Shengpu, formerly a town and now a sub-district in SIP, has “three treasures” handed down by ancestors, namely traditional dress and accessories for women, the local folk songs, and xuanjuan, a traditional storytelling and ballad singing in Suzhou dialect.

These “treasures” were jointly recognized as part of Suzhou’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2007 and part of Jiangsu province’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2009. As the eastern gateway to SIP, Shengpu Sub-district preserves the distinctive essence of water towns in the region south of the Yangtze River. It has been exploring the organic fusion of traditional and modern cultures while highlighting the cultural symbols of the “three treasures”.

 
 
Visitors to Shengpu Sub-district can savor the charm and essence of the “three treasures of Shengpu” at the exhibition room in Wusong Community.

There are the tools and scripts for xuanjuan performances, the simulated scene of women singing folk songs while picking lotus flowers on water, and traditional dress and accessories for women on display in the showcases.

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Thereis a performance troupe in Shengpu sub-district, with its members practicingfolk singing and lianxiang (a traditional Chinese folk dance performed bydancers with bamboo or wooden sticks in hands) every Monday, Wednesday andFriday. “Wemade the traditional costumes by ourselves, and have performed in over 20events across Suzhou,” said Song Weizhen, the ... [MORE]
 
SIPXingpu School offers a course to encourage its students to “redesign” thepatterns on the traditional dresses for women. This allows the students tobetter understand the ancient designs and carry them forward by adding modernfashion elements to them.Other schools in Shengpu Sub-district have also taken theinitiative to integrate traditional culture into ... [MORE]