The Best Itinerary for a One-Day Trip to Wuzhen

Wuzhen is a typical ancient town with the characteristics of the Jiangnan region. Everything here appears prosperous and quaint, with the unique spirituality and grace of the Jiangnan region. You can find your Jiangnan dream here, and you can also meet Jiangnan beauties. Here is the best itinerary for a one-day trip to Wuzhen.

I don’t know when I started to long for Wuzhen.

Later, I realized that maybe it’s because I grew up in the northwest, where I’m used to seeing vast, boundless landscapes, that I have such an almost obsessive yearning for the water towns of the south, where the clouds are meandering and the eaves are covered in blue tiles.

The alleys are long and deserted. The bluestone pavements are covered with moss, and the rusty vermilion gates record bits and pieces of the past.

Holding an oil-paper umbrella,

I wander alone in

The long, long, deserted rainy alley.

I hope to meet

A girl like a lilac,

Full of sorrow.

Perhaps because the image of this poem is so strong in my mind, I feel a sense of desolation and melancholy when I see such long, deserted narrow alleys. I hope that the next second, I will raise my eyes and meet a girl with the color and fragrance of lilac.

Smoke curls up, people live by the water. This is my initial fantasy of the word “south.” I always feel that it has a strong sense of time and that there is a trace of history everywhere.

I arrived in Wuzhen in the spring of April.

The green waves are swaying.

People live by the water.

It’s as if I have been planning this for a long, long time, so long that I thought I had been here, experienced each of these scenes. But in reality, I still know nothing about it. It’s like I’m looking forward to an unknown, or like I’ve practiced it thousands of times.

It wasn’t until the plane landed that I felt a real sense of reality, the real feeling of temporarily escaping from my busy work life.

What truly appeared before my eyes was Wuzhen near noon. It was a little past 10:00, and there were a lot of people outside the entrance to the West Scenic Area.

Transportation

G1631 High Speed Rail Shanghai Hongqiao—Tongxiang about 30 minutes (there are trains at all times)

K282 Bus Tongxiang Railway Station—Wuzhen Bus Station about 1 hour (on the right side of the exit, there is a bus stop sign. You can get on and pay with coins. The ticket price is 5 yuan. Paper money is accepted. If you don’t have any change, there is a money changer at the bus stop.) about 30 minutes per trip

k350 Wuzhen Bus Station—Wuzhen West Scenic Area (the ticket price is 2 yuan. You can get on and pay with coins. The stop is on the right side of the bus station. The trip is about 10 minutes.)

The return trip is the same.

Accommodation

Wuzhen West Scenic Area Homestays Official website booking http://www.wuzhen.com.cn/

I think staying in the West Scenic Area is the true meaning of visiting Wuzhen. I booked a single room a month in advance. All Wuzhen homestays are uniformly managed, and the building you stay in is allocated and managed by the reception desk.

The West Scenic Area Tourist Service Center, you can directly check in at the accommodation check-in counter. There is a 300 yuan deposit (can only be paid with a credit card or cash). You will receive a map of the accommodation location. You can take a free ferry from the entrance on the right side to the entrance of the Scenic Area, or you can walk. (If you need to enter and exit the West Scenic Area, you need to show your accommodation documents and apply for an entry and exit certificate at the entrance of the Scenic Area.) You can also directly buy tickets at the accommodation check-in counter. The joint ticket for the East and West Scenic Areas is 150 yuan. Because check-in is usually after 12:00, check your luggage (the luggage check-in counter is on the right side of the accommodation counter, and they will directly send your luggage to your room. When you leave the homestay, you can ask the owner to check your luggage, and they will send it to the luggage room at the tourist service center). First, go to the East Scenic Area. (You can collect your room card at your homestay. Return your room card when you check out, and return your deposit at the reception desk.)

Leisurely time in the water town

Three, the East Scenic Area

I didn’t understand the markings on the map of the Scenic Area, so I had to rely on my feet to measure the space and determine my location. Basically, the East Scenic Area was already packed with people at 10:00, and the narrow streets were crowded with tour groups, so I, as a solo traveler, found it “difficult to take a step.” The most important thing for this trip was to visit the Mu Xin Memorial Hall, which is not far from the entrance of the Scenic Area. Because my reserved time slot was at 12:00 (free, but it needs to be booked in advance on the official website), I decided to go sightseeing elsewhere first. Various characteristic small shops lined the narrow streets on both sides. I was squeezed into Sanbai Winery, the Hundred Beds Hall, the Dyeing Workshop, and the filming location of “In the Mood for Love,” among other places.

Dyeing Workshop

Sanbai Winery

Filming location of “In the Mood for Love”

I don’t have any particular fondness for it. Only the dusty old volumes, the old bookshelves, still remember the “In the Mood for Love” filmed here.

Mu Xin Memorial Hall – Mu Xin Art Museum

I am a person in the snowstorm of the night.

I love “The Skylark Sings All Day Long” so much. I love this person who has always been straight and tall, this person who is so pure that mentioning it feels vulgar and can only be experienced in the heart.

Aside from my fondness for ancient Jiangnan towns, this is the main reason why I visited Wuzhen.

Mu Xin Memorial Hall

The Cai Shen Bay in the East Scenic Area of Wuzhen is right in front of Mu Xin’s former residence. There is a gentle flow of water and wisps of smoke. “In my childhood, I stood at the river pier and watched the pale green river water flow slowly, one round wave after another hitting the shore, making a slight sound but without splashing water…”

Stepping into this quiet and simple place, I immediately felt calm and at ease. There weren’t many people visiting on a reservation. It is similar to the art museum, perhaps just like the man himself, quiet and calm. It was also very quiet, highlighted by the lively crowds in Wuzhen.

On the right side of the front hall stands a large-scale statue of Mr. Mu. When I went, I saw a woman quietly gazing at it. When I left, she was still standing there for a long time. I remembered Mr. Mu’s advice to his students: “Don’t make a statue, a posture that remains unchanged for everyone to see. It’s tiring, you know.”

Mu Xin Art Museum

The water of Wuzhen under the lights and oars

The West Scenic Area is the majority of Wuzhen.

The sky was gloomy, and the smell of radish silk cakes wafted through the air in the crowded West Scenic Area Street.

As dusk fell, the tranquility of the town returned. Warm and peaceful.

Wuzhen in the evening dusk

Amidst the clinking of glasses and the chatter of others, I immersed myself in my own little world. I walked along the comfortable path at my own pace. Discovering the beauty of some small shops, I just walk, walk, and walk.

I have never seen the Qinhuai River under the lights and oars.

I only fell in love with the water of Wuzhen at dusk.

The sound of oars, the dim light, flowing along the riverbank, shining with colorful lights.

Five o’clock in the morning, the real Wuzhen

Avoiding the bustling crowds, I felt the quiet and simple beauty of Wuzhen. In April, at five in the morning, I opened the creaky wooden door of the homestay, stepped onto the damp bluestone pavement, and went to meet a beautiful morning with reverence.

The West Scenic Area Street at five o’clock in the morning

I love these bluestone pavements. It’s like I’m measuring the past with my feet. I can easily feel the temperature of the old times. The morning in Wuzhen, the sun has yet to shine, the moist air is in my face, there are no bustling crowds, my mood is pleasant and my steps are light. At this moment, it has been more than two months since I lingered in Wuzhen. Recalling it still excites me. When I left, I didn’t feel nostalgic. But thinking about it now, I realize that I may have left my soul here.

I sent a few postcards filled with blessings from the old Wuzhen post office in the morning dew. In the spring light of April, I was alone, perhaps I didn’t say a few words in a few days, but I found my comfortable and real self. My heart was like a mirror, clear and bright.

Four

Still pretty good snacks

Eat, eat, eat

I don’t have any special requirements for food, so I’ve never been able to give any constructive suggestions on food.

★The most recommended dish is Wuzhen Frozen Tofu. It is sweet and sour, refreshing and delicious. Qingtuan, Ding Sheng Gao, and Wumei Su are all sweet and glutinous. The freshly made pork wonton is fresh, fragrant, and delicious.

It’s worth mentioning that when you go through Jingxing Bridge towards Tong’an Inn, passing by the Old Stone Stove, you can unexpectedly spend your afternoon time there. The jasmine latte is lingering.

Subtle beauty

Whether it’s the window sashes or the eaves, they all appear extremely adorable. They watch the rise and fall in time. After the wind and rain, they appear even more simple and honest.

The dream of rape blossoms

I met you in the spring light of April, and I saw myself in the morning of Wuzhen.

I don’t know if your past was more quiet and peaceful. I only know that I feel like I have always grown here.