Wuzhen Xizha Ancient Architecture Complex

The Xizha (West Gate) area of Wuzhen, in Tongxiang under Jiaxing's administration, preserves a canal-town architectural complex with roots as a market settlement dating to the Tang and Song dynasties, though most surviving buildings date from Ming and Qing reconstructions of the 16th to 19th centuries. Xizha developed later into a formal scenic area than Wuzhen's older Dongzha (East Gate) district, and its buildings underwent more extensive restoration in the 2000s, resulting in a larger, more uniformly preserved streetscape of wood-and-tile shophouses, covered corridors, and canal-side dwellings connected by stone bridges. The complex includes reconstructed workshops demonstrating traditional crafts such as indigo dyeing, rice-wine brewing, and silk weaving, industries that historically supported the town's economy along the Grand Canal trade network. Buildings are arranged along a network of narrow canals crossed by arched stone bridges, with covered wooden walkways, known locally as corridor pavilions, running along many waterfront facades to shelter pedestrians and goods from rain. Because Xizha's restoration was more comprehensive and its scenic-area management denser than older canal towns nearby, some structures are faithful reconstructions on historic foundations rather than untouched originals, a trade-off that has produced a highly walkable but less rustic atmosphere than Wuzhen's older eastern district.