Xitang, one of China’s water towns, was our last planned trip for our stay in the country. We wanted to see something different from everything we’d already seen on our travels across this huge country, so we decided that we wouldn’t miss the chance to see one of the many water towns around the cosmopolitan Shanghai.

And so, at around 10am, Noah and I left our hotel with our dear friend Anna 🙂  We’d looked with her a few days earlier at which water town would be the most interesting to see, and so we went to Xitang! 🙂

We caught the bus from the terminal at Shanghai Long-Distance Passenger Transport South Station, and in just over an hour we arrived in Xitang, ready to look around the beautiful and popular water town.

We’d read that Xitang might be full of people, so we prepared ourselves mentally for what was likely to come. Imagine our surprise (in the best way possible) when we barely saw anyone! 🙂 🙂 🙂

Xitang has many canals and small lakes that are interspersed with its streets and bridges. You can often see rainbows rising up from them.

There are many different houses and temples that are worth seeing.

Whilst we were walking around, we came across a number of food stalls which served, among other things, “delicatessen” in the form of cockroaches, scorpions of all sizes, spiders, etc. Even though I was the one whose job it was to try new food, I didn’t feel like I was able to try any of what was on offer there. Maybe in another life with a different attitude to gourmet food! 🙂

We had an incredible afternoon with Anna. The most surprising thing was that we were able to walk along the walkways and canals without any crowds. This truly was what made our experience really authentic.