Shanghai Travel Forum

I understand there is a tour-bus centre in Shanghai with tours to "water towns." What are water towns and which ones are the best to see? Are these day trips?

Thank you very much.

You're talking about Shanghai Stadium, I presume.
Please do a Google for "water village"/"water town", or specific place names like "Zhouzhuang", "Tongli", "Xitang", "Wuzhen" etc. These are the most famous water villages. My top favourites would be Tongli and Xitang.
Yes, these are day trips. However I prefer to do these as overnight trips so that you get to experience the more "local" side of it.

Thank you Ellyse. You are really good! I have read many of your answers and I admire your attention to detail!

Thanks again!

No problem, you're welcome. :) If you have any more queries, you might want to email me at ellyse99@yahoo.com -- put "VirtualTourist" and your own username (eg pwlewis) in the subject line, thanks.

I think that Ellyse's suggestions are good. I have seen Zhouzhuang and Wuzhen, but will have to see Tongli and Xitang in the future. All of these towns show an older version of China where rivers and canals were "main streets" of towns.

One thing to be aware of - the tour buses that I have taken will often spend quite a bit of time at tourist shopping locations. (On my day trip to Wuzhen, almost 1 hour in the morning and another hour in the afternoon, while only spending 3 1/2 hours at Wuzhen.) If you are on a tight budget than maybe you will accept this. If not, consider getting a private tour arrangement and then you can set the agenda.

If your have limited time, you might find it makes sense to see just one of these towns, as they have many similarities.

Best regards..Brad