28 Nov. 2011: VENICE OF THE EAST # 1 of 2

This weekend has been the best weather (sunny, 70'sF or 20'sC) and the most jam-packed for excursions. Saturday we were at the awesome riverfront Bund. Sunday our hosts were determined to show us some sights, so by 9a.m.off we went for a long and banqueted day. Neither the driver nor Fixer Bill seemed to know how to get out of Shanghai. Comical except that the driver drifted over lane markers, stopped in the middle of 120 kph traffic to debate directions, and generally had us wondering whether Buddha was taking new members.

 But eventually we arrived at an "ancient town" I had never heard of --- Zhujiajiao, called the Venice of the East. Absolutely delightful. The usual 5,000 years of human activity and 1700 years of settlement from the Ming Dynasty. But the real magic is in the network of narrow canals and bridges that look like a mini-Venice! There are active temples and pavilions and stories of rich families. What lingers is the first post office in China, still operating after centuries. It traces the history of messaging from scratches on bamboo splints through a sort of pony express to early 1900's postcards. Who knew??

It has become somewhat bohemian with 3-room hotels, arty shops coffee dens tucked in alleys, and a world centre for --- wait for it ---WATER colour painting! Truly feels like roaming in the 4-foot wide cobble-stoned passages of Venice. There's even a Grand Canal with a dead ringer for the Rialto Bridge: go back and reread Shakespeare's Merchant of Venice!

I'll skip the usual pictures of the banquet.   It was worth it to be surprised and fascinated ---- now where did we park that gondola??!