Shanghai Local Guide - Mr.Aron Long

Survey:
The ancient township of Zhouzhuang,Kunshan, is a city with great historical and cultural traditions. In 1998, Zhouzhuang was included on the World Cultural Heritage Candidates List by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).Zhouzhuang truly merits its name as a water township. Such a natural environment bestows Zhouzhuang a unique lifestyle: boats are used to cover even short distances. The surrounding lakes make it a tranquil retreat from the turmoil of the outside world, and the ancient architecture and traditional styles of Zhouzhuang are well preserved today.

The Performance of Kunqu Opera:
The Kunqu opera which is praised as" grandfather of Chinese opera" comes from Kunshan. Wei Liangfu, Kunshan people, transferred melodies of Geyang and Hanyan to kunqu opera during the period of Jiajing, Ming Dynasty (1522-1566). Liang zhenyu,created Huansha Legend, one lyric with one music, started the history of Kunqu opera. It swept the whole country because of its elegant words and gracious vocal music .The Kunqu opera was listed one of "the non-substance masterpiece by oral account" in the world on May 18, 2001. The visitors could feel the peculiar elegance of art of the kunqu opera. Sip tea and listen to songs, That will bring you extremely wonderful artistic treat and unforgetable aftertaste.


Festival Celebrations Activity:
The Zhouzhuang people are simple and honest. The town also has a rich and deep culture. The festival celebration activities here are colorful and peculiar. *Temple Fair：* The traditional temple fair is on March 28th of lunar calendar. At that time people will raise funds and invite the theatrical troupe to act for three days. People from remote place come here for Zha Er Ba. The whole town is unusually boisterous. Eight streets are decorated with colorful flags. People crowd against one another. Many people devote to Buddha in the awning which is made up of bamboo mat in front of the temple.The snack, small stand can be found everywhere. The clay sculpture, dough model, paper-cut, embroider attract lots of visitors. Strike bell at New Year's Eve： Quan Fu Temple was set up during Song and Yuan. It kept on constructing Buddhist temple around water and river and was praised as" Buddha's country in water". The sound of bell of Quan Fu Temple is remote and limpid, impassioned and wide. On New Year's Eve, people wash their hands and strike the bell to pray for safety and happiness. Lantern fair on the Lantern Festival： During the period of Ming and Qing, there was used to be drama performance in ZhouZhuang. The good-looking persons were selected to act Xiwen. Various kinds of lamp decoration were hung on the downtown streets, the modelling is peculiar and vivid. The street was full of deafening sound of gongs and drums. What a happy view. *Rose Wedding： The traditional wedding form is extraordinary and it adopted the form of "fast boating". The bride wears festival cloth, coronet and scarf accompanied by the music of drum and gong. The ceremony includes: pay one's respects to the forefathers, make a courtesy call each other, hold red and green silk ribbon, lift the scarf by bridegroom, drink wine with crossed hands, interrupt the bridal chamber, etc. This traditional form is grand and lively and make the young people feel mysterious and curious. It received welcome by young visitors since introducing the first rose wedding in 1999. Many visitors from different parts of the country sign up enthusiastically. Fast Boating:* This activity started at the beginning of Qing dynasty. It is a large-scale recreation at a festival time. Each ship is equipped one punt-pole, one big scull and a small one. There will be about 15 strong men to cooperate together to row the boat as fast as possible. The gong and the drum cheer loudly. The scene is exceptionally grand. *Rowing lamp:* At a good night, dozens of boats are decorated with thousands of colorful lamps. About eight or nine people on each boat row the boat with string music on the river. The wave, the lamp, the sound, all these are like a grand picture. So it is called "the first lamp in the South". *Sailing boat:* "Ji Shui Port" is one of the eight scenes in Zhouzhuang. Jishui port is wide and its stream is torrential but it is poesy. Sailing boat will be presented to the visitors as a characteristic project.

Folk Arts and Crafts:
Forge iron, circle barrel, paper-cut, dough model, clay figurine, spinning, weaving cloth, bamboo scrip, straw plait, embroidering, nail the balance, mend the pan, handicraft men who make leather products. As walking leisurely on the folk custom culture street, so many antique shop heaves in sight. You will enjoy it so much as to forget to go home. There will be folk arts performance which shows the most folk part of traditional culture. The visitors can both watch it and operate personally and experience the work life of Zhouzhuang people. In a word, everything is here. It seems to be a lively textbook on folk custom history.

Folk Literature and Art :
Zhouzhuang has a long history, abundant culture and rich folk literature and art. "Si Xian Xuan Juan" and folk song spread from one generation to another. They keep glamorous year after year. "Si Xian Xuan Juan" is a Chinese folk opera form which spread just about 200 years. It originated in the vicinity of Panlong, Longting village. The performers are generally made up of 6 people. They talk and sing under the accompany of musical instrument. The melody was based on "Four Seasons" and mixed up Shanghai Opera and Wuxi Opera. It suited farmers' taste very much. Whenever celebrating a festival, the host family will hire Xuan Juan group to sing and perform. The working people in Zhouzhuang had created and accumulated a lot of folk songs whose contents reflect the folk anecdote, producing and working, custom and habit and romantic life and so on during long-term practical life. Its melody is candid and simple, the rhythm is bright and lively, the meaning is deep and beautiful. Because the language is Wu accent, so it sounds cordial, smooth and easy-to- understand.

Delicious Food :
Wansan pig's upper leg that represents the delicious food here with fame spreading far and wide wins universal praise. Visitors can taste Wansan family feast which has particular material and fine cooking as well as enjoying the casualty of homely and seasoning dishes.More local food: Wansan cake, Chinese flowering cake, plum blossom cake, soup with blood of chicken and duck, wanton in earthenware pot, Zongzi, fried smelly Tofu, steamed lotus root, three flavor meatballs and salted amaranth,etc. Take a visit to ancient village in south China, taste delicious food in water country.