Zhou Zhuang

A water village about 12 miles outside Shanghai, this is a small town on the Jinghang Canal which links Suzhou and Shanghai. Zhouzhuang was once a thriving port dealing in silk, pottery and grain, attracting and making wealthy a host of traders, officials and scholars who built these houses and bridges at the time of the Ming dynasty.

As lovely as Zhouzhuang undoubtedly is, it is essentially a tourist attraction complete with bus terminal, car parks, endless souvenir shops and guides with loudspeakers. A potentially grating experience which was leavened somewhat by the weather being utterly dreadful!

Heading back to Brighton in the morning, so this is likely to be the last 'proper' photograph from China. There are a few more, including a tremendously moody daytime shot of the Jinmao tower disappearing into the clouds if you're interested, on my web site at

http://electricalimage.com/galleries/travel/china-2/shanghai/