So well known Zhou Zhuang is to the Chinese that it was called the China’s Number One Water Village 中国第一水乡. This is not the only moniker it had. Westerners who have come here will most likely name it after another famous “water village” found in Europe – Venice. It has been named the Venice of the East, no doubt because of the similarities between the two towns.
I wasn’t sure how much better Zhou Zhuang is compared to the other water villages but this is the most famous one. It could have been tourism hype but it is not to say that it is any less deserving. Unfortunately, the tourism hype worked too well as it is constantly beseiged by thousands of tourists every single day. I guess, we can thank the tourist industry for keeping Zhou Zhuang as well preserved as it is.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/ZhouZhuang.kmz} zoom=19]