It takes around 2.5 hours to go to Nanxun water town from Shanghai by car, so we suggest you depart earlier. Although Nanxun is further from Shanghai than most other water towns, there are still lots of tourists like it, because it is larger and you can easily walk away from the crowds.
You will get the first impression of Nanxun in the Little Lotus Garden, a private garden of one of the richest men in the history of Nanxun. He spent 3 years building this garden. The lotuses in the pool of the garden offer you unmatched scenes for photos.
Continue your tour in the Former Residence of Zhang Shiming, a harmonious mix of Western and Chinese decorations. Zhang Shiming had lots of business with foreign merchants, so he decorated the 150 rooms of his home in either Western or Chinese styles, which made his residence enjoy a reputation of the No.1 Private House in South Yangtze River Area.
Let’s uncover more secrets about architecture in the Liu Family Compound, which also belonged to the owner of the Little Lotus Garden. Every brick of the houses in the compound was painted in red. Hundreds of carvings are collected in the compound. Some houses in the north and south part of the compound were designed in Roman style. It will be time for lunch after you visit these three attractions. Your tour guide will find a local restaurant for you to taste water town delicacy.
The only attraction for your afternoon’s sightseeing is the One-Hundred Residential Houses. With a history of 400 years, these 100 houses were built by a government official for his servants. All these houses were built beside a river and painted in white. Local people still live in these houses today. While you are walking along the river, you will feel the time flies back to 400 years ago. Some local people wash their clothes beside the river. That is the authentic and traditional water town life! You will be transferred to Shanghai after the tour.
