朱家角 Zhu Jia Jiao
The watertowns of Zhou Jia Jiao (pronounce Jew-Gee Ah- Gee Ow) is definitely a place that is worth the trip. Zhou Jia Jiao is located on the outskirts of Shanghai. You will need to take a specific bus for a bit over an hour to make it to Zhu Jia Jiao. Zhu Jia Jiao is one of the lesser known water towns and is a bit less trafficked than some of the other more popular water towns in the area. Zhu Jia Jiao is also said to be an ancient town. That being said Zhu Jia Jiao has become much more commercialized in recent years. Zhu Jia Jiao has several inns that could provide travelers with lodging. However, Zhu Jia Jiao is not that biggest place and I believe that staying there for one day would be sufficient to see and explore Zhu Jia Jiao.
Things to do:
Take the gondola through the rivers that run through the town. There are different tours for different lengths of time. It all depends on how long and how much of the water town you would like to see. The gondolas are reasonably priced if you go with a few other people, but if it is just one or two people taking the trip you might feel that it is a bit pricey. I think the Gondola was about 500RMB for the hour (prices may likely have changed since I went). So, if you have a few friends traveling with you or meet people on the way there it would only be about 100RMB per person for the hour, which isn’t bad.
Other than taking the gondolas, you could also do your own walking tour of Zhu Jia Jiao.
The water town of Zhu Jia Jiao is very unique and even though it has been a bit commercialized with the addition of stores and restaurants, it still has that remote and historic feel to it, especially when you the lifestyle of the local fishermen. Not to mention Zhu Jia Jiao is much less populated and much less known than many of the other water towns in the area.
How many days should I spend there?
Zhu Jia Jiao is a great place to visit and photograph, however, there isn’t an abundance of activities to do while there. I recommend spending one day in Zhu Jia Jiao. That could either be a day trip, where you return the same day or you could stay the night at one of the inns, and return the following day.
Lodging
I am normally hesitant to say this but if you can’t find any lodging online when searching for places to stay in Zhu Jia Jiao, you may want to try going there and doing a walk-in reservation. I know this may give some people anxiety, but there are several inns that may not have set up websites or that may not advertise those websites on the popular travel sites. On top of that Zhu Jia Jiao is not the most known or trafficked place even within the region. So, I think it would be safe to do a walking reservation if you wanted to stay the night.
International Kev 