Hangzhou's Xiaohe Zhijie, the Grand Canal street where residents still hang their washing

Most visitors to Hangzhou stay close to West Lake and leave without going north. A few kilometres up the Grand Canal, where the small Xiaohe river joins it, is Xiaohe Zhijie (小河直街), a short street of two-storey timber houses. People still live in them, and their washing still hangs out over the water.

Arriving the slow way

The canal water bus leaves from Wulinmen pier (Wulinmen Matou, 武林门码头) and heads north past warehouses, willows and moored barges. Get off near Gongchen Bridge (Gongchen Qiao, 拱宸桥), a three-arched stone bridge first built in the late Ming dynasty that once marked the northern edge of the city. From there it is a short walk along the bank to the street.

What the street has kept

The houses were restored in the late 2000s, and most of the families who lived there came back afterwards. That is why the street still feels lived in. Shopfronts still have plank doors that slot in and out of grooves, bamboo poles stick out from upper windows, and older residents set out folding stools at the water's edge. There are a few small noodle counters and grocery stalls, but most doorways are homes.

The souvenir trade never quite arrived, so the morning routine carries on as it always has.

Walk the main lane, then cross the small bridges to the side paths, where the houses back directly onto the river. Speak quietly and keep your camera lowered near open doors. These are kitchens and front rooms, not displays.

小河直街的早晨，炊烟和晾衣竿比游客来得更早。

When to go

Come before ten, when the street is mostly residents buying vegetables and rinsing pots. Then walk north to Xiaohe Park (Xiaohe Gongyuan, 小河公园), a former oil depot whose round storage tanks have been turned into open pavilions. In the early evening the light drops low along the canal, and the street fills with neighbours out for a walk.