Wuzhen sets the stage for countryside tourism
Print Edition
ONCE sleepy villages beyond the urban fringe have become the vanguard of art and culture as they reinvent themselves as getaway havens for city dwellers keen to escape crowds, noise and stress for culture in a rural setting.
Visitors not only find tranquility amid the timeless whitewashed walls, green pastures and simpler lifestyle of villages. Nowadays, they also find theater, music and art festivals set against the backdrop of ancient canal towns, hills or idyllic pastoral areas.
“Many Chinese villages, especially those located in the same general region, are quite identical to one another in terms of history, setting and heritage,” says Eddie Chang, director of Shanghai Gengliang Tourism Firm, which specializes in trips to the countryside. “It’s difficult for any one village to stand out from the pack.”
But that’s exactly what many towns are trying to do. To differentiate themselves, many villages are adopting what might be called “value-added” mode, initiating music, arts and drama festivals to attract visitors.
“The festival is a great way to create uniqueness,” Chang says. “The modern ambience of drama, art or music set against the backdrop of ancient architecture is compelling. Guests can enjoy a festival and cultural heritage in the same place.”
The Midi Festival, a music fest that started 14 years ago in the canteen of a Beijing music school, has evolved into franchise events in small, lesser-known towns. The festival staging is often timed to coincide with long weekends or national holidays.
Some young people compare the music events to classics like Woodstock or the Glastonbury Festival in the UK, where music lovers come from far and wide to camp out, socialize and listen to bands.
This year so far, Midi Festival has been staged three times — in Qidu Town of Suzhou and Tenglong Cave Scenic Area of Hubei — with different artists.
“We are constantly approached by local governments from all over the country seeking possible partnerships,” festival founder Zhang Fan told the media earlier. “Empty suburban spaces are quite suitable for music festivals.”
The success of the Midi Festival has inspired the creation of town festivals all over China.
One of the more successful examples, within easy reach of Shanghai, is Wuzhen, a water town of about 60,000 people in northern Zhejiang Province.
The town, about a 90-minute drive from Shanghai, has firmly stamped itself on the tourism map with an annual drama festival staged for the past four years. Its success has made the town a role model for how to stage local festivals.
As an historic city of canals, Wuzhen has the advantage of the perfect setting for a festival. Music and arts are cultural accoutrement in a town whose natural beauty was a hidden treasure shared among knowing travelers for years.
Now everyone knows.
In 2013, when the theater festival was first held, Wuzhen hosted about 6 million guests a year. By 2015, that number had risen to 8 million. During the October festival, guesthouses and hostels in and around the town are booked out weeks in advance. The town’s main street now bustles with more than 50 restaurants and guesthouses, all run by villagers.
“It has become increasingly clear that the theater festival has gone beyond just a cultural and art event,” Chen Xianghong, president and mastermind of the theater festival, told the media ahead of this start of the 4th annual event. “It has become an integral part of the town’s features and lifestyle.”
With the success of drama under its belt, Wuzhen expanded into the contemporary arts last March, with its first biennale entitled “Utopia/Heterotopia: Wuzhen International Contemporary Art Exhibition.” Next year, an architecture biennale is planned.
The success of marrying art with smaller, more rural communities has caught the attention of property developers. Some are now adding “chic ambience” by discounting leases for artists or building museums and exhibition space in new developments.
Opening time: 7am-6pm for summertime, 7am-5:30pm for wintertime (East Scenic Area); 9am-10pm (West Scenic Area)
Admission: 100 yuan for East Scenic Area; 120 yuan for West Scenic Area
Wuzhen is 140 kilometers from Shanghai.
• Driving: Follow G60 Hukun (Shanghai-Kunshan) and S32 Shenjiahu (Shanghai-Jiaxing-Huzhou) expressways and exit at Wuzhen. Then take Yaotai Highway and drive another 5 kilometers to reach the scenic area.
• By public transport: Take a bus from the Shanghai Long Distance South Bus Station to the Wuzhen Bus Station. Then take local bus K350 to Wuzhen’s West Scenic Area.
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