Shanghai Jiangnan Tour: Part 4

4. Venices in Asia
I haven't been to Venice so I don't know just how beautiful they are. Meanwhile, the water towns of Wuzhen and Suzhou prove mersmerizing enough for now:


Excuse me, please don't read Niaozhen.

Wuzhen used to house a population close to 10,000 people. Now it dwindles to only 600, mainly old folks who feel more at home washing clothes, bathing, peeing, shitting all in the river right behind their house.


Peek-a-boo inside one of the villagers' house.

My ma enjoying the breeze by the river.


In the past, most houses in Suzhou are built with the back door opening up to a river. Lesser land nowadays is making this less possible. One thing remains - the white / cream coloured walls with black roof. Somehow the government in Suzhou decided that houses look more appropriate this way. On the other hand, the houses here look boring with its cookie-cutter pattern especially when you view them from their front doors.


It was said that Emperor Qian Long once dined at this restaurant called Songhe Lou during one of his trips to Suzhou. The restaurant had run out of dishes when he arrived in the late evening. With some creativity, they presented him with rice crust dug from the chow-ta claypot stir-fried with leftover of prawns, meat and vegies. Qian Long liked the dish very much and asked for its name. Off the cuff, the innkeeper named it "tian xia di yi cai" (天下第一菜). Songhe Lou gained fame from then.