Zhouzhuang, rated by 'National Geographic' as the most beautiful ancient town in China, is truly exceptional

I have visited quite a few water towns, but Zhouzhuang remains my favorite. The layout of the ancient town is compact, with streets and canals running perpendicular to each other, crisscrossing neatly. This relatively regular pattern makes my stroll more enjoyable; I start with the horizontal streets, finish them one by one, then move on to the vertical ones. After one round, I have covered all the places I intended to visit without getting lost. Almost every type of street can be found in Zhouzhuang. The wider ones have a canal in the middle, with boats shuttling back and forth, stone embankments on both sides, willows swaying gently, and shops lined up. The narrower ones have a path on only one side, with buildings directly facing the water on the other. From this side of the street, if you're lucky, you might see beautiful women sitting in front of the windows on the first or second floor, dining and chatting elegantly—a lovely sight indeed. Even narrower are the 'water streets,' where buildings stand back to back on both sides of the canal. Residents facing each other through their windows might even engage in cross-canal communication. Some houses have steps leading down to the water at the back, convenient for mooring boats or washing rice and vegetables in the river. However, since there are no paths along the riverbank, you have to stand on a round arched bridge to get a good view of these water streets. In Zhouzhuang, my favorite street is called Zhongshi Street. It's not adjacent to the water and is extremely narrow, less than two meters wide, with flagstone paving and shops on both sides. After visiting a Suzhou embroidery shop on the left, you step out, take a few steps, and enter a fan shop on the right. The feeling is wonderful. Compared to the city streets that are hard to cross, it even feels a bit magical. If you have ample time, you can also venture deeper into the ancient town. Behind the main streets, there are winding alleys with grey bricks, flanked by mottled white walls, as if you have stepped back into ancient times. Occasionally, you pass by a house with closed doors, with banana leaves peeking out from the corner of the wall, arousing curiosity about what lies inside the courtyard. These streets, large and small, diverse in form and character, converge in this town of less than one square kilometer, making a visit to Zhouzhuang a delightfully interesting experience.