Aunt Terri is in town for a two week visit and we decided to embark on our first “road trip” out of Shanghai.  We drove to Wuzhen, one of the preserved river towns in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai. 

Our driver, Mr. Nie, told us it would be an hour and a half drive…we finally arrived two and a half hours later.  Good thing Brenda had backed enough snacks and entertainment for the kids to survive a 14 hour plane ride.

There are two sections of Wuzhen, the old – where people are still living in the houses, and the new – a bit of a re-creation with a hotel and restaurants.

Upon arrival, we started with a visit to the old section.  The crowds were bustling – it was impossible to count the number of tour group flags with loads of mostly Chinese tour groups following closely behind.

We immediately jumped into one of the small boats that tour up and down the canals. Venice of the east? – Not quite. As we started our water journey, we felt like we we were movie stars. People along the canal banks were taking our photos – I never felt so handsome.

As we disembarked from the boat, my bubble was burst – it wasn’t me, it was the girls thay all wanted pictures of. The paparazzi were going wild.  We struggled to make our way down the crowded lanes – blinded by the flashes of cameras.  Had we charged 10 RMB per photo taken, we could have paid for the girls college education.

Emmy and Eleri were good sports about it.  They were very agreeable to take a picture with someone if they asked.  At times, Eleri found it to be a game of hide and seek as people tried to take her picture.  The only problem for us is that the girls were “pictured out” and would not stay still for any of our photos.

The girls enjoyed the honey/sugar coated strawberries. The food was a winner for their first try at this treat.

Lunch was a bit of an experience.  With all the crowds and tour groups, finding a restaurant with an open seat was a challenge.  But, Mr. Nie came to the rescue.  Our driver has joined us for the day, and with his driven persistance, we had a nice quite private room in a restaurant.  He also did all the ordering as the menu was strictly Chinese.  We had a nice lunch of mifan (steamed rice), zhurou (pork), niurou (beef), shucai (vegetables), jiaozi (dumplings) and zhuzi (bamboo).   Everyone ate well – and to our surprise, Aunt Terri’s favorite was the bamboo.

After lunch and a bit of shopping, we headed to the new section of Wuzhen.  What a difference!  No crowds, everything better kept up – in a way it was like being in Disneyland – where everything was is just the right place.  They have done a fabulous job with the re-creation, but it lacks the life, the pulse of vitality of the original as local people do not live there – it is strictly a tourist spot.

The girls had a go at the old ways of doing chores.

Sisters!