Wentu/Ying Zhigang

On the 22nd, at night at Wangting, on the bank of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal where soup flowed, the scene of "lights running through villages and cities, singing songs on the posthouse" written by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty, reappeared in a different world.

The canal is one of Wangting's historical and cultural symbols. In May 2019, a 200,000-square-meter canal park and historical and cultural district integrating heritage protection, cultural research, eco-tourism, and characteristic party building were completed and unveiled, becoming Wangting's history. Cultural centralized display window and the first stop for cultural tourism.

How to make the canal culture, which integrates thousands of years of civilization, the engine that drives Wangting's night economy?

After several rounds of speculation and planning on "Life and Aesthetics","Consumption and Aesthetics", and "Tourism and Aesthetics","Daoxiang Serenade·Cultural Night Performance" kicked off again.

Daoxiang Town serenades

That night, one of the landmark buildings of Canal Park, the Wangyun Pavilion, which stood looking at the canal, shone brightly with lights like the explosion of the Milky Way.

A "night banquet" slowly kicked off.

As an extension of Suzhou's night economy's "Gusu 8:30" brand and an important brand of night economy in Xiangcheng District, this "night banquet" was exciting. Pingtan, Kunqu Opera, Yue Opera, violin, cheongsam show... Classics and folk customs, traditions and classics complement each other here, guiding tourists from all over the world to enter the "cultural aesthetics" of this thousand-year ancient town and experience the Jiangnan water town customs nurtured by the thousand-year rice-farming civilization.

As the gateway to the northwest of Suzhou, Wangting Town inherits the history of the canal and inherits the essence of Taihu Lake. It is one of the origins of ancient rice farming culture and is the first batch of prosperous ancient towns to rise along the canal.

"The night economy is by no means a simple consumption and shopping, nor a simple eating and drinking. The development of the night economy must be sustainable." Wangting people clearly realize that on the basis of promoting consumption replenishment and injecting strong momentum into economic and social development, We must adapt measures to local conditions, dig deep into regional culture, and create an immersive comprehensive night experience of "cultural tourism and aesthetic towns".

When Suzhou put forward the "Suzhou 8:30" night economic development concept, Wangting Town took active action to gather high-quality brand landscape resources such as Daoxiang Park, Changzhouyuan Wetland Park, Rapeseed Flower Sea, Canal Park, and Wangting Historical and Cultural District., combine local cultural history, folk heritage, rice culture, delicacies, fashion trends and other elements to create a traditional culture-driven and modern economic extension. Daoxiang Serenade, a high-quality night market experience brand that is fully integrated with agriculture, culture and tourism.

On the evening of May 1, along with the beginning of the short holiday,"Don't hate to meet late and enjoy the wonderful night"-the launch ceremony of the Xiangcheng Night Economic Brand and the launching ceremony of the "Commercial Culture and Art Festival", Daoxiang Square, Yuting Agricultural Park, Wangting Town was grandly held. Under the witness of thousands of people from all walks of life, Wangting night economic brand "Daoxiang Serenade" was played as scheduled in the historical and cultural district of Canal Park in the town.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Schools Help Night Economy

As an important part of Wangting's "Daoxiang Serenade", the Grand Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage School has also officially entered the night economic stage.

"Grand Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage School" is a practical brand of intangible cultural heritage education created by Wangting Town with the purpose of "protecting the original intention and inheriting intangible cultural heritage" and comprehensively exploring traditional cultural resources. Classes are held regularly at night, combining study tours, hand-made classes, lectures by famous teachers and other forms to integrate the experience of intangible cultural heritage into the nightview pavilion picture of "lights running through the village and city, songs and songs going to the posthouse", becoming a "Taoxiang Serenade" The colorful movement of ".

On the evening of April 19, the Wangting Grand Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage School moved the Su Embroidery classroom into the Wangting Historical and Cultural District. More than 10 students conducted night studies on inheritance and innovation in the ancient and antique pavilions.

This course focuses on traditional intangible cultural heritage while innovating the new, highlighting "materialism" and teaches how to make Suzhou embroidery silk masks.

Teacher Wu Fuli, a famous teacher of Su embroidery, demonstrated the basic techniques for the students. Using needles as pens and threads as ink, the needles and needles flew over to embroider graceful patterns in every inch of space. By making masks by hand, the students aroused participants 'attention to the COVID-19 epidemic and paid tribute to the heroes who fought the epidemic.

On the evening of May 3, the Grand Canal Intangible Cultural Heritage School entered the long vacation life of Wangting people.

This issue of the school focuses on the culture of "food", selects coral sugar, a current trend of dessert, and ingeniously integrates it with Wangting's local cultural symbols to create a "Wangting Star Lollipop" with beautiful and ingenious features.

The exhibition hall on the first floor of Wangyun Pavilion in the Historical and Cultural District transformed into a dessert classroom. Under the guidance of Gao Jiacheng, a national senior Western-style pastry chef, the students began to boil sugar, mold, demoulding, and package in an orderly manner... When the crystal clear stars lollipops were born in their hands, the students couldn't help but feel happy."Although this is the first time trying to make coral candy, it looks as good as a dessert shop!"

Fireworks in the world become more and more beautiful at night

"Culture is the soul, and driving the economy is the root." People in Wangting understand that the organic combination of social benefits and economic benefits is the cornerstone of the long-term development of the night economy.

The first big meal served at the "night banquet" is a spiritual meal. Focusing on the humanistic spiritual core of Taihu Lake in the north, we will leverage local superior resources to stimulate relevant industries and continuously meet the spiritual consumption needs of citizens and tourists at night.

By encouraging local folk art performance projects to launch high-quality products, cultural charity performances such as "Hall Names","Pingtan","Kunqu Opera" and "Custom Interpretation" will showcase the cultural features of Wangting; focusing on young customers, opening public venues, introducing band performances, and innovating theme superposition model to create a trendy atmosphere.

As an important support for the "Daoxiang Serenade" night economy brand, the "Wangyunji" night market is the second meal.

In the market where neon lights and ancient buildings complement each other, local snacks, cultural and creative products, intangible cultural heritage traditions, and beautiful living objects are gathered.

"The smell of fireworks in the world is the most soothing thing to ordinary people." Eating and wandering in the night market is the most comfortable night consumption. What gathered here is not only the items for sale, but also the temperature and emotion that inherit the memory of the ancient town; not only the fireworks of the traditional night market, but also the unique literary and artistic sense of Jiangnan water town.

The new consumption atmosphere of the "New Night Market" perfectly interprets the prosperous scenery of the poet's "The First Episode of the Canal Wumen". Through the extension of consumption time and space, the "Daoxiang Serenade" has made the life of Wangting people become more and more colorful.

Next, Wangting will continue to integrate the town's primary, secondary and tertiary industry resources, and create a "branded, global, characteristic and international" cultural tourism night economic system around "food, shopping, entertainment, health, reading, exhibition and tourism", forming Wangting's unique and leading night consumption format sample with "new business model, multiple product forms, and good public services", making night consumption an important engine driving regional economic recovery and development, and gradually building Wangting in Daoxiang Town into Xiangcheng District, Suzhou City, A well-known night Internet celebrity check-in point and new consumption landmark in the Yangtze River Delta and even the country.