Shaxi town [Photo provided by Chen Wen / For China Daily]

Shaxi preserves the ancient charm of the water towns in East China's Yangtze River Delta

The small group of water towns, dubbed the "Oriental Venice", in East China's Yangtze River Delta, attract tourists from around the world. But water towns were everywhere when I was growing up in the area in the 1980s.

As a child, I used to sail a lacquered washing basin in search of the delicious roots of lotus flowers in the ponds and small lakes dotting the suburbs of Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province. Those suburbs are now part of the city's Central Business District.

When China started to modernize, the waterways disappeared almost overnight. The few remaining towns have scant numbers of residents, but are over-crowded with tourists.

This is why I was exhilarated to discover Shaxi, a 1,300-year-old town in the suburbs of Taicang, a city affiliated with Suzhou of Jiangsu province. The town is actually closer to Shanghai than Suzhou, only 50 km southwest of Shanghai's Hongqiao airport.

It is a town where residents live a prosperous life and there are few tourists, especially on a weekday. People from Taicang who may spend the weekend in the town are still at work. Other than myself, there are few people in the streets taking photos.

The heart of the town is Qipu River, which is about five meters wide. Traditional houses in the Yangtze River Delta style line the banks of the river. They have dark-tiled roofs, white-painted walls and wooden latticed windows.