During the New Year holiday, Wuzhen was pleasantly busy—not crowded, but far from deserted—giving it an atmosphere distinct from the usual Jiangnan scenery. The author stayed outside the scenic area and tried the guesthouses’ home-style cooking and local specialties. Xizha showcases the classic water-town views, while the old streets around Dongzha, though commercialized, feel more rooted in local culture. Two days and one night are enough to explore at a leisurely pace, stroll around, and get a sense of local life. It’s a more relaxed experience than a rushed day trip, and Wuzhen is well worth visiting.
Wuzhen
Traveling over holidays is always a headache: the places you want to go are packed, and anywhere that's packed you don't want to go — plus tickets for every kind of transport are hard to come by. This time, though, we lucked out with Wuzhen — even on New Year's Day, it was neither too crowded nor too quiet, just right.
Even though I've lived in Zhejiang for years and its food, accents, and landscapes all feel familiar, Wuzhen still had a different atmosphere and vibe about it.
Xizha Scenic Area
The Wuzhen scenic area is under unified management: everything sold inside has clearly marked prices, accommodation is arranged and allocated by the scenic area itself, and for meals you can pick a guesthouse and sample its home-style cooking — every family's food tastes different.
Stay and Food
For better value, we chose to stay outside the scenic area. Even on New Year's Day the price wasn't too bad — the only letdown was the hot water, which wasn't up to scratch and left us a bit annoyed.
As for the food:
On the first day, we randomly picked a guesthouse inside the scenic area to try its home-style dishes. The landlady was very warm — it was one of those rare dining experiences that feel the way a real guesthouse should. Frankly, though, the dishes were just home-style cooking, so don't expect too much.
On the second day, we went to a restaurant recommended by our hotel's landlady and ordered a few of Wuzhen's more distinctive dishes. The oil-braised shrimp and soy-sauce duck were both great — well worth a try.
The Old Street
After the meal, we planned to wander around the outskirts of Dongzha. Old men on tricycle cabs kept approaching us, asking if we wanted a ride to the Old Street. A quick search on Xiaohongshu showed people turning their noses up at it, but since we had nowhere else to go, we chose to walk there. It wasn't far — about ten minutes on foot.
The Old Street certainly lives up to its name: the lanes here are narrow, built along one bank of the river, with vendors on both sides hawking their goods. All the same, I think it's worth a visit. What Xizha offers is the classic scenery of a Jiangnan water town, while the Old Street gives you a more lived-in, human experience — commercialized as it may be.
A Stroll
The Old Street is just one road — once you've walked it, that's it. Once again with nowhere to go, we just strolled around town, trying to get a sense of how the locals live.
Wrapping Up
As for timing, two days and one night is plenty for Wuzhen. We even had time to leave the scenic area and take a walk in the warm winter sun, soaking up the rhythms of local life — a far cry from the usual "special forces" style one-day trip. A tourist, and yet not a tourist.
Sure, there are plenty of short-trip options in the free-shipping zone (the Yangtze River Delta), but Wuzhen — not too popular, yet offering something different — is worth a try.