Wuzhen Town, in Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, China has a history of more than 1,000 years. It is near by Shanghai. Of the ancient residential houses, workshops, and stores still standing on the banks of the rivers, 169,600 square meters, accounting for 81.54 percent of the town's total floor area, have remained unchanged, lending an atmosphere of antiquity.
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"S*l*d0G0V'~7j:R!bforum.fobshanghai.comWuzhen has many sites of historical and cultural interest. From the Song (960-1279) through the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, Wuzhen produced more successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations than any other town south of the lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River. Bearing witness to the town's emphasis on education is the Lizhi (Aspiration) Academy of Classical Learning of the Qing Dynasty, which still retains its original appearance.
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&[-k*z!n&S7}3EFOB Business ForumTradition is still very much alive in Wuzhen. In addition to flower-drum opera, shadow-puppet shows, and temple fairs, Wuzhen also attracts visitors with its time-honored art of making indigo-dyed printed calico. In ancient times, indigo-dyed printed calico was used for curtains, scarves, and tablecloths in every household in the countryside of Zhejiang Province. Today, it is still common to see old women in indigo-blue gowns leisurely operating spinning wheels or looms at weaving workshops in the old lanes of Wuzhen, while the squeaks of the looms resound throughout the lanes. Carrying on this tradition has become a part of the lives of the old women.
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w(q6@5J6J%D&tforum.fobshanghai.comThe raw material for dye printing is Eupatorium fortunei, a herb that turns into indigo after being fermented and precipitated. For convenience in transporting the cloth, the weaving workshops and dyeing workshops are usually on the same street, only a few doors from each other. At the dyeing workshop, the cloth is soaked and air-dried again and again to produce white flowers on a blue background.
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Last edited by mazy at 2008-1-10 22:05 ]
