Live report from Xitang on February 11th—it's really a disaster.
Just got back from Xitang and almost got fooled by the “living millennium-old town” hype! If you’re also dreaming of the Misty Rain Corridor and the Songzi Laifeng Bridge, this honest review might save you!
🌧️ Misty Rain Corridor: A photo trap
📸 Popular photo spot: The corridor, claimed to keep your shoes dry on rainy days, is packed with girls renting Hanfu costumes during peak season, each equipped with a folding fan and an oil-paper umbrella. Want a clear shot without people? You’ll have to get there at 5 a.m. before the cleaners finish picking up plastic bottles from the river. At 4 p.m., the sunset light through the corridor pillars is indeed beautiful, but every beam of light carries smoke from the nearby barbecue stalls.
💏 Songzi Laifeng Bridge: Once a prayer bridge for children, now a hotspot for couples locking love locks, with the iron chains overloaded. Staff regularly cut off locks with pliers, clinking them into woven bags like a Bodhisattva collecting scrap metal. Below the bridge, black-awning boats line up, with boatwomen singing tunes reminiscent of Jay Chou—so out of place you want to rewrite the lyrics for them.
🎑 Yongning Bridge: The best spot to photograph Xutang River, but also the battleground for elderly folks fighting for the prime spots. Saw two ladies in qipao competing for a stone railing spot, going from “Dear, let me have it” to “You stepped on my embroidered shoes” in just 30 seconds. They ended up blushing and squeezed onto the same stone, looking like conjoined twins in the shot.
🍡 Snack traps
🥮 Euryale Seed Cake: Sold fresh everywhere, but the mask-wearing seller’s droplets still fly around when talking. The sample pieces are generous, but the full cake you buy is half as thick, with sesame seeds embedded like vitiligo.
🦀 Wonton Old Duck Pot: Xitang’s signature dish, actually frozen duck and frozen wontons, with the white soup made from evaporated milk. The owner enthusiastically claims “this is stewed by a local granny for four hours,” but her stove must be nuclear-powered.
🍺 Xitang Yellow Wine: The bar street is full of “homemade rice wine” in plastic buckets with handwritten labels, 20 yuan per jin. Tastes like watered-down sweet fermented rice, and the buzz is all psychological. Want the real deal? Go to the warehouse of the supply and marketing cooperative on Tangdong Street. The original brew is scooped with bamboo ladles, sold starting at 60 jin, with free shipping to Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai.
🚤 Transport and accommodation: Dark cuisine of the water town
🚣 Night rowing boat tour: 150 yuan per boat, promised “brilliant lights,” but actually just illuminated signs of guesthouses on both banks, with red lanterns glowing like a hair salon. Passing under Huanxiu Bridge, the boatman suddenly pitches wishing lotus lanterns, “20 yuan each, scan the code and get a lighter.” Dozens of extinguished lanterns float on the river, and cleaners row at dawn to collect them, like harvesting bankrupt wishes.
🏨 Riverside carved king bed room: A hit on Xiaohongshu, but the real view outside the window is the kitchen exhaust pipe of the restaurant across the river. Check-in comes with a fruit plate, but the bananas are already spotted with age. At night, the couple next door screams watching a horror movie, and the female lead’s voice sounds like she’s live streaming to you through the wall. At 5 a.m., fishing boats’ motors roar—owner calls it the “ancient town’s special alarm clock.” If you want to sleep in, bring earplugs.
💡 Honest advice: Xitang suits nightlife lovers and beginner Hanfu photographers. If you want to experience real Jiangnan life, isn’t Hechi Village two kilometers north better? It’s free to enter, with elders shelling edamame under their own corridors, grabbing a handful to stuff in your pocket when you peek in. Next to the village committee is an unnamed single-arch stone bridge, its surface deeply grooved by wheelbarrows. At sunset, young moms pushing strollers and old men herding ducks pass each other on the bridge—you’ll finally understand what “a millennium” really means.
Very good experience, easy booking, true and reliable description, very satisfied with the recommended itinerary, fast response from customer service, timely handling of issues, always use Ctrip, assured, convenient, good price,!
Very good experience, easy booking, true and reliable description, very satisfied with the recommended itinerary, fast response from customer service, timely handling of issues, always use Ctrip, assured, convenient, good price,!
The Songzi Laifeng Bridge is an important scenic spot in the Xitang Ancient Town Scenic Area in Jiashan, and it is also a must-visit place for tourists to Xitang. The original bridge was built in the late Ming Dynasty, and the current bridge was rebuilt in 1997. There are various messages and graffiti from tourists on the white wall of the bridge.
The most beautiful bridge in Xitang Ancient Town! It is also the one with the best meaning! The night view is super beautiful! Many people take photos on the bridge! But there are also uncivilized graffiti! Come and see it early in the morning! It feels completely different! A fresh, elegant and unworldly bridge! To be honest, if I can get up early, the ancient town in the morning is more suitable for me! [Scenery] [Fun] [Value for money]
Scenic spot name: Songzi Laifeng Bridge Address: Xitang Ancient Town Scenic Area, Jiashan County, Jiaxing City Xitang Ancient Town is full of various bridges, and Songzi Laifeng Bridge can be said to be the most distinctive bridge in Xitang. This bridge has two walking directions, also known as the Lovers Bridge, which means that couples walking across this bridge will have a son after marriage. There is also a cruise ship pier where tickets can be sold. There are many tourists who left literary graffiti on the bridge. It is great to stick it on the bridge to enjoy the scenery. You can also sit inside the bridge to rest. The bridge is designed as a canopy, which can block rain on rainy days.
Xitang's Songzi Laifeng Bridge offers a view of the boat dock. The boat ride prices vary depending on whether you have a ticket or not. How many people cross this bridge to pray for a child? I only know there are a lot of "I've been here" and "xx loves xx" signs on the wall. Xitang Ancient Town is a great place for leisurely savoring. There are also many small shops near Songzi Laifeng Bridge. I even found a kaleidoscope and quickly bought one.
This bridge is located within the Xitang Scenic Area. It was built in the 10th year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty and rebuilt in April 1998. It's also known as the Sunny and Rainy Bridge or the Lovers' Bridge. Its greatest symbolism is that couples crossing it are sure to have children in the future!
The most famous bridge in Xitang is undoubtedly the "Songzi Laifeng Bridge." Legend has it that when the bridge was first built, a bird flew over, and people considered it a good omen, hence the name "Songzi Laifeng Bridge." Locals commonly call it the "Sunny and Rainy Bridge," a play on the "Lovers' Bridge." Rebuilt in 1998, it adopted the "complex corridor" design of classical gardens, with central partitions and window panes, two passageways, a canopy on the roof, and red eaves and black tiles, creating a simple yet modern aesthetic. Guardrails line the bridge, and long, brick-paved benches provide seating for people to rest and enjoy the river views.