If you dont have time to get to the Water Towns this is a mini-fragment of a water town that got swallowed up by Shanghai. It is fine for a taste of canal towns - and the snacking is really good. Go early to avoid crowds.

We really enjoyed our day trip to Qibao. It's an easy ride from downtown Shanghai, and the old street is close to the subway. There were lots of trinket stores and good places to eat. We didn't visit the museums -- but we will next time. One ticket to all museums is only $5! We took a boat ride under... More

If you do not have time to go to Zhujiajiao or Tongli, this is close enough to a real water village (if only one street and one bridge). It will give you an idea of what awaits you if you take time to go to the above mentioned places, which are awesome attractions compared to most found in Shanghai :-)

Yes, QiBao is closer to downtown Shanghai, but ZhouZhuang is QiBao on steroids with far better photo pops, much larger village, and experience is 100 times better. I find that QiBao is like only 1 of the streets/canals of ZhouZhuang. If you only have a few hours, then QiBao is your only choice -- if you have 8 hours, ZhouZhuang... More

If you feel the need to go, go during the week day. It’s really just an overcrowded place to buy cheap trinkets.

We were only in Shanghai for 6 days so we opted out of visiting a water town on this trip. I read about a closer alternative at Qibao that was a subway ride away. We were there the first week of October so it seemed like all of China was visiting this area at 10 AM. It was literally wall... More