Zhouzhuang

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We visited the little canal town of Zhouzhuang our second day together. The city had some beautiful things to see and delicious food, but the locals have definately learned to squeeze every cent out of the tourists. Every stall sells the same stuff, so we realized that nothing was truly an "original" as the vendors had insisted, and they originally asked for 200% more than they would sell for. All you had to do was say you didn't want to pay that much and keep walking and they would chase you down and offer their goods for substantially less.

My favorite part of this town (besides the shopping and the cafe latte) was the Budhist Temple. I got a bit more artistic in this town with my photos, so bear with me.

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Photos

Zhouzhuang Temple
The Buddhist temple in Zhouzhuang

Female Lion
Female Temple guardian in Zhouzhuang

Male Lion
Male Temple Guardian in Zhouzhuang

Prayers
Each ribbon represents a prayer.

Bringing Home Baby
Little old women sat in the back of one of the Old homes selleing hand-made silk products like these baby booties.

Bridge Over (not so) Troubled Water
One of the bridges that helped pedestrians travel through the Zhouzhuang canal streets

The Blue Door
Off the beaten path dad and I stumbled across this brightly painted door and instinctively both reached for our cameras. Like father, like daughter.

Chops
They would carve characters in the bottom to create stamp seals.

Grand Gate
A grand gate inside a (once) private home. It was a way to advertise a family's wealth to friends and important visitors.