We were taken to the beautiful water town of Tongli last weekend. Apparently, unlike some of the other water towns around Shanghai, it is still all about the locals and local tourism. With houses backing right up to the canals and lovely old bridges it’s just charming. Like Venice the tourists take rides on long thin boats that are oared by a single ‘oarsman’. Unlike Venice though the oarsmen are mostly women.

While I was wandering around with my camera I noticed a small fishing boat with a passenger load of cormorants.

As I started taking photos a weathered but rather spritely old fisherman jumped on board and put on a show with the birds. He nudged a couple of them into the water with his pole. They ducked under a few times and when they popped up he guided them back onto the pole. Once on the boat, he slid open a floor plank and stroked their necks, at which point —accompanied by a few gasps from the crowd— the birds coughed up a fish.  This was all done with great dramatic effect. He sure did know how to keep his audience in suspense. When he jumped back onto land he collected money from a satisfied audience. It would have to be the best street/water performance I’ve seen for a long time.