Now that you’ve seen an old but still functional ancient Chinese village, why don’t we check out one that sold its soul to the Devil for eternal life? I present to you, Zhujiajiao.

I could go on about the unrelenting and unholy legions, the asshole motorcycles trying to drive through them, the ubiquitous litter that made me wonder how people could disrespect such a supposedly cherished place, the endlessly repetitive trinket shops, the stinky tofu*, the crappy renovated courtyard homes you had to pay to see, the horse that tried to bite me after I bit it, etc, etc. Instead I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Recommending this place to visit wouldn’t be too far from a nutritionist recommending a diet of thumb tacks and broken glass. There were some less crowded areas outside of the centre of the town, and they weren’t horrible, but hardly worth traveling there for.

The only really good thing I can remember about the trip was thinking to myself on the bus ride home that it was over and I would never have to go back.

*On every corner of the town there was a vendor and perhaps next to him was another one, selling stinky tofu (臭豆腐). Stinky is a complete understatement. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the most repugnant smelling food known to man. It reeks of feces. Exactly like shit. The first time I encountered it, I thought I had stepped in some. Not of the canine variety, actual human dung. I have not tried it, and I’m not willing to on the basis that it probably tastes of excrement as well. The pervasive stench seared the spring air and was inescapable throughout the town. We were warned about this before we came, sadly we didn’t listen.

Filed under: tourist shit