For the rules of the link up and an option to share your link, scroll down!

My sister sent me some tips for planning a visit to a place she visited recently in China, so I’m entering it to the Show Your World link up this month:

Have you ever been to one of the villages known as a ‘Shanghai Venice’? I’ve only been to one and it’s called Xitang.

Here’s some info and tips for those planning a visit:

1) It is not the biggest or the most popular village, but the bonus of it is – it’s not so crowded (at least Monday to Friday). I haven’t been to others but was told that they are almost the same (don’t mean to hurt anyone’s feelings!).

2) If you’re tired of big city life – it is a perfect idea for a weekend! You can fit the whole visit into just one day or stay overnight (they have plenty of hotels and hostels).

3) If you live in big cities like Shanghai or Beijing you may forget what real China is like. Xitang has perfect Chinese atmosphere and it is so calm and cozy, that you surely won’t regret taking this trip.

4) If you’re an artistic person, that’s a perfect place to find your inspiration!

5) How to get there: best choice would be to go with a tour group travelling there from Shanghai, as they have comfortable buses and you won’t have to think about transportation. If you prefer to travel alone by subway and then by bus, download Baidu Map to get all the routes and timetables. If you’re travelling by taxi… well, although it will take a bit more than an hour, it will cost more than 200 RMB (one way). In this case, it makes more sense to hire a driver for the whole day and drive back home any time you want.

6) Before we went there, I thought that every single thing at any shop there will be very expensive as it’s a tourist attraction, but surprisingly prices where quite reasonable. My advice is: if you want to buy authentic clothes (made from good quality natural fabric) take at least 500-1000 RMB. You might consider it expensive, but it would not be a cheap mass market piece, rather a quality item. I think it is completely worth it. If you wish to buy some jewellery or souvenirs, you can spend from 30 to 200 rmb. Very important – never pay the asked price without bargaining first! Offer half, then walk away, if they don’t agree. The seller would probably come running after you, offering a discount. Be strong, bargain hard – that is actually expected on a Chinese market.

7) If you like culture, history and beautiful legends – read all of them (about Xitang) before you go there. It will help you to find Yellow Wine and get a real feel of this village.

8) My last advice: I don’t know the name of that bar, but I’ll try to explain how to find it. The reason I’m telling you about it is their band or duet. A guy is playing drums and a girl is playing guitar and singing. That was love from the first sound. All Chinese songs they sang were very interesting and somehow European in a way. When you enter Xitang, you would have to pass a park before you see all the streets on the water. After you pass this park you will see some places to eat. Pass them too and you will see the first “water street”. On the right hand will be a river, on the left – a bar, full of flowers and beautiful sounds (with dark light and cozy environment).

P.S.: Don’t forget to take a student card if you have one, as entrance is not free and you can save some money.

Now let’s recap all the rules of Show Your World linkup, just in case you forgot or you’re totally new to this linkup and are thinking of participating:

• This is a monthly link up. The hosts will be posting prompts every 1st Friday of a month with a link up option.
• Girl Gone London is the co-host of Show Your World, you can leave your link at her blog and we will also include it in the round up.
• Link up your post, old or new, about an interesting place you would like to share with us (can be anything, from your home town to a place you visited on vacation)
• Add Show Your World badge to the posts that you share with a link back to a host’s page
• 
• Visit and comment on posts of both of the hosts and on at least two other posts, mentioning #ShowYourWorld tag in your comment, – let’s share love!
• Twit your link mentioning @tinyexpats, @girlsgonelondon and #ShowYourWorld and we will re-twit it.
• Tag your photos from you posts on Instagram with #ShowYourWorld and give me a shout out (@tinyexpats) and I will share them.
• Reach out to Tiny Expats and Girl Gone London on Pinterest and we will invite you to pin to Show Your World board.
• We will share all the posts every 3rd Friday of a month in a round up!

You can check out previous posts and round ups here. Looking forward to reading all about your favourite places – show us your world!