Coming back from Hangzhou, we decided to deposit our luggage at the airport (linked to railway station) before going to Zhujiajiao Watertown.
While planning our itinerary, we realised that Zhujiajiao is quite far from the main city area (Pudong), located on the outskirts of Shanghai. Going to our hotel, SSAW Boutique Hotel Shanghai Bund to check-in and deposit luggage would take far too long. Surely, we would not have enough time to explore Zhujiajiao fully.
This was how our Day 8 China Shanghai Itinerary looked:
0815 – Reached Hangzhou Railway Station
Transport to Shanghai Hongqiao Station
1105 – Reached Shanghai Hongqiao Station
1120 – Deposited Luggage At Lockers in Airport
Sight-seeing Shanghai
1155 – To Zhujiajiao Ancient Watertown
1230 – Reached Zhujiajiao Ancient Watertown
MORE INFO: Why Visit?
Zhujiajiao is a water town located in the Qingpu District of Shanghai. It was established about 1,700 years ago. Archaeological findings dating back 5,000 years had been found there.
Taxi to Zhujiajiao Ancient Watertown
I still wonder if the taxi driver had lied, when he told us he could not drop us off at the entrance of Zhujiajiao. He could only drop us near it due to some traffic regulations. When we alighted, we were near the Visitor Carpark of Zhujiajiao. The entrance was nowhere in sight.
From the signboard, it seemed that we still had to walk another 100m uphill, in the cool weather of around 13 -14 degrees Celsius, to finally reached the entrance. Even though we covered ourselves with down jackets and several layers of clothing, the wind was biting cold.
Zhujiajiao – Explore
The inside of Zhujiajiao was just like what I had imagined – Stony paths beside a waterway with arch bridges and rowing boats. However, the crowd was too much and disturbed the serenity of the place. Well, we could not complain since we were there on a Saturday.
Do We Need a Tour Guide?
Since we knew the language and wanted to explore on our own pace, we did not hire a tour guide. However, it would be beneficial to have a guide show you around Zhujiajiao Water Town to better understand the historical attractions that is still present in modern day times.
From Klook Website:
- Zhujiajiao English Private Guide Tour – Shanghai Zhujiajiao Water Town Day Trip
The Beauty of Zhujiajiao
We took our time walking along the narrow paths, looking at the ancient architecture and crossing different bridges. The Yuanjin Buddhist Temple, 圆津禅院, was beautiful and right in the centre of the waterway. It is a fine piece of architecture, first built in Yuan Dynasty, in 1341 – more than 600 years ago.
However, it was not possible to slowly stroll the path and stop whenever we want to, as there were too many people walking towards you, alongside you or behind you, urging you forward. Since it was nearly lunchtime, we decided to head towards a restaurant we had earlier sourced online, with good reviews.
Along the way, we saw some small shops with snacks but did not stop to buy as we intend to feast on a big lunch later.
Zhujiajiao – Fangsheng Bridge
Finally, we reached the landmark Fangsheng Bridge (放生桥) and again, there was a huge crowd crossing it. Along the river were several restaurants with a good view of the river. With their well-preserved ancient Chinese architecture, I had a glimpse of how ancient China would have been like.
Zhujiajiao – Lunch at HongLou Restaurant
Though we were tempted to sit in a restaurant by the river, we didn’t know whether the food was good and thus, didn’t attempt to stop at any of them. We continued walking towards our destination using Google Maps, hoping to reach the restaurant soon.
Halfway through, I was already regretting trying to find our chosen restaurant. I was tired, cold and hungry and didn’t expect it to be so far away. However, we decided not to give up eventually, since we had come so far. A restaurant we had read about was better than one we had not.
Finally, we reached Hong Lou Jiu Jia restaurant after a tiring long walk and were led to the first storey with no views at all. Vin went to check out the second storey and it was indeed full of people. The decor and view was definitely better at the second storey and it would feel more like eating in an ancient Inn. With no choice, we sat down in the first storey’s dining room, a small plain area with around five tables.
HongLou Restaurant Menu
The menu was simple with no pictures, so we had to ask the staff what the menu items mean, what the ingredients were and the cooking method. The prices were reasonable and cheap enough to us, so we ordered more dishes to try.
Our Delicious Lunch
These were what we ordered: Their house specialty – Steamed Chicken 本地白切鸡 | Shepard’s Purse Veggie Tofu Soup 荠菜豆腐羹| Fried Egg 银鱼炒蛋 |Fried Rice 炒饭. A Pot of Tea was given free I think.
At first, we were hesitant about ordering the steamed chicken because it was quite a common dish. However, Hong Lou’s dish of “Bai Qie Ji” was surprisingly good, with the flesh tender and aromatic. It is actually a “cold dish” but due to the cool weather, we preferred our food warm and they heated it up for us. The rest of the food we ordered were also tasty and filled our stomach with warmth.
More Info
Address: No. 18 Sijingyuan Road, Zhujiajiao, Qingpu District, Shanghai, China
Phone: +86 21 5924 7788
Zhujiajiao – Boat Ride
After a satisfied lunch and plenty of rest, we headed towards our next itinerary in Zhujiajiao – a boat ride in the waterway.
Route 2 Boat Ride 手摇观光木船
There were four routes of Boat Ride to choose from. As we were in the mood for exploring, we took Route 2, which was one round from the Fang Sheng Qiao Pier (放生桥码头) to the Qing Post Office Pier (大清邮局码头) and back to Fang Sheng Qiao Pier (放生桥码头) again. The tickets were for one boat at a maximum of six people, regardless how many people were taking it.
Fun Boat Ride Experience
It was a fun experience and everyone who visit Zhujiajiao should give it a try! The boatman rowed our boat gently and slowly, allowing us to admire the scenery of Zhujiajiao along the way. Our kids especially love this!
We even tried to take a self-timed picture with our tripod by placing it on the table. The result was a memorable picture with a good background of the waterway. However, the shaky boat caused the camera to tip over while we were taking one of it! We had a good laugh about that.
Zhujiajiao – Waterway Scenaries
From the boat, we had a good view of the Fangsheng Bridge, we had crossed earlier. It measures 70.8 meters long, 7.4 meters high and is Shanghai’s longest, biggest and highest stone arch bridge. It was first built in 1571 (Ming Dynasty) and rebuilt again in the Qing Dynasty Period (1800s).
Zhujiajiao – Street Shops
After 20 minutes of boat ride, we alighted and started exploring the rest of the street shops in Zhujiajiao Water Town.
We bought some freshly squeezed fruit juice from a stall and visited a few handicrafts shops. There were plenty of snack shops with their local delicacies- Zhujiajiao is famous for its green bean snack. We were not hungry after that huge meal earlier, so we didn’t try. I enjoyed browsing through the craft shops, such as hand-made jewellery or wood-carvings.
[ In Summary ]
We spent a total of 3.5 hours in Zhujiajiao and still did not fully explore every street shop and attractions. I was surprised Zhujiajiao was such a huge area. As we had travelled early from Hangzhou, we grew tired walking around with the children. By 3 plus pm, we were exhausted and ready to leave.
At the time of departure, we had reached the outside of Zhujiajiao’s Museum of Humanities & Arts, so we called for a taxi via the DiDi App (easy landmark to locate us) and waited for it to come. While waiting, the children had fun playing at an exercise area.
Visiting Zhujiajiao Water Town on a weekend (Saturday) was a stressful experience, battling the crowd of citizens and tourists. However, we did enjoy the experience of being immersed in ancient Chinese architecture.
The meal was great in HongLou Restaurant and we took the most interesting boat ride in cool weather. That was really the highlight of our day.
After Zhujiajiao…
We took the taxi back to Shanghai Hongqiao Station to collect our luggage, which we had placed in the lockers. Soon, we headed back to the hotel to check-in for one night.
At night, we visited Superbrand Mall for dinner and took a stroll on the Lujiazui Pedestrian Bridge.
The next day, we would be departing Shanghai for home.
>> Read Next Post: Shanghai Maglev Museum
5-Days Summary Itinerary In Shanghai 2018
We begin our China Tour with Shanghai and ended with Shanghai, touring Suzhou and Hangzhou in-between.
These were the places we visited during our 5 Days in Shanghai. (Click on the links to read more!)
- Day 1 – SSAW Boutique Hotel | Yuyuan Garden (Yu Garden) | The Bund |Nanjing Rd East Pedestrian Walk / Shop
- Day 2 – Shanghai Natural History Museum | Jing’an Sculpture Park | Shanghai Museum | Shanghai Tower
- Day 3 – Shanghai Disneyland
- Day 8 – Zhujiajiao Ancient Watertown |Superbrand Mall | Lujiazui Pedestrian Bridge
- Day 9- Shanghai Maglev Museum | Boarded Maglev Train Ride to Shanghai Pudong International Airport
Read More of our China 2018 Trip: 9-Day Family Travel Itinerary in China Shanghai, Suzhou & Hangzhou
Tips For Travelling in China: “Essential Tips for Safe Family Travel in China“
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