Rows of two- and three-story houses, broad roads, elegant gardens, various recreational facilities...

While villages in Jiangyin and Zhangjiagang -- the land of fish and rice -- in east China's Jiangsu Province are being upgraded into small urban towns, the local residents are enriching their lives through different cultural pursuits.

In the past few years, several of the villages have won renown for their cultural development.

Village of calligraphy

Among the village in Zhangjiagang, Zhanwen village is best known for its team of calligraphers. Since 1998, 56 villagers won awards during national calligraphy competitions. The Shanghai-based Zhonghua Calligraphy Association has also given awards to 37 residents in the village.

All the winners are among the 600 students of the Zhanwen Calligraphy Class in the village. Open on weekends, the class is the villagers' favorite place to spend their spare time.

Cheng Xuekun, 65, is the teacher of the calligraphy class.

He couldn't hold back his tears while recalling Gu Yan, the founder of the village calligraphy class and also his respected teacher.

Cheng began to learn calligraphy from Gu, then 67, in May 1996. At the same time, he also helped Gu arrange for the students to take part in all kinds of activities and competitions. The two old men cooperated very well until Gu got seriously ill in September, 1997. On his deathbed, Gu entrusted his dear calligraphy class to Cheng and left all his money, 1,500 yuan (US$181), to the class.

Cheng took over the class. He opened the Sunday class for both children and adults and a summer holiday class especially for students.

Some outstanding students who graduated from the class later became teachers for other students. Teachers and students not only practice calligraphy together but also hold seminars to discuss artistic theories and techniques in calligraphy.

Today, calligraphy is the most popular hobby among the residents in the village.

"Gu was a good teacher," Cheng said. "I will spare no effort to continue his work."

Village of books

After major reconstruction work in 1998 at Sanfangxiang village in Jiangyin, the 398 families in the village moved into their new homes -- 398 houses of a novel style with sweet-scented osmanthus and Chinese roses blooming in the gardens.

In the evenings, rows of neon lights dot the roads in the village.

Besides showing off their gardens and the library and other educational facilities in the village, the villagers invariably invite visitors into their own studies in their homes.

Bian Ruqing, an ordinary villager, has set aside a spacious room for his books. "Everybody likes reading here," he said with pride.

Bian has about 100 books on the bookshelf, but "other families may have even more," he said.

Sitting in front of the computer, Bian happily talked about his two sons, both first-generation college students. "I am very proud of them," he said.

Bian's is not the only family that has nurtured college students. In the past few years, some 40 village teenagers have enrolled in famous universities and colleges in the country.

Village of languages

Huaxi village in Jiangyin has remained one of the richest villages in China since the 1980s. Each house is now furnished with TV sets, air conditioners, telephones and at least one PC. Each family owns a car.

With bulging purses, local Huaxi residents are now working hard to learn foreign languages during their spare time, to prepare for more possible encounters with international visitors now that China has entered the World Trade Organization.

Wu Renbao, the 74-year-old village Party secretary, has time and again told the villagers that everyone under the age of 40 should master one or two foreign languages and a special technology.

Today, the village is running an English course with help from teachers from the Institute of International Relations in Nanjing. Husbands and wives, parents and children become speaking partners after class.

What's more, during the village meetings, the village heads also take time to practice foreign languages.

Quite a number of villagers have also picked up useful expressions in Japanese, German and Korean and are able to operate the facilities imported from foreign countries and do business with over 30 countries throughout the world via the Internet.

Garden village

Qianxixiang village in southeast Zhangjiagang is best known for its landscaping, with green trees, flowers, fields and blocks of flats setting each other off. The Qianxixiang people began to make their home green in 1995. They have planted more than 80,000 different kinds of trees and flowers, covering a total area of 264,000 square meters.

With its 3,000 permanent residents, the village has an average per capita area of green land of 80 square meters.

According to Miao Dexing, the village Party secretary, Qianxixiang was full of open-air cesspits and ugly hovels before 1995. Local residents threw away rubbish everywhere.

Today, local villagers guard their home ground from litter.

Whenever she sees any litter, Ge Qinfen, an old woman in her 60s, picks it up and puts it in a litter bin.

"I cannot let our village be littered. Everyone has the duty to protect it," she said.

Today, more than 40 university graduates have made their homes in the village.

Miao Peifeng, who has a Master's degree in science, and his wife have started a business in the village because of its nice environment.

Wu Xingyuan, a gardener from Suzhou, moved his whole family from the city to Qianxixiang village after retirement.

"I want to do something for gardening here in my old age," he said.

(China Daily May 15, 2002)