Ａｎｃｉｅｎｔ Ｘｉｔａｎｇ Ｔｏｗｎ

Of many well-preserved ancient towns in the Yangtze River Delta， the most famous is probably Zhouzhuang near Suzhou. Many people attribute the fame of Zhouzhuang in modern China to an oil painting Doctor Armand Hammer presented to Deng Xiaoping. The painting， created by the Chinese artist， was a poetic description of Zhouzhuang. In fact， however， Zhejiang has a few similar towns， equally poetic with their ancient charms well preserved. Xitang is one of them.

I remember escorting a television crew to Xitang on an assignment of creating a feature of the ancient town. It was a winter day. It was drizzling. The low sky had a hint of snow. The chilling coldness made the cameraman unable to work smoothly， but he commented that the somber day was perfect for capturing the solitude of the town.

Bridges and Riverside Arcades

Xitang is full of rivers which date back to ancient times when a general had numerous rivers built so as to hide and move his large army before a campaign. Today， these quiet rivers remind one of no such warring years. They are a sign of a peaceful life from madding urban hustle and bustle. Bridges are a must for the town residents. There are over 100 bridges spanning the rivers. Riverside arcades are another big feature of Xitang. In good old days， one did not need to walk outdoor to do shopping. Wherever one went， one had a roof over his head. Today， a section of 887-meter riverside arcade remains. Visitors can see some riverside benches by some family river quays. These benches are called “Beauty Benches” in good old days. Women lounged and chatted there after doing laundry at quays or after a day’s house chores.

Lanes and Ancient Residences

You don’t see broad streets in town. Instead， you can count 122 narrow lanes. Most of them are short and only five lanes are more than 100 meters long. These lanes go from a street all the way down to a river at backside. The structure means that the length of a lane equals the length of residential houses on both sides of a lane. So a 100-meter-long lane may sound simple and unimpressive， but you will be amazed if you enter a house by its street gate， walk all the 100 meters through several rows of houses in a narrow and long compound and then reach the riverside of the house.

The 68-meter-long Shipi Lane is not the longest lane in Xitang， but it is the most prominent. The lane is paved with 216 stone slabs and beneath the slabs is a ditch. The water running beneath is audible in quiet moments of a day. The lane is only 1 meter wide and the narrowest point is only 0.8 meter wide. If one runs into a passerby in the lane， both need to walk sideways or one needs to stand still to make way for the other. That is why women in ancient times did not go into this lane so as to avoid the embarrassment of being touched involuntarily and the inconvenience of making way for another in case they ran into a passerby. The lane is flanked on either side by a house built by a provincial graduate. The two graduates were in two different categories. The one on the left side housed a literary graduate and the house is larger and taller and more magnificent; the other was built by a graduate of martial arts and so his house is relatively smaller and not so luxurious. Most of the big houses in town have special doors and ways exclusively used by female family members.

Business Center

Thanks to its geographical advantages， Xitang used to be a business center. The town was a big market where rice， fish， bamboo and wood， silk changed hands in large quantities. Liu Yazi (1887-1958)， a revolutionary and a prominent poet， was born in a town near Xitang. He was a founder of Nan She， a literary organization (1909-1923) which had a membership of 1，180 poets and writers in its heyday. Seventeen poets from Xitang joined the organization. Liu Yazi came to Xitang frequently. Legend has it that Liu had a crush on a girl in a wine shop in town and on a drinking spree he guzzled booze in the shop for three days and nights.#8194;□