Nearly 30 media practitioners from 18 media units of 15 countries and regions participated the 2018 “Hi Jiangsu” Media Camp that is organized by the Information Office of the People's Government of Jiangsu Province and China Daily. They are currently having a one-week trip to different cities across Jiangsu and having their own interviews to understand further about local cultures and overall development.
The laststop of this trip goes toZhangjiagang city, in which the group experienced both ancient folk culture and fast development of the rural area.
The first thing they experienced is the folk ballads that were preserved from over 6,000 years ago.
Bridge, water, pavilion… a typical Suzhou classsic garden provides a different charm of the Heyang Ballads Musuem in Fenghuang Ancient Street.Heyang folk ballad, a national intangible cultural heritage, has various topics including daily life, love story, and even sarcasism to the current affairs back then. The ballads are the essence of Wu culture.
Rufat from Azvision, a news group in Azerbaijan thought of ballads in his hometown after listening to Heyangfolk ballads. He said thatthe two types of balladsshared similar qualities, and they had been handed down from generation to generation by the local people. “The folk songs of my hometown are also listed in the intangible cultural heritage, but we don’t have a museum that is supported by the government to preserve the traditional culture.This is great,”said Rufat. He also improvised a ballad in his language after that.
Apart from the protection of traditional culture, Zhangjiagang's ecological protection is equally impressive. In the afternoon, the group went to Xiangshan, the Fragrant Hill, to overlook the whole city. However, the ecological environment was badly damaged in the development project 20 years ago. Then, Zhangjiagang decided to restore the environment with the courage of “breaking its own wrist”. And here comes what they have today, a reborn city.
The transformation of Xiangshan is just an ecological miniature of the city. In the history of development, Yonglian Village is also an example that can not be ignored.
The “5 golden fingers” sculpture standing on the square represents the history of Yonglian Village's five expansions.
Forty-eight years ago, Yonglian Village was just a tidal flat around the Yangtze River. As a result of its low altitude, flood was huge problem here.The village’s total debt was more than 60,000 yuan in 1978, and the per capita income was 68 yuan. Itwas the smallest and poorest village in the county. After the reform and opening-up policy in 1978, the village found its own development pathfrom digging pondsfor fishery to establishing YonggangSteel and Iron Group. Yonglian Village now has been ranked top 3 among 600,000 administrative villages in China.
Anand of Gulf News in the United Arab Emirates was surprised at the development of Yonglian Village. He said if we only looked at today's tall buildings and huge traffic, nobody would imagine what it was like 70 years ago. “This development model can be replicated elsewhere or even nationally, but also in combination with local realities. Yonglian Village has a visionary leader to lead them. I hope that there will be more such leaders leading more areas to develop.”
With a perfect journey in Zhangjiagang city, the 2018 “Hi Jiangsu” foreign media camp officially ended Saturday. In about a week, they’ve been to Nanjing, Suqian, Yixing, and Zhangjiagang to witness not only the modernity of Jiangsu, but also the vitality of the province. Their stories will present the world with a fast-changing and a charming Jiangsu.
(source:ourjiangsu.com)
