The Qingming Bridge and ancient canal area in Wuxi is like a time-travel tunnel. The moment I boarded a waterbus for a night excursion along the canal, I was enveloped by a sense of romance and out-of-the-world tranquility.

Typical Jiangnan-style (southern Yangtze River region) houses, with white walls and black tiles roof, lined the banks. Red lanterns, seemingly inspired by Zhang Yimou’s 1991 film, “Raise the Red Lantern,” hung high under the eaves, their reflections swaying as our boat slowly passed through the stone bridges that dot the river.

Ashore, I was transported back to the glitzy modern night life. The 1.6-kilometer Nanchang Street on the south bank has been made into an entertainment destination with restaurants, bars, cafes, snack stores and bookstores. Street hawkers sell local delicacies, such as tofu pudding, and handicrafts such as figurines and paintings made with brown sugar. The China Silk Industry Museum’s exhibits from the acclaimed Wuxi silk industry are worth a visit.

The whole scenic area is shaped like the letter “Y,” with the ancient canal as its primary course and Bodu River as a branch. Built more than 3,000 years ago, the river was China’s first man-made canal. Along the river are ruins of a number of ancient kilns, as well as the former residence of Zhu Dachun (1856-1926), a renowned local businessman dubbed the “King of Electric Appliances.”

Qingming Bridge, the oldest and largest single-opening stone arch bridge over the Grand Canal in the city, connects Nanchang Street with Nanxiatang area.

The houses overlooking the canal in Nanxiatang are being renovated, as are the road, the sewage treatment system, plumbing and electrical infrastructure, said Du Jun, general manager of the Wuxi Grand Canal Tour Company. Residents were relocated.

At the end of this year, a snack street will open on the first section between Kuatang and Jintang bridges, while the rest of the area will see 80 guest houses and boutique hotels open for business.

The canal area is a favorite place for Wuxi residents to unwind when the lights blink on every night after 7:30pm. Take a stroll along the water alley with us to find gems of local food, folk art, wisdom and skills.China Silk Industry Museum

Located on Nanchang Street, right under the Dagong Bridge, the China Silk Industry Museum has been built on the site of the old Yongtai Silk Factory, owned by Xue Nanmin (1862-1918), a local business tycoon. Wuxi, home to silk production since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), has the largest number of silk factories in China, and is famed for producing the most and best quality silk. The “Jinshuanglu” (Gold Double Deer) raw silk produced by Yongtai was given a gold medal at the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and it became popular on the global market. Today, the glory of the former “port of silk” is on record at the museum. The silk theme is used everywhere from the huge metal depiction of a cocoon installed at front of the museum to the cocoon-shaped pendant lamps inside. One of the highlights of the exhibition is a complete set of silk reeling machines — the only such set remaining in the city. As the most advanced machine in China at that time, the set is comprised of different small parts used to select and cook cocoons, then reel and process silk.

Opening hours: 9am-8:30pmAdmission: 20 yuanAddress: 364 Nanchang StMomi Cafe

The bookstore/cafe chain Momi Cafe has opened three branches in Wuxi, among which the one on Nanchang Street is the most popular. Located in an aged, two-story house, it is a cozy place to escape the bustle-and-hustle of nearby bars and restaurants. The tiny bookstore, decorated with rows of bookshelves with collections of Chinese and foreign classics and popular hits, also sells a range of homemade post cards and souvenirs comprised of small decorative items, pottery and porcelain cups, photo frames, portable mirrors and smartphone cases. It’s a good place to buy gifts for friends and family. Soft drinks, Italian coffees and desserts also are available. Teabags and coffee beans are sold at the counter. The seats near the second-floor windows, with a view of the canal, make an ideal spot for an enjoyable afternoon reading, with a hot or cold drink at hand and one of the owner’s two cats cuddling up at your feet.

Opening hours: 10am-11pmAddress: 339 Nanchang StWuxi Ancient Kiln Relics Museum

More than 100 ruins of ancient kilns are found along Dayao Road on the east bank of the Bodu River. Among them stands this museum in a typical Jiangnan-style building with white walls and black tiles, with four ancient kilns among its highlights. Huang Rencheng, who is in charge of the museum, comes from a big tile-making family on Dayao Road. The road has a long history of tile-making that dates back to the Ming Dynasty. It encompassed several hundred kilns at its peak. With the high content of iron in the river mud, which was the main raw material, the tiles that were produced here were famed for being solid and durable, and making a metallic sound when tapped. The convenient location also made shipping efficient. Therefore, the tiles became quite popular in the country, with most of the demand coming from the rich and the nobility. Kilns here produced more than 80 kinds of bricks and tiles, including tomb bricks, pavement tiles and carved tiles. Its bricks also were used to build the ancient city wall in Nanjing. Visitors can experience the process of making the most basic tiles by making their own bricks.

Opening hours: 9am-9pmAdmission: 10 yuanAddress: 27 Dayao RdJiulianhuan (Chinese puzzle ring) store

A small store located under the Qingming Bridge sells the enigmatic puzzle game jiulianhuan, or Chinese puzzle rings. A typical jiulianhuan has nine rings made with copper wire that are entangled with each other, and a player is required to unravel the rings without breaking any of them. Since the game makes use of many theories of mathematics, it is also called zhihuan (wisdom rings) or jiuhuan (nine rings). It is among the most popular puzzle games of folk tradition, along with qiqiaoban (tangram or seven-piece puzzle) and jiugongtu (magic square). The father of the family, Ruan Genquan, has invented more than 40 variations of many different shapes of jiulianhuan, such as a fish, butterfly, dragonfly, pagoda, crescent and pear. The puzzles are hailed as an intangible cultural heritage of Wuxi. As you enter the store, a number of different puzzle rings are displayed on a small table in front of his daughter, Ruan Hanying, the family’s third generation of puzzle-makers. The number of rings varies from seven to 13. Each set of puzzle rings costs between 15 yuan (USS$2.5) and 40 yuan, depending on the complexity of the game. Try starting with the simple ones, and the Ruans will kindly help you out when you come to your wit’s end.

Opening hours: 5pm-9:30pmAddress: 333 Nanchang StTofu pudding stall

Wang Ercheng has been using a shoulder pole to deliver a wooden bucket of steaming hot tofu pudding to sell every day for three years on Nanchang Street. Wang, who doesn’t have a fixed shop, is the only tofu pudding vendor left on this street, and he has gained fame for his efforts. Many people come to have a taste of what some call “Wuxi’s most authentic tofu pudding.” The 58-year-old Jiangyin (in Jiangsu Province) native learned in his 20s to make tofu pudding from his father, and he has been selling the pudding for 35 years. Wang and his wife begin selling his tofu pudding every day around noon, and they shut down the stall whenever the bucket is empty. They usually can get 50 to 60 bowls from each bucket. On weekends, he makes two buckets to sell. While Chinese netizens have been debating online recently whether tofu pudding should be sweet or salty, Wang’s tofu pudding is mostly salty, though he adds some sugar to bring out the delicate flavors. A regular disposable cup of milky white, tender tofu pudding, with a spoon of soybean sauce (which he calls his secret ingredient), a little sugar, some spring onions, small dried shrimp and zhacai (salty pickled mustard tuber), costs 5 yuan (82 US cents). Though it’s slightly more expensive than most local breakfast eateries, foodies and locals frequently visit to satisfy a craving for authentic tofu pudding, a Wuxi hometown treat.

Opening hours: Begins every noonAddress: Near Kuatang Bridge, no set location  How to get there:

Dozens of trains including hiågh-speed trains leave for Wuxi at two railway stations in Shanghai every day from 6:30am to 9pm, and take about 50 minutes to arrive. It’s a 15-minute drive from Wuxi Railway Station to the Qingming Bridge Ancient Canal area.

  Travel tips:

The canal cruise is open every day, 1-9pm. The ticket costs 100 yuan (US$16.3) per person, including admission to two museums and the former residence of Zhu Dachun, the late local business tycoon. The whole sightseeing tour takes about one and a half hours. Visitors can get aboard from either the dock at Kuatang Bridge or at nearby Nanchan Temple.

  More to visit:

Nanchan Temple: First built in AD 547, Nanchan Temple is a remnant of a complex that is said to have included more than 480 Buddhist temples in southern China. Today, the still popular Buddhist sanctuary is also home to local delicacies, like various pastries, dumplings and braised spare ribs in soybean sauce.

Yangchun Lane: Much like a combination of Shanghai’s Xintiandi and Sinan Mansions, the Yangchun Lane area includes rows of renovated 1930s-style houses with upmarket bars, restaurants and cafes.