by Sally Hammond

"Live in Hangzhou, marry in Suzhou, dine in Guangzhou and die in Luzhou," we were told when we visited a couple of these cities in the vicinity of Shanghai.

"Why?" we asked. 

"Because these places have, respectively, the best view, the prettiest women, the best food  and the best coffin wood!"

We spent a happy couple of days visiting Hangzhou's various gardens, cruising on the West Lake and on into the hills to a tea plantation. The Three Moon Reflection Island and the Pagoda of Six Harmonies, so Chinese in both name and appearance, and then there was the street of teahouses, a real lifestyle option if ever I saw one.

Suzhou was different again with the chance to glide down the canals, past the locals' back gates, surprising old people relaxing, or waving to passengers in the other boats as we passed. The names of the many ancient public gardens were equally enticing: the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden, and the Master of Nets Garden, with musical items delivered by appropriately pretty girls in pavilions scattered amongst them.

But one other town, not mentioned in the famous quotation, captured my imagination even more. Hong Cun was an artist's village surrounded by a lake. A true water village. Just newly opened to tourists, it is tranquil and unspoiled. Artists from all over the world have already discovered it and come here to paint the water-lily covered waters, the steeply arched bridge, the walled village and the magical light.

In the centre of town, women squatted washing clothes in a large communal pool while beside them artists sat with their paints at the ready dabbed away in sketchbooks or on easels. On the outside of the town the entire water's edge was lined by painters working on the scene in front of them in a hundred styles and dozens of interpretations. Yet the air of the place is not bohemian. It's more relaxed than that.

"Is it always busy like this?" I asked our guide.

"Oh, yes," she replied, "Groups of art students come to stay for a week or a month. Others come on day trips."

So I guess if I was to tamper with that famous adage about the towns, I'd have to add another. I'd insert, "relax in Hong Cun".

As it happened we didn't make it to Luzhou which may have been just as well, although we did discover it is noted for its production of alcoholic drinks as well. The gastronomic delights of Guangzhou, a port on the Pearl River not far from Hong Kong, will have to wait for another time too.

However I can vouch for Hangzhou and Suzhoui. The Chinese say "Above you have heaven, and below you have Hangzhou". To me Hangzhou seemed pretty close to paradise as it is.