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A
story of A Bridge, A painting and A town
Some
people say the reason Zhouzhuang attracts some many tourists today is
because of Chen Yifei ¨C An artist.
 Chen
Yifei once has pained a bridge that is in Zhouzhuang in 1984, called
<The memory of hometown>. he showed this paining at Armand
Hammer¡¯s museum (an American
industrialist and art collector) together with his other 37 paintings.
Hammer bought the painting and gave it to Mr. Dong Xiaoping1 (Leader
of China 1976 to 1997) as a gift. The bridge in the painting
represents the friendship of US and China also brought the attraction
to the world. People come from all over the world to visit Zhouzhuang.
 The
bridge is located in the north east of Zhouzhuang town, pristine and
natural, plain and strange, Simple and elegant style.
 It
is called ¡®Twin Bridge¡¯, also called ¡®the key bridge¡¯ by the
local people. A stone arch bridge and a square bridge connected to
each other. Its shape resembles an ancient key, so also called
"key bridge." Both in the north and south across the river,
connecting the silver creek mouth which added the town stunning
scenery. According to historical records: Bridging initially built
between 1573 -1619 by Xu songquan, Xu Zhuxi and Xu zhengwu. In the
year of 1765 it was repaired and in 1843, it was reconstructed.
Zhouzhuang
up to close
 An
Ancient Town: Zhouzhuang lies at the middle between Shanghai and
Suzhou, it is one of the best watertowns in China.
Zhouzhuang
is well known for its beautiful environment and simple architecture.
Although more than 900 years have past, its architectural style is
still well preserved, more than 60 percent of the residential houses
were built during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing(1644-1911) dynasties,
consisting of nearly 100 classic courtyards and 60 carved brick
archways.
The
most interesting travel route is walking along the banks or rowing a
boat through the stone arch bridges to view the residential houses
along the waterside. The houses commonly have two floors, with white
walls and black roofs, various styles of windows out of which often
poke many bamboo poles carrying the household laundry. The local
people use the water to do their washing, and also do their shopping
by lowering a pole with a basket on the end to the vendors sitting in
their boats. Along the roads, there are various forms of stone blocks
every 10 meters for the boats stop.
Many
people fallen love with Zhouzhuang.
A
slowly floated boat through under the bridge, a man pull a bull over
the bridge, the sound of thrumming clothes from the river side, the
rhythm wafted in the air, the slightly green river, the lose colour
wall, the withy followed by the wind, all of these make you want to
stop your steps, hold breath, close eyes to be driven to your
Neverland.
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Once
I stepped in Zhouzhuang, I am in my dream. I do not need to worry if I
ever lost in here unless you want to, because it does not even have a
street, all the streams connected, come across the town, all the
bridges became the beams of the town. Zhouzhuang is like a poem, and
the name of Zhouzhuang is the perfect title. Standing on the boat,
passing all the courtyards, through the carved the doors, I found
myself totally lost. I just wanted to be one of the stones, a piece of
carved wood, or a part of the history. Boat is my bed, bridge is my
quilt, tea is my breakfast¡every piece of stones have a story, every
men and women here has a song from nine hundred years ago.
Zhouzhuang does not do make ups, people from all over the world come
to decorate Zhouzhuang, but it only shows its natural. I do not think
coffee fits here or the fashion sparkling Hi-Fi fit either. It would
not fit jazz, nor a business suit.
This
is another kind of beauty, an oriental beauty, a quiet, sensitive
mind, a slow, relax path, a character that can find only in a fiction
or your dream.
 Zhouzhuang
will not be a butterfly who has supremacy of beauty; she is a firefly
that gives you light of life; she will not be a rose who dominate
love; she is sweet-scented Osmanthus give you elegant smells.
She will not be a cup of decent coffee; she is a cup of
chrysanthemum tea. She will not be a friend who drinks with you; she
is a friend who listens to you. She will not be a girl you fallen love
with the first eye contact; she is a girl you have to study for.
To
Zhouzhuang
Nine
hundred years you never change
¡¡
The
street is still the same street
where
I have buried my innocent
story
The
river is still the same river
where
I have dropped my precious love
Through
the open doors I am reading the stars
Lying
on the solid stones I am searching the scars
She
still flows the boat and sings my favourite song
The
red lantern is her sincere fellow
Tell
me once again that story
which
never changes since nine hundred years ago
¡¡
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