Artists turn historic streets into a space full of romance with graffiti artworks (3)

Photo shows a graffiti wall on which images of butterflies and a man riding a bike are seen. Drawing inspiration from the legendary Chinese tragic romance between Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai, the graffiti artwork was co-produced by French painter Jean-Franois Larrieu and his Chinese counterpart Zhang Shiying. (Photo/Huang Rong)

Dongshengli Cultural and Art Corridor is located along Pingjiang road in the old city district of Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu province. In its drive to transform the appearance of the old town, Suzhou invited 23 artists from home and abroad to decorate the buildings with graffiti artworks.

The artistic works, which combine Chinese and western cultural elements, quickly became a landmark tourist attraction and injected vigor to the ancient streets. The paintings found at Dongshengli Cultural and Art Corridor, which focus on the theme “love”, are a vivid display of the artists’ understanding of love and affection for the city.

To learn about Suzhou’s efforts to preserve its historic building while giving them a new look, international reporters visited Dongshengli Cultural and Art Corridor during their Suzhou stopover for the “A Date with China” international media tour on Oct. 25, 2021.