshan

Boardwalks cross the reeds and a crested-ibis station keeps the rare birds here; boat, lunch by the water, and an unhurried bird count.

1. huzhou xiazhu lake

The little canal town keeps its old market streets and temple bridge; a slow day of lanes, snacks and river light between the bigger stops.

1. huzhou xinshi old town

Bamboo covers roughly a million mu of the county; the great bamboo sea was a film forest, and the canopy walks stay cool in the height of summer.

1. huzhou anji bamboo sea

The pumped-storage reservoir near 1,000 meters is nicknamed the Jiangnan lake; southwest, Longwangshan at 1,587.4 meters is counted the Huangpu's headwater.

1. huzhou jiangnantianchi
2. huzhou longwangshan

Anji county town's museum covers species, craft, food and paper; a shaded indoor day between the ridges, with the town market for dinner.

1. huzhou bamboo museum

North in Changxing county, the rebuilt tea court at Gushan recalls the tribute-tea office founded in 770 under the Tang; tea rows climb the slopes above it.

1. huzhou datang tea court

The Yishang street quarter and the Lotus Villa garden, once the retreat of the Yuan painter Zhao Mengfu; canalside Huzhou at walking pace.

1. huzhou yishang street
2. huzhou lianhua village

The pagoda-within-a-pagoda stacks a Tang stone core under a Song wooden shell; then the wide Taihu shore by the ring-shaped Moon Hotel for the evening wind.

1. huzhou feiying pagoda
2. huzhou taihu lakeshore

An honestly labeled side day — Suzhou lies across the border in Jiangsu, about two hours by road, or under an hour by train; its gardens and lanes make an easy companion day before the trip closes.

1. suzhou

One last lakeside loop in the morning light, lunch on the whitefish the lake is known for, and the fast train from Huzhou station.

1. huzhou taihu lakeshore