Chinanews.com, Shaoxing, May 5 (Xiang Jing) Song Yun traditional wedding, modern nostalgic wedding, new Chinese wedding...... During this year's "May Day" holiday, located in Yingenmen Style Water Street, Yuecheng District, Shaoxing, Zhejiang, wedding shows of different ages were staged on the banks of the East Zhejiang Canal. The thousand-year-old canal culture and wedding customs are blended to convey the romantic water town style.
Shaoxing's water network runs through the city, and the Zhedong Canal, a component of China's Grand Canal, runs through the city. This holiday, a large number of tourists either visit the water wedding, or visit the canal cultural market, or raft on the canal, and immerse themselves in the living heritage of canal culture.
Night view of Zhedong Canal. Photo by Xiang Jing
Walking into Yingenmen Style Water Street, the city walls, shores, and bridges are all decorated with red ribbons, which ignites the atmosphere for water weddings. On the water, there are rowing boats moving slowly, boatmen rocking their oars hard, and tourists on board enjoy the scenery of the canal.
According to reports, this is the latest local release of the Yingenmen rocking boat water cruise line. The starting point of the tour is at the historic Ying'en Gate Wharf, which is said to have been the place where ancient officials greeted the emperor's decree. As the cruise ship slowly sails out, tourists can enjoy the water town customs and historical sites on both sides of the strait, and can also taste Shaoxing rice wine and feel the authentic folk culture.
Weddings on the water. Photo courtesy of Chen Xi
"Traditional weddings" and "water upstreams" bring the canal to life. In Shaoxing during the "May Day" holiday, the "Cultural and Creative Market" also allows tourists to enjoy the cultural feast of the canal.
Walking into the east side of the Zhedong Canal Museum, the 2024 Canal Cultural Market, covering four major themes such as cultural and creative market, flavor food, interactive leisure, and canopy camping, was held, and more than 100 special booths such as cultural and creative handicrafts, national style and national tide attracted visitors to check in. These special goods are all from Hangzhou, Shaoxing, Ningbo, Jining, Nanchang and other cities along the canal.
Canal Cultural Bazaar. Photo courtesy of Yu Hong
"Joy Temari" is a cultural and creative enterprise from Hangzhou, and it was very popular when it debuted at the Shaoxing exhibition. "The popularity of Temari in Shaoxing has far exceeded our expectations. Wang Li, the person in charge, said excitedly.
Shengzhou bamboo weaving "Lu's bamboo craftsman" booth also attracted many young people. "I hope that this craft will not only be passed on among the craftsmen, but also that more people will join in to protect and carry forward this precious cultural heritage." ”
A view of the Canal Cultural Market. Photo courtesy of Yu Hong
The concentrated exhibition of cultural and creative products not only makes the creators gain a lot, but also allows tourists to "see" the canal culture and "take away" the canal good things.
After visiting the Zhedong Canal Museum, Mr. Li, a tourist from Beijing, visited the Canal Culture Market again. In front of the booth, he carefully selected a set of seasonal edition museum postcards and sent them to his family, hoping to share his wonderful experience in Shaoxing with his family. (ENDS)