乌镇英语导游词.docVIP

乌镇英语导游词 江南水乡乌镇英文导游词 In the tranquil little village of Wuzhen, the light hangs over the Dong Shi River in a soft summer pallour, as though the clouds are making a deliberate effort to protect the residents from sunburn. Along the river, a select group of day-trippers enjoy a cruise aboard a pole-steered barge. Im highly privileged to be visiting the very last of Chinas ancient water towns to be opened to visitors. When the authorities opened the 1,300 year old riverine settlement of Wuzhen to visitors in early 2001, they were determined to avoid the tacky mix of tourist restaurants and kitsch souvenir shops that has swamped other estuary towns such as Zhouzhuang (which also lies in the Yangtze River delta). Wuzhens old buildings, an architectural symphony of stone, wood and tiles, have been preserved rather than restored, and lovingly maintained rather than tarted up. The result is a place that is a sheer joy to explore on foot. Wuzhen is still a living town, where daily life goes on life goes on as it has for the last thousand or so years. Coppersmiths, wood-carver and silk-spinners work at their age-old crafts. Bicycle rickshaw drivers exchange stories as they wait for passengers. People cart water, cook meals, and tend their gardens, each flower-plot the size of a postage stamp. The townsfolk of Wuzhen gather in the town square around mid-day - talking, smoking or playing mah-jongg. They seem laidback and contented. Most of all, they seem to enjoy observing the passing parade, which provides a constant source of amusement. I started to wonder whether it was the town or the strange foreign visitors like myself that was the main attraction. Western visitors are still a rarity here. Wuzhen lies in the far north-east of Zhejiang province, about 90 minutes by road from Shanghai. The name water town is especially apt; besides lying on the Grand Canal, the settlement is completely encircled by two rivers - the Dong Shi and a smaller tributary, which meet at a T-junc