The United States'CNN news organization has chosen its Top 5 beautiful Chinese "water towns", with four of which can be seen below:

Zhouzhuang, in Jiangsu province, is where you can see small bridges arching across a lazy river, with classical-style building on either side.

Taierzhuang, in Shandong province, has been witness to a heroic spirit and historic struggles and has been called a "live canal" by the World Tourism Organization.

The village of Hongcun, in Anhui province, is thought to resemble a traditional Chinese painting and has the province's most authentic architecture.

Huangyao, in Guangxi province, is a very old town, with a history of more than 900 years.

Edited by Zhou Yuanyuan and Roger Bradshaw