Throughout our travels in China, Beau and I were surprised to see so many new modern cities with flashing neon lights and tall skyscrapers in the middle of nowhere.  So after our Yangtzee river tour we were on a search for some history.  Our guide, Chris, took us to a 1700 year old water town called Zhujiajiao, a suburb of Shanghai, to give us a taste of old China.  Zhujiajiao is affectionately referred to as the “Venice of Shanghai” because residences, stores, and temples are directly connected to a network of canals with bridges crisscrossing back and forth.  

During our visit to Zhujiajiao, we visited an old post office that has been made into a museum to tell people the history of mail transport in China.  They have a wonderful collection of paintings depicting the old methods and of course old post cards and mail.  Just down the street from the post office museum, we took a detour into a temple with beautiful trees covered with red prayer ribbons.  The best part about the temple was a little statue at the entrance that people were places things inside to get blessed, even their little doggies.  Our dog wouldn’t fit.  



You can also visit a traditional medicine shop that use herbs, roots, shark fin, and other exotic items to heal.  I guess we looked too healthy because they were not into giving us any crazy weird items.  
Zhujiajiao does sometimes feel like a living museum for tourist but if you can get past the polished feeling it is a really good way to go back in time and see a bit of China’s history.   Also take time to explore the back streets to meet the local people that live there.