Zhenze Ancient Town is located at the border between Jiangsu and Zhejiang Provinces and on the southern shore of Taihu Lake. The town is traditionally known as "the head of Wu State (now referring to Jiangsu Province) and the tail of Yue State (now referring to Zhenjiang Province)". Zhenze has a landscape typical of lake plains of Taihu Basin, whose relief tilts from northeast to southwest. The soil is mainly rice soil, with pressure resistance 7 to 21 tons per square meter. The water area accounts for 23.5% of the area of Zhenze and the territory is full of rivers and lakes.
Zhenze was opened as a port to the tradesmen in the Tang Dynasty and in the Song Dynasty was officially set up as a town. Because of its abundant rice and silk and convenient water and land transportation, Zhenze became an important silk and rice trading center in Jiangsu and Zhejiang Regions in the Southern Song Dynasty. The Zhenze ancient town was originally built along the Ditang River. The town, which was crisscrossed by rivers and canals and connected with good many ancient bridges, was a typical water town south of the lower reaches of Yangtze River. Now, 80% of the cultural relics under government protection are found on both sides of the River and the Street. In the 1930s, when the Changxing-Huzhou-Shanghai water course was constructed, the ancient town is embraced by Ditang River and Changxing-Huzhou-Shanghai River in south and north respectively, and by Yuji Bridge, built in memory of Yu the Great who was a legendary ruler in ancient China famed for his introduction of flood control, and Sifan Bridge(which commemorates Fan Li, an ancient Chinese advisor in the state of Yue in the Spring and Autumn period) in east and west respectively, thus forming an island town in the center.
Zhenze is most noted for its traditional architecture at the waterfront. Zhenze now has 2 cultural relics protected at national level, 3 cultural relics protected at provincial level, and 33 architectures under government protection or control. Among them, the Ciyun Tower, built in the Southern Song Dynasty, is a landmark building of the ancient town; Shijian Hall, an age-old building established during the Reign of Emperor Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty, covers an area of more than 2500 square meters and is composed of 147 houses of different sizes. It is a complex of river ports, broker's storehouses, shops, streets, halls, residence houses, gardens, and servant's rooms. It is reputed as the No. 1 Family Hall in all water towns of China. As Zhenze lies at the border where Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces meet, and has vibrant commercial activities, the ancient buildings in the Town feature both the architectural style of south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and that of Zhejiang area, and also incorporate the Anhui architectural style and the western countries’ influence. Although most of architectures are different, their layout remains almost the same. The most commonly seen buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties are in two-stories, with high walls and compound courtyard connected with corridors and furnished by French windows. In the courtyard, rare plants were grown. The house interior was adorned with all types of exquisite carving, such as stone carving, wood carving, and lacquerware carving, which were produced with superb workmanship and vivid; for buildings erected during the period of the Republic of China, the commonly used decoration are the glazed glasses, a sign of the fact that the west fashion is influencing the eastern countries at that time.
