We have recently returned from an excellent tour of China with CTS Horizons (UK) which included a 2 night stay in Wuhzen West, a "restored" water town on the Grand canal, between Suzhou and Hangzhou. Although I very much enjoyed the peace and quiet and the ability to just walk everywhere in this lovely place, it was a bit surreal with turnstiles and an admission fee to get in. Our national guide told us that the government had bought out all the original property owners, done a massive restoration job and re-opened it as a tourist destination ( think Disney, but with thousands of years of history and culture on hand) and had invited back the original property owners to run the small guesthouses that were now everywhere. The authenticity was also slightly spoiled by some new building work that was going on along one edge of the "town".

We did not get to Wuhzen East, so I do not know if that is the same.

What's the real story here - is it a genuine attempt to preserve the past in a China that is rapidly modernising, or is it just a cynical exploitaion of the tourists who visit, and even worse, of the people who once lived here?