Xitang Ancient Town

Xitang Ancient Town is a historic water town in Jiashan county, in the north of Zhejiang province, set at the meeting point of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai. As one of the most celebrated of the Jiangnan water towns that dot the Yangtze Delta, and a 5A-rated national scenic area, it is renowned for its network of canals, stone bridges, and Ming and Qing dynasty lanes that have survived largely intact into the present. For travelers seeking the classical image of a southern Chinese water town, Xitang is one of the most rewarding destinations within easy reach of Shanghai.

The town's defining feature is its extraordinary covered waterside walkways, known in Chinese as langpeng, which run for hundreds of meters along the canals and shelter the lanes from sun and rain. Beneath these eaves, residents and visitors stroll past old shopfronts, family inns, tea houses, and small workshops, while the canals themselves are crossed by more than a hundred stone bridges, many of them centuries old. The bridges are the classic vantage points from which the famous postcard view of Xitang unfolds: tiled rooftops cascading to the water, wooden boats gliding below, and the soft, misty light of the Yangtze Delta settling over the whole scene.

Wandering the lanes, you encounter a layered townscape of old courtyard houses, ancestral halls, gardens, and small museums that open onto hidden courtyards and canal views. Because Xitang remains a living town, with many local residents still living and working in the old lanes, you can watch everyday life unfold along the water: families eating by the canals, neighbors chatting in the alleys, and the unhurried rhythms of a southern Chinese small town. Tea houses, traditional snacks, and small craft shops give the visit a slow, immersive quality quite different from a museum setting.

Xitang is most magical in the late afternoon and evening, when the lanterns strung along the lanes and bridges are lit and the town takes on a softer, more romantic mood. A ride in a hand-poled wooden boat along the canals is the classic way to see the town after dark, with the lanterns reflected in the still water. Allow a half-day to wander, or stay overnight in a canal-side inn to experience the town both at its quiet early-morning best and after the day-trip crowds depart.

Xitang sits close to both Shanghai and Hangzhou, which makes it a popular addition to a Jiangnan itinerary that includes other water towns and the cities of the lower Yangtze. For travelers who want to step out of China's modern metropolises and into the older, slower world of the southern water towns, Xitang offers one of the most atmospheric and photographable stops in the entire region, and a deep, quiet pleasure for those willing to linger past sunset.