Xitang

Xitang, one of the six ancient towns in the south of the Yangtze River, is located in Jiashan County, Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. Jiashan is located at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai, two provinces and one city. It is within 100 kilometers away from Shanghai, Suzhou, and Hangzhou. It has convenient transportation, including highways, National Highway 320, and the Shanghai-Hangzhou Railway. It is easily accessible by car and train. can be reached. Xitang is 10 kilometers north of Jiashan City and can be reached in 20 minutes by bus.

Xitang is an ancient town with a thousand years of history and culture. As early as the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, it was the place where Wu and Yue met, so it was known as "Wu Gen Yue Jiao" and "Yue Jiao Family". The biggest difference between Xitang and other ancient water towns is that the streets facing the river in the ancient town have corridors and sheds, with a total length of nearly a kilometer, just like the corridors of the Summer Palace.

The ancient town of Xitang covers an area of ??1 square kilometers. The ancient town is crisscrossed by 9 rivers, dividing the ancient town into 8 blocks, among which 27 ancient bridges connect the towns. Throughout the long years of spring, summer, autumn and winter, sunny, cloudy, rainy and snowy, the ancient town has always presented an ever-changing landscape with people standing in the water, small bridges built on the water, pedestrians walking on the bridge, small boats traveling under the bridge, shops standing on the bridgehead, and reflections in the water. Water town style painting.

Xitang is located in the water network. The residents here cherish the land like gold. Whether it is a business, a residence, or a library, they pay close attention to the area during construction, and the space between the houses is reduced to The smallest range has resulted in more than 120 long, deep and narrow alleys, some more than 100 meters long and some less than 1 meter narrow, forming many "line of sky". At the same time, the names of the streets and alleys vividly reflect the prosperity of the ancient town's commerce and the characteristics of the alleys, such as Mihangdai, Dengzhu Street, Youche Lane, Chaitan Lane, Shipi Lane, and dozens of other names that are closely related to the names of those years. Commerce, construction, etc. are all directly connected.

When you arrive in Xitang, the street-side pavilions built near the river are the most attractive. The streets here are built near the river, and the business of the shops is done along the river. In the past, farmers in water towns used rivers as their way to travel and traveled by boat. Many transactions could only be carried out on the shore on boats. For this reason, a special building that connects the river and shops and can provide shade and shelter from the sun and rain - the shed came into being. It is born, passed down from generation to generation, and becomes a habit along the way. The practical gallery shed is a unique building in the water town. The more than 1,300-meter-long gallery shed in Xitang has been preserved and has become a leisure meal for contemporary people to appreciate the ancient times and explore the secrets.

Xitang had already formed a village in the Tang and Song Dynasties. By the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, Xitang developed into a prosperous and prosperous market town by virtue of its economic foundation and waterways as a land of plenty and silk. Industries such as kiln industry, rice market, food, and pottery making are increasingly prosperous. Many of the existing ancient houses and courtyards in the ancient town are the result of the ancestors of the ancient town getting rich at that time. Since the main traffic in Xitang was waterways in the past, there was less external disturbance, so Xitang was able to perfectly preserve the ancient town to this day, allowing the ancestral heritage to continue.

Xitang specialties

Yellow wine, lotus leaf powder, steamed pork, Bazhen cake, stinky tofu, Fenhu crab, rice dumplings, malt flatbread, fresh meat, shaomai, smoked bean honey sauce, kohlrabi

Celebrities in Xitang< /p>

Yang Mao and Zhang Cheng - masters of arts and crafts in the Yuan Dynasty

Gu Xidong - famous playwright. Former Chairman of Zhejiang Provincial Federation of Literary and Art Circles and Director of Zhejiang Yue Opera Theater.

Zhao Xianchu - a famous contemporary educator in my country, one of the first batch of special teachers in Shanghai, recognized as a "famous teacher of a generation" in the education industry

Ni Tianzeng - the late former deputy mayor of Shanghai , deeply loved by Shanghai citizens

Sun Daolin - famous director, film and television performing artist

Zhu Nianci - national arts and crafts master

Xitang Film and Television

Mission: Impossible 3, Five-Star Hotel, Like Fog, Like Rain and Like Wind, Don't Love Me, Jasmine, Dreaming Back to Qinghe, Painted Soul, Song of Everlasting Sorrow, Lonely Love Flower, Heaven is Born in Water, Be with You, etc.

Zhu Li's prose "Water Town's Lost Dream in Xitang"

Xitang, known as the "Wu Gen Yue Corner", has silently maintained the leisure and tranquility of the Jiangnan water town for thousands of years, forming the character of the ancient town. Lonely and introverted. Until today, people in big cities have discovered that Xitang is full of poetry and painting because of its looseness and tranquility

The ancient towns in the south of the Yangtze River should be as leisurely and a little lonely as Xitang.

However, since the publication of Chen Yifei's oil painting "Memories of Hometown", famous Jiangnan towns such as Zhouzhuang, Tongli, Jiaozhi, Wuzhen, and Nanxun have quickly become lively. Every day is like the New Year, with lanterns and colorful decorations. It’s hard to find the elegance of an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River amid the crowds of people.

Xitang is located in the northern part of Jiashan County, Zhejiang Province, at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. It was the junction of Wu and Yue during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States, and is known as the "Wu Gen Yue Corner". Market towns have been formed since the Yuan Dynasty. According to legend, Wu Zixu once built water conservancy projects in Xitang. The terrain is flat, with rivers crisscrossing it, and the natural environment is very quiet. Through thousands of years of ups and downs, it has silently maintained the unique leisure and tranquility of the Jiangnan water town. It is this kind of dispersion and tranquility that forms the loneliness and introversion of the ancient town of Xitang. It was not until today, in this complicated and chaotic world, that people in the metropolis discovered that Xitang is full of poetry and painting because of its laxity and tranquility!

Xitang is adjacent to the canal and Taihu Lake. There are nine rivers that divide the town into eight parts, and there are many stone bridges such as Wufu Bridge, Wolong Bridge, Huanxiu Bridge, and Shuangzilaifeng Bridge. Strung together, markets are adjacent to the river, and residential buildings are built near the water. Walking around are almost stone bridges, alleys, corridors, and of course there are old people, tabby cats, and white geese. Blue waves are rippling everywhere, and every house is surrounded by the water. The life is as soft and beautiful as the water, giving Xitang the reputation of "Venice of the East". In 1991, Xitang was listed as a famous historical and cultural town in Zhejiang Province.

In Jiangnan water towns, scattered corridor streets with several households integrated into one can be seen everywhere. However, Xitang is the only one with a corridor street that is more than 1,300 meters long. The corridor streets in Xitang have shops or houses on one side, and a river on the other side. The corridor streets are surrounded by small rivers, and are winding and charming. When you step into the corridor, you will see the houses on the water on both sides of the river and the river ports. For example, on a rainy day, the raindrops on the eaves of the corridor form a long rain curtain, and even people who can't write poetry will suddenly feel poetic. There is no official record of the origin of Corridor Street. There are only two popular versions: "Built for men" and "Built for good deeds".

One version: The young widow Mrs. Hu supports a family and a shop alone in Xitang. On the river beach in front of Hu's shop, there is Wang Er who sets up a tofu stall. Wang Er sympathized with Hu and often helped with some manual labor. As time passed, Mrs. Hu felt that she couldn't live without Wang Er, but it was difficult to express her feelings. So she took the opportunity of repairing the shop and asked people to build shacks along the river to cover the street in front of the shop. In this way, Wang Er can be protected from wind and rain, and the two of them can be under the same roof. Unexpectedly, Hu's shop suddenly became prosperous because of this shack. Businesses in town followed suit, and over the years, a line of shacks formed. Later generations took the meaning of "built for men" and called the shacks Corridor Street.

Version 2: There was an owner of a cigarette paper shop in Xitang. One day when the shop was closing, he saw a beggar taking shelter under the eaves in front of the shop, so he let him in. The beggar refused, so the boss took a bamboo curtain and connected it to the eaves, and built a temporary shed for the beggar to take shelter from the rain. The next day, the beggar left a line on the door of the shop: "The shed can protect you from wind and rain all night, and good luck will come to those who have accumulated good deeds." After that, the cigarette paper shop did a prosperous business. In order to thank the beggar for his kindness, the shopkeeper simply built a corridor with bricks, tiles and wooden frames under the eaves in front of the shop, and crossed the small street to the river port.

Both versions are heart-warming, but I would rather believe in the love story of "building for a man", which seems to be simpler and more real.

The old Ming and Qing houses in Xitang are typical of Jiangnan folk houses, with left-right symmetry, foot-high thresholds, double doors, and wind and fire walls on both sides exceeding the roof to form a curve. From the gate to the end, there are often five or seven entrances, and they are all connected by houses and lanes, forming a scene of "you can still walk into other people's homes even if your shoes don't get wet on rainy days", which reflects the aesthetic pursuit of peace, subtlety, elegance and practicality. In Xitang, sometimes when I walk down the alley and step through the small doors, I suddenly realize that it is a small garden with facing pavilions and pools and rocks. Take the Zhongfu Hall built in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty as an example. It has seven front and rear entrances and a total length of more than 100 meters. The first entrance is the wall door room, the second entrance is the sedan hall, the third entrance is the main hall, which is the planting hall, the fourth entrance is the flower hall, the fifth entrance is the inner house, the sixth and seventh entrances are the granary and the housing for hired workers. Each entrance has a patio paved with feldspar, and finally a garden. Zunwentang, located across the lane from Zhongfutang, is one of the oldest residential buildings in Xitang, with architectural styles from the Yuan and Ming dynasties. The main beam of the old house hall is engraved with 100 characters "longevity", which exactly reflects the ultimate tranquility - achieving the purpose of "longevity". There are nine bats carved between the characters "Shou" on this hundred-year-old beam. The six bats on the north and south sides are shaped like flying downwards, which is called "good fortune falls from the sky." The other bats are similar to the ancient bats. The money is carved together and is called "blessing comes before your eyes". It can be said that the entire Baishou Liang is a materialized expression of the traditional Chinese outlook on life and morality of being indifferent to the world, quiet and indifferent, and focusing on self-improvement.

There are more than 100 lanes in Xitang, 5 of which are more than 100 meters long. The narrowest one is only half a meter, making it difficult for two people to pass each other. Only by walking around these small alleys with different postures can you feel like you have entered the ancient town. Among the lanes in Xitang, the most famous is Shipi Lane, which is only 68 meters long and less than 1 meter wide. The entire lane is paved with 166 strips of stone, which are only 3 centimeters thick, like a layer of stone. Thin skin. Just imagine how difficult it is to cut granite so thin, hence the name Shipi Lane. According to research, Shipi Lane is of similar construction age to Zhongfu Hall in the east and Zunwen Hall in the west. The small Shipi Lane is just a narrow passage between two groups of old houses. Walking in Shipi Lane, the century-old high walls on the left and right will make you suffocate. The most typical house naughtiness is the naughty naughtiness in Zhongfutang. In the past, large families usually did not open the front door, and the side door was used to connect the side door to let the family in and out. What’s interesting is that the side lane has no windows and cannot see sunlight all year round. It only relies on a little natural light in the patio. This is very consistent with the concept of building houses for wealthy families in Jiangnan water towns. “Silver is not exposed, but wealth can be hidden in darkness.” Even the master's bedroom is the same, contented with darkness. Inadvertently, you will feel a kind of reincarnation of time, as if you have entered a long-dusted historical thread-bound book.

The concept of "making peace with darkness" has a certain relationship with the long-term "safety" of Hangzhou, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty. For hundreds of years, this concept has subtly influenced the "inner show" personality of Xitang people. Historically, Xitang has produced 19 Jinshi, 31 Juren, and 103 people whose writings have been left alive. Most of these educated people grew up in deep houses in long lanes. Of course, when opening the "thread-bound book" of Xitang history and culture, one cannot fail to mention the "Nanshe" complex. The founder of Nanshe was Liu Yazi, a famous poet from Wujiang. He developed 18 members of Nanshe in Xitang. The more famous ones include Yu Shimei, Li Zhongqi, Yu Zuomei, Shen Yuzhong, Jiang Xuecheng, etc. Later, Nanshe also fell apart in the wave of the Great Revolution, but a group of poet friends in Xitang organized Xushe again. The purpose and personnel remained unchanged, and it became an extension of Nanshe in Xitang. Most of the poems and essays written by the members of the Xu Society have been preserved. These poems, together with the 90 poems and essays left by their "grandmaster" Liu Yazi in Xitang, have become the eternal masterpieces of Xitang.

Xitang, also known as Xietang in ancient times. A town was built in the Ming Dynasty, bounded by Yong'an and Qianshan townships. It was first named Xietang and later Xitang. It is said that during the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Zixu stationed troops in the county and dug Wuzi Pond to promote water conservancy and divert water from Xu Mountain directly into the territory, so it was also called Xu Pond. Xitang Town is located in the northern part of Jiashan County, at the junction of Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai. It has an advantageous geographical location and is known as Wugenyuejiao. It is 90 kilometers away from Shanghai in the east, 110 kilometers away from Hangzhou in the west, 85 kilometers away from Suzhou in the north, and 9 kilometers away from Jiashan County in the south. The geographical location of the town center is 120°53′ east longitude and 30°56′ north latitude. The water and land transportation is very convenient. It is connected to National Highway 320 and Shanghai-Hangzhou-Ningbo Expressway in the south, National Highway 318 in the north, Hangzhou-Shenjiang Class A Waterway passing through, and Shanjiang Class A Highway crossing Xitang Town.

Xitang Town is an ancient town with a thousand-year history with profound cultural heritage. It is a "central town in Zhejiang Province", "a strong education town in Zhejiang Province", "one of the first pilot towns for the construction of modern demonstration towns in villages and towns in Zhejiang Province", "Zhejiang Province Cultural Market Demonstration Town", "Provincial Ecological Town", "National 4A Scenic Spot", "National Civilized Town", "One of the 100 Most Socially and Economically Developed Towns in Zhejiang Province", was included in the first batch of Chinese history A famous cultural town, it was included in the World Cultural Heritage Preliminary List by UNESCO and was awarded the Outstanding Achievement Award for Historical and Cultural Protection by the United Nations. The town has a total area of ??83.61 square kilometers, with a built-up area of ??3.3 square kilometers and a cultivated land area of ??5633.3 hectares (84,500 acres). The total population is 58,700, including 13,893 non-agricultural population and 12,720 migrant population. It has jurisdiction over 26 administrative villages, 1 aquaculture farm, and 4 communities. In 2005, the town achieved a GDP of 1.364 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.3%, a total fiscal revenue of 176 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 52.9%, and farmers' per capita net income of 8,044 yuan, a year-on-year increase of 11.8%; the tourism company's ticket revenue was 12.78 million yuan, A year-on-year increase of 20.4%; the contracted foreign investment was 2.074 million US dollars, and the county's domestic investment was 58 million yuan; the total investment in fixed assets of the whole society was 400 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 32.5%, of which 230 million yuan was invested in industrial production, a year-on-year increase of 34.9%. Foreign trade The export delivery value was 180 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.6%.

The process of agricultural industrialization is further accelerated.

In 2005, the town's total agricultural output value was 430 million yuan, an increase of 10.1% over the same period last year, and the area of ??grain crops was 78,000 acres, an increase of 4.7% over last year. The town's grain-economic multiple cropping area is 128,000 acres, with a grain-economic multiple cropping index of 160%. The annual economic crop area is 50,000 acres, of which 1,630 acres are greenhouse vegetables. Accelerate the adjustment of the agricultural industry structure, and gradually form a thousand acres of flower seedlings, thousand acres of greenhouse facility cultivation, provincial grain and oil demonstration, pig breeding, egg and duck breeding (450,000 birds), thousand acres of mandarin fish breeding, thousand acres of river crab breeding, There are ten major breeding bases including 2,000 acres of mussel culture, provincial pollution-free Macrobrachium rosenbergii culture (4,200 acres), and 1,000 acres of citrus. On the basis of the "Top Ten" bases, four cooperatives have been established: Macrobrachium rosenbergii, egg duck, citrus and mandarin fish. Two agricultural processing enterprises, duck egg and lotus root, have settled in the base to engage in the processing and sales of agricultural products. "Base +" The integrated agricultural management pattern of cooperatives + processing enterprises has initially taken shape. The total newly added green area throughout the year was 1,195.7 acres, and two villages, Dashun and Hechi, were rated as provincial green demonstration villages; efforts were made to build a modern fishery park for Macrobrachium rosenbergii, a characteristic citrus park, and a demonstration community breeding of egg-laying ducks. , the establishment of a national-level river crab ecological breeding park; in terms of agricultural project application, Xitang mandarin fish base, egg duck breeding base and citrus planting base were recognized as provincial-level pollution-free bases. The "Xitang" brand trademark was rated as a famous trademark in Jiaxing City, and the "Xitang" brand Macrobrachium rosenbergii was rated as a famous municipal agricultural product.

The quality of industrial economic operations continues to improve. In 2005, the town's total industrial output value was 8.06 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.3%; the town's enterprises achieved a sales output value of 8.04 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.7%, a production-to-sales ratio of 99.7%, and the foreign trade export delivery value was 180 million yuan, a year-on-year increase of 19.6% . Investment promotion has achieved certain results. Throughout the year, a total of 18.36 million yuan was invested in the infrastructure construction of industrial functional zones, and 16 projects were introduced with a total planned investment of 503 million yuan. 5 foreign-invested projects were introduced, and the contractual utilization of foreign capital was 2.074 million US dollars. Six domestic-invested projects from outside the county have been introduced, with an estimated total investment of 350 million yuan, and the cumulative domestic investment outside the county is 58 million yuan. Efforts will be made to promote the project of making people rich. Increase efforts to cultivate small giant enterprises such as Linglong Woolen Textile, Longding Pipe Pile, Yinkun New Materials, and Zhongda Bearing, and improve the small and medium-sized enterprise cultivation service system. There are three private enterprises with annual sales revenue of more than 50 million yuan, and one of them has sales revenue of over 100 million yuan. There are 7 characteristic professional villages, including 3 professional villages with an industrial output value of more than 500 million yuan. Seven companies have passed ISO9000 quality management system certification. At the same time, the "Spring Thunder, Spring Seedlings, Spring Rain" campaign was carried out to resolve disputes over enterprises' wage arrears, employee labor insurance, and work-related injuries, and exceeded the county's expansion tasks. Continue to standardize the restructuring procedures of the original collective enterprises, improve the changes of various types of warrants, do a good job in the resettlement of laid-off employees and the publicity and training of enterprise safety production, and ensure the normal and orderly industrial production.

The tourism industry is booming. In 2005, the town received 1.06 million tourists (including 62,000 overseas tourists), with ticket revenue of 12.78 million yuan. Compared with last year, tourist reception increased by 19.1%, ticket revenue increased by 20.4%, and tourism-related industry revenue reached 89.46 million yuan. . Deepen the protection and development of ancient towns and implement scenic spot protection projects in strict accordance with the "Xitang Provincial Historical and Cultural Reserve Protection Plan". The renovation project of the West Garden was completed, and the Nanshe Revolutionary Cultural Memorial Hall was established; the expansion project of the church was completed, enriching the content of the scenic spots; the protection of Ni's house was strengthened, and it was awarded the "Jiashan County Diligent and Integrity Education Base" by the relevant superior departments and "Jiashan County Party Style and Integrity Publicity and Education Base". The ISO9000 quality management system and the ISO14000 environmental management quality system have been implemented; tourism law enforcement management has been improved, and the supervision of tourism order in the ancient town's scenic spots has been strengthened. Fixed ticket checkpoints have been set up at the 17 lane entrances and exits of the ancient town, and the Xitang scenic spot ticketing system has been standardized. We have actively expanded and cultivated new markets, newly developed the Fujian market, Sichuan market and the northern market. At the same time, we have steadily developed overseas markets and actively sought market entry points. In 2005, the number of overseas tourists received increased by 30% year-on-year. The filming of famous domestic and foreign films such as "Mission: Impossible 3" and "Who Pays for the Dream" has been completed in Xitang, and the 2005 Miss Tourism International China Finals was successfully held. External publicity has been continuously strengthened, and Xitang's popularity has been further expanded.

Investment in infrastructure has increased.

The construction of the west line entrance project is progressing smoothly. The entire tourism west line entrance project plans to build seven projects including a four-star hotel, a tourism company office building and reception center, a parking lot, and Wuniang Park. Among them, the office building, reception center, For the parking lot and the "Five Girls" theme park, 80% of the construction work has been completed. Kangzhuang Project successfully passed the "Double Hundred" assessment and acceptance by the relevant provincial, municipal and county departments. 37.25 kilometers of roads to the village were built or renovated, 50 bridges were renovated or built, with a total investment of 61.078 million yuan, 2 ferries were removed, and 2.6 kilometers of roads were removed and built, so that the roads to the villages in the town reached the third-class highway standard, and Xitang opened The urban and rural three-level bus network from the Central Primary School to Feijia Village; the relocation work of Shenjiahu Expressway, West Entrance Project, Nanyuan East Road and Huanzhen East Road were successfully completed; Nanyuan East Road, Huanzhen East Road 2 and 5 Bridge construction has started across the board.

All social undertakings are being promoted in an all-round way. In 2005, we continued to adhere to the policy of "grasping with both hands and be strong with both hands" and actively implemented the strategy of "revitalizing the town through science and education". Throughout the year, we won 7 provincial-level new products, 4 provincial-level high-tech products, and municipal-level regional products. There is one science and technology innovation service center, 15 county-level science and technology projects, and 46 patents of various types. 7 companies have established R&D centers, and 2 companies have become national-level and municipal-level high-tech enterprises respectively. Strengthen the management and construction of schools, continuously improve school running conditions, and continue to focus on academic education and non-academic education in established schools. Carry out in-depth activities to create spiritual civilization. Actively carry out activities such as the construction of the "Citizen Quality Project" and the "New Citizen Training and Employment Project", the quality of citizens has been continuously improved, and the work of creating civilized villages (communities, units) and civilized households has been carried out. Currently, there are national, provincial, municipal and county There are 27 civilized towns, villages and units. County Government (2004) No. 49 document was fully implemented, and all 2,291 people in the town went through resettlement procedures; civil affairs work was carried out vigorously, and disaster relief and poverty alleviation work was done conscientiously. The town paired up to help 139 households in need, and entered the minimum living security** * There are 794 people in 513 households, with a total of 807,000 yuan in minimum living allowances distributed throughout the year. The participation rate of the new rural cooperative medical insurance reached 94.7%, and the participation rate of the urban residents cooperative medical insurance was 82.5%. The family planning work has achieved remarkable results, and has successfully completed various indicators and tasks assigned by the county committee and government. The family planning rate reached 99.7%, the birth rate was 5.6‰, and the natural population growth rate was -2.25‰; the three-level cultural fronts of towns, villages, and enterprises Construction continues to advance, cultural market management has been further strengthened, mass cultural and artistic activities are rich and colorful, programs with Xitang characteristics have won consecutive awards in provincial and municipal performances and evaluations, and the creation of municipal-level characteristic culture (tourism culture) towns has been passed; radio and television The industry has made great progress; it carried out in-depth "Double Support" activities, and was rated as the municipal "Double Support Model Town" in 2005, winning the title for the second consecutive year; the construction of national defense reserve forces and recruitment were strengthened, and the 2005 annual report was successfully completed The task of recruiting 31 new recruits. Religious work continues to advance, and work for women, children, the elderly, and the disabled has received attention and development.