Well-preserved ancient road provides new vigor for Suzhou residents, tourists

NANJING, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The Pingjiang Road historical and cultural block in the city of Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province bustles with visitors on weekends. Top of the to-do lists of many is to have a go at making a wood-block printed New Year painting at a cultural hub in this area.

The wood-block printed New Year paintings, bearing a beautiful name identifying their origin, which is Taohuawu, or peach blossom dock, are considered a form of intangible cultural heritage in China.

"A traditional New Year painting features beautiful color patterns and meanings. More importantly, the hands-on experience of making such a painting can help children better understand intangible cultural heritage and traditional Chinese culture as a whole," said a visitor from Zhejiang Province surnamed Zhang.

Apart from creating wood block paintings, various other traditional cultural experiences are available to tourists visiting the Pingjiang Road area, with options including watching a Suzhou Pingtan musical performance, appreciating Suzhou embroidery and exploring Song Dynasty (960-1279) brocade.

Pingjiang Road is a well-preserved ancient block of Suzhou's old town, the rejuvenation of which in recent decades serves as a paradigm of China's drive to promote urban renewal while also preserving the unique cultural roots of cities. The rejuvenated version of this road has delivered new vigor to both residents and tourists.

Over 1.6 km long, and peppered with numerous cultural relics including a world cultural heritage site, the millennium-old layout of Pingjiang Road has been largely preserved.

Li Li, a visitor from Shandong Province, was startled to find that a replica of a Song Dynasty painting featuring the city landscape about 800 years ago, could still be useful as a map for tourists today. The replica is on display in a pavilion at the southern tip of Pingjiang Road.

"Locations of the majority of alleys, rivers and bridges featured on this painting remain unchanged. With this old 'map' in hand, one will not get lost," said Li.

While preserving its ancient inheritance, the Pingjiang Road historical and cultural block has also undergone a modern revamp, building public facilities and refurbishing streets to improve the living conditions of residents.

"I've been living here for decades, and won't move from here to anywhere else," said Yao Zhijian, a resident of the historical block, who is in her late 50s.

"To us locals, it was quite pleasing to find the original landscape and layout preserved without any drastic demolishing or rebuilding, while the environment and living conditions improved in the process."

Yao is among the 13,000 residents living in the Pingjiang Road historical and cultural block. "Residents speak with great pride of living in the old town," Yao said.

With a history of 2,500 years, and featuring interlaced rivers and many traditional gardens, Suzhou is referred to as heaven on earth in a famous Chinese adage.