14 Days in Wuzhen

Dongzha, 110 yuan, opens about 8:00. Mao Dun's birthplace stands on Guanqian Street inside the ticket area — a late-Qing courtyard with his desk and books kept as the writer left it. The shadow-puppet theatre plays short shows through the day.

1. wuzhen dongzha
2. wuzhen maodun former residence

Xizha alone is 150 yuan, the East-West combo 190. Sleep inside — after the coaches leave around 21:00 the lanes belong to guests, lamps on to about 22:00, boats on the canals until early evening.

1. wuzhen xizha

Morning at Wucun, the farm village beside Xizha — all-inclusive day programs, book a day ahead in season. Late afternoon on the free southern street of Nanzha, where daily life never moved out.

1. wuzhen wucun
2. wuzhen nanzha

An honest neighbor day — Nanxun, 35 km northwest in Huzhou, about 1 hour by bus or car. The 100-yuan town ticket covers the Little Lotus Manor, the Jiayetang Library and the Zhang mansions; back to Wuzhen for dinner.

1. nanxun

Second Xizha pass at a different pace — the Muxin Art Museum before 10:00 (20 yuan extra, closed Mondays), the indigo dye workshop at full length, the White Lotus Pagoda, then an evening rowboat through the water lanes.

1. wuzhen muxin art museum
2. wuzhen xizha

Another canal town, honestly labeled — Xitang, 40 km northeast in Jiashan, about 1 hour by car. The 95-yuan ticket covers the kilometer of covered riverside corridors; the lanes glow best after dusk.

1. xitang

A nothing-to-see day on purpose — long breakfast on Nanzha, laundry, a nap, then the liquor workshop and the silk-cotton shop. Come late October, check the theatre-festival program; performances run about ten days.

1. wuzhen nanzha

The honest big-city day — Tongxiang to Hangzhou East is about 20 minutes by HSR. The West Lake shore costs nothing; the Hefang Street quarter and the canal-side Gongchen Bridge quarter fill an afternoon.

1. hangzhou

Markets first — the wet market off Nanzha is busiest before 8:00 — then a long lunch and the teahouse. Two rest days a week is the right rhythm for a town this size.

1. wuzhen nanzha

North to Suzhou, about 80 km and 1.5 hours by car or direct coach. The Suzhou Museum is free but reserves days ahead; the Pingjiang lanes cost nothing; the Humble Administrator's Garden runs about 80 yuan in season.

1. suzhou

A working day — watch the sanbai liquor distilled and the rice wine pressed, then the indigo yard's last drying rounds. Save energy for a final Xizha night walk, lamps on to about 22:00.

1. wuzhen xizha

A second, slower Wucun day — pick vegetables with the farm hands, try the stone-mill soy milk, and let children loose on the animal pens. The all-inclusive price covers lunch straight from the fields.

1. wuzhen wucun

Daytime for packing and the pastry shops, then one last loop of Xizha as the lamps come on around 17:30 in winter and 18:30 in summer. Book tonight's Xizha lodging weeks ahead in the October festival window.

1. wuzhen xizha

The riverside morning-tea spread inside Xizha starts about 7:00 — congee, pastries and tea on long tables by the water — then Tongxiang station, 13 km away — about 40 minutes by HSR to Shanghai Hongqiao, 20 minutes to Hangzhou East.

1. wuzhen xizha