Suzhou, paragon of China's revitalized old town

NANJING -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, inspected the city of Suzhou in east China's Jiangsu Province from Wednesday afternoon to Thursday morning.

On his itinerary was the historical and cultural block of Pingjiang Road, where he learned about efforts in historical and cultural city protection.

Pingjiang Road is a well-preserved ancient block of Suzhou's old town, whose rejuvenation in recent decades is a paradigm of China's drive to push urban renewal while preserving cities' cultural roots.

With a history of 2,500 years, Suzhou is referred to as heaven on earth in a famous Chinese adage.

Interlaced with rivers and peppered with traditional gardens, the layout of its old town remains largely unchanged from a painting drawn in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). After first visiting Suzhou in 1276, Venetian traveler Marco Polo called it "Venice in the East," smitten by its criss-cross canals and prosperity.

The city is a trailblazer of old town preservation in China. In 1950, shortly after the founding of the People's Republic of China, a committee was set up for the protection of Suzhou's cultural relics.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Suzhou adopted the approach of preserving the old while developing the new. Local authorities also started piloting renovation of the old town.

Since 2012, the old town of Suzhou has significantly expanded its protected area to place more historic buildings, from schools to old factories, under conservation.

In 2020, a thorough survey was launched to examine and register every house, well, bridge, and tree in the old town's 54 neighborhoods, with the aim of providing more accurate data for future protection.

Many ancient architectures have also been renovated to house businesses or exhibitions. So far, nearly 1,000 cultural and innovative companies have settled in the old town, generating profits to fund the local repair and preservation drives.

Shan Jixiang, head of China Cultural Relics Academy, praised Suzhou's decades of hard work for breathing new life into the ancient city while painstakingly preserving its antiquity.

"Cities must actively embrace the young generation while protecting its cultural resources," he said.