Old commercial center sparkles as cultural treasure
- By Corey Cooper
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China.org.cn, January 25, 2012
Many tourist sites in China dazzle with ancient architecture, fantastic scenery, and historical significance, and Zhoucun Old Town, in Zibo, Shandong Province, is certainly no exception in these respects. Perhaps its greatest charm, though, is that it is a living, breathing place, where visitors and locals alike share the town's rich heritage.
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Brilliant Qing Dynasty-era murals on the side of a building in Zhoucun's Old Town. [China.org.cn] |
Steven Xu, a busy senior economist with the Beijing Investment Promotion Bureau, was able to leave his workaday cares behind and relive some of his fondest childhood memories in Zhoucun. A steelyard exhibit, featuring weighing stations and other measuring tools used when the town was known as "Han Ma Tou", or the waterless port, more than 100 hundred years ago during the Qing Dynasty, transported a delighted Xu back to his boyhood. "I used to play with something like this when I was a kid," he said, as he joyfully rolled the wheel around the square. A group of local kids in the square were playing, too.
Visitors who come during Chinese New Year can take in the charming sight of the brightly colored lanterns which line the town's streets. Parades featuring 20 meter-long dragons, folk art performances, and fireworks will surely delight both young and old.
Zhoucun is full of character, and characters. During our two-night stay, Li Fangxun, a 90-year old Zhoucun resident and award-winning calligraphy artist was a periodic presence as we wandered through the town's 400-year-old cobbled streets gazing at the beautifully preserved Qing-era architecture. He would turn up, dressed in a bright red changshan, holding a carved wooden staff, beaming his huge, toothless grin. Later, he invited us into his home to view some of his best calligraphic works as we flipped through an old photo album of friends he had met during his travels.
As well as its immense charm, Zhoucun also has a proud commercial tradition. Known as the "the birthplace of Shandong commercial culture," Zhoucun's main commerce street dates back to the Ming Dynasty. Towards the beginning of the Qing Dynasty, merchants from Shanxi began to move east, and some of the country's most prominent banks established branches in Zhoucun. The town's growing reputation as a regional financial center attracted merchants eager to set up shop there, and Rui Fu Xiang, one of China's most honored silk brands, established its first shop in Zhoucun. The shop is now the cornerstone of the town's Silk Street.
After Zhoucun was designated as an official commercial port of the late Qing Dynasty in 1904, foreign enterprises established trading posts there. The British American Tobacco Company opened an office on Zhoucun's old street in 1904, selling Hilton, Kent and other famous imported cigarette brands. British American pulled out of Zhoucun during World War II, but the original office remains. It has been preserved as a museum, featuring antique amenities from the period, and still sells cigarettes and boxed matches to visitors.
Off the main street, visitors can explore the Dadetong Private Bank in the Qiao Family Courtyard, where a lavishly furnished traditional courtyard home once concealed a secret underground money storage facility.
The nearby Yang Courtyard, former home of Shandong merchant representative Yang Ruiqing, has proved popular with Chinese television and film producers looking to shoot period-piece dramas. Scenes from Zhang Yimou's award-winning 1994 film "To Live" starring Ge You and Gong Li, as well as the popular 2002 TV series "Big Dye Workshop" 《大染坊》were filmed there.
When not being used by TV production crews, the Yang Courtyard also serves as a performance space for Zhoucun's many folk artists. Our group was treated to a traditional acrobatics show, where local performers dazzled the audience with fan-twirling and sword-swallowing.
Zhoucun's biggest draw for out-of-towners is perhaps its Sesame Cake Factory and Museum, built last year as a tribute to the town's most famous product. Visitors can get a close-up view as workers make the tasty, sesame-seed laden cakes, and also try their hand at making the cakes at an "experience zone" built into the factory. For many in my group, the factory tour was a highlight.
"I liked the glass-walled section of the museum where you could watch the workers making the cakes, and also that you could try to make the cakes yourself," said Valentina Sinis, a Beijing-based marketing teacher and baking entrepreneur. "It seemed like they care very much about [the product] and want to make it part of their culture."
The Zibo City municipal government designated the Zhoucun Old Town as a protected historical site in 2001. Following considerable investment from the Shandong provincial government, the town opened to tourists in 2007. Visitor numbers have since skyrocketed, allowing the local government to collect 10 million yuan in revenue from admissions fees last year, up from 50,000 yuan in its first year.
Shang Zhisheng, director of the Zhoucun municipal tourism bureau, explained that Zhoucun is currently in Phase III of its development plan. The phase, scheduled for completion in May 2013, will greatly expand shopping, dining, and lodging options for tourists in an old-meets-new commercial zone adjacent to the Old Town.
Shang, though, is adamant that the Old Town will retain the original character which makes it unique for both tourists and residents. He believes that Zhoucun's warm, unpretentious hospitality, well-protected cultural sites and conscious defense against tourist-gouging are the cornerstones of its appeal.
"After travelling to many famous ancient villages throughout China, I found that over-commercialization was a common problem," Shang said in an interview. "We want to be known as the ‘living city with a thousand year history' because we let the original residents live [in the town] and run businesses here."
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