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

A foreign social media celebrity poses for a picture with a painting drawn by Chinese painter He Wenbin at the Dongshengli Cultural and Art Corridor in Suzhou, east China’s Jiangsu province. (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.