6 of the 7 Continents For The Budget Traveler: How I Went To Zhujiajiao Water Town On Layover For Under $10

I was heading to Australia to celebrate New Year's Eve 2019 and to save money I maybe somewhat foolishly booked a flight with 2 extremely long layover's in China. Looking back on it, maybe I should have ponied up the extra money to fly direct as on the way back I had to pay for a place to stay for the night, I paid for meals, I didn't sleep good on the way there (over 36 hours in transit), and I had already been to Shanghai in 2010. So think about those types of things before you book longer flights with more connections, but regardless, on a positive note, on the way back I revisted Shanghai, and on the way there I got to visit the legendary Zhujiajiao Water Town for under $10.

Since I had already spent a good amount of time in Shanghai I had decided it was time to check out something else in China on my first layover which was 14 hours during the day. I read about day trips to the water towns and fell in love with my readings about the ancient one named Zhujiajiao. Unlike my layover at the Great Wall I was at a disadvantage here because I was traveling alone. A layover tour to Zhujiajiao was at the lowest price I could find $400. I knew going by taxi was an option but I don't speak any Mandarin beyond formalities, so that option was off the table as well.

I started research on if I could go by train, and indeed you can, very easily with only 1 transfer, or 2 during certain hours. I paid less than 20 rmb ($3) if memory serves correct for a round trip ticket. Google/rome2rio, 2 great sites of course for travel planning said 2 hours on train, it ended up being more like 3, but I had plenty of time so that wasn't an issue. I cleared customs in about an hour on the first trip in (not so lucky on the way back) and was on the train by 7:30am heading to Zhujiajiao in fairly cold weather. On arrival I exited the station and had printed off a sheet of translations for things I may need, there were only 4 or 5 things on the list, Pudong Airport, train, bathroom, maybe something else, and of course Zhujiajiao Water Town. I was approached pretty quickly by a motorcycle taxi, we agreed on a low fare by me showing him the bill I think it was 10 rmb, which is less than $2. And off I went to Zhujiajiao!

My advice for Zhujiajiao on layover is going to be the same as if you are going for a day trip, it is fairly small and you will not need a whole day. I was happy with 2 hours of walking around. There were some nice restaurants but in respect to paranoia of getting back to the airport late I settled for street food. English is obsolete so I had fun ordering random street food, having no idea what it was, and trying it. I did end up tossing a lot in the trash because either I didn't like it or it just had a taste to mysterious for me. You can take a map or a tour guide, but I think it's best just to wander the alley's and see what you find. All temples and attractions are cheap if you have time, but if you don't just enjoy the town, and of course the legendary Fengsheng Bridge, don't worry you can't miss it.

I headed back to the airport with plenty of time and went to Sydney to celebrate New Years and explore a lot of Australia, but we will save that story for another blog post. On the way back from Sydney about a month later I was back in Shanghai this time for an 18 hour night time layover. As I always say we are budget travelers and things never go as planned so we must plan on things not going as planned. The plan was to get passed customs by 8pm, be in the city 8:30/9pm, find a great dim sum place, then a great roof top bar to celebrate a long journey in Australia and great layovers in China. I'd follow that drink with a visit back to the famous Bund and retake a photo I took there almost 10 years ago. That was the plan....

2010 Shanghai Skyline Photo

2019 Photo Reattempt failed

The reality, I didn't clear customs till 10pm. I got to my airbnb apartment by 10:30pm, all restaurants around there were closed, except a 7/11 which I got snacks from (I didn't eat much because I really was saving my appetite for dim sum). Luckily but not planned, the apartment had a roof top bar. I went up and the city was freezing with fog. The celebration beer was still drank. The next day I headed to the Bund to retake the photo... well the fog hadn't gone away, so that didn't go as planned either!

But all in all, even though maybe it was a mistake to book the long layovers it made for a good story. And I hope my experience with getting a$400 layover tour to under $10 helps readers here. China now actually leads my passport with entry stamps as I have 4. I wonder what country will take the lead in the future?