A One-Day Trip to Zhujiajiao Ancient Town! 🌸 Perfect for a Relaxing Getaway! 🌿

This place has it all—everything you could ask for. We drove there 🚗, and while the scenic area is free to enter, three specific gardens require a fee. We bought a scratch card for 50 yuan and won back 50, so it was like playing for free! 🎉 You can also take the subway 🚇 to get there.

Route:

Morning: Arrived at 12 PM. Walked from the Visitor Center and found a restaurant called “Yushui Home” (渔水之家) on Meituan. It had good reviews, so we tried it out. We ordered food for two, which cost 170 yuan. The food was pretty good! 🍽️

Afternoon:

  • Kezhi Garden (课植园) → Hexin Garden (和心园) → Fangsheng Bridge (放生桥) → Mongolian Milk Tea (塞迁额吉) → Helong Art Museum (鹤龙美术馆) → Yuanjin Chan Temple (圆津禅院) → City God Temple (城隍庙) → Great Qing Post Office (大清邮局)

(A combined ticket for Kezhi Garden, Hexin Garden, and Helong Art Museum is 60 yuan.)

Detailed Itinerary:

  • Destination: Zhujiajiao Ancient Town Parking Lot (朱家角古镇停车场). When you get close to the scenic area, there are people directing traffic. If the parking lot is full, they’ll guide you to another spot.

  • Kezhi Garden (课植园): A luxurious mansion from the Republic of China era. The original owner was Ma Wenqing. It’s a classic Jiangnan-style private garden. Highly recommended—check out how the other half lived. 🏯

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  • Hexin Garden (和心园): Originally a place for the owner to store his collection. It has a lot of carvings, Buddhist statues, deities, and calligraphy. It’s smaller than Kezhi Garden.

  • Fangsheng Bridge (放生桥): Offers a great view from the top. 🌉

  • Mongolian Milk Tea (塞迁额吉): Run by an elderly Mongolian couple. We kept seeing this place online, so we had to check it out. The old lady was very friendly and recommended the best options based on the number of people. We ordered one sweet milk tea and one salty milk tea, and they also gave us some snacks. It cost 60 yuan. 🥤

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  • Helong Art Museum (鹤龙美术馆): Located in Zhujiajiao, only the first floor is open to visitors. It’s quite small, with about 20-30 paintings. 🖼️

  • Yuanjin Chan Temple and City God Temple (圆津禅院，城隍庙): We didn’t go inside, as they’re free. We did stop by a Zhujiajiao souvenir shop on Dongjing Street to take some photos. 📸

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  • Great Qing Post Office (大清邮局): The only remaining old post office site in East China. The first floor has drinks and cultural products, while the second floor features a preserved collection of stamps, postcards, and other exhibits. 📮

There were many women taking photos in traditional Chinese outfits 👘, and we ran into quite a few foreigners. The area also has plenty of small shops selling food, toys, and decorations. I bought a pearl bracelet for 240 yuan. Some shops even have cats and dogs lounging at the entrance. 🐱🐶 We spent almost the whole day there, and around 6 PM, we headed to the Rainbow Bridge at Dianshan Lake, which is great for watching the sunset. 🌅 Just make sure to check the weather in advance—on a windy, cloudy day, you might miss it.