Let history guide you through the enchanting streets and lanes
Jiangnan's prosperity was accompanied by the flourishing of market towns, handicrafts, commerce and service industries, giving rise to an urban class that fostered civic consciousness, popular literature and professional ethics, writes scholar Ge Jianxiong in an article published in Wenhui Daily in October.
Juxtaposed against the literati's highbrow tastes for classical gardens, Kunqu Opera and the West Lake lies the more earthy charm of white-walled black-tiled lanes bustling with everyday life, riverside pingtan storytelling, and the indispensable elements that define the Jiangnan water towns: ancient single-arch stone bridges and leisurely wooden sculling boats gliding through waters.
In Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279), poet Lu You wrote:
