Cultural Heritage and New Industry

By WU XINYI

IN east China's Zhejiang Province is a small city with a 2,400-year history. Its name, Shaoxing, is well known as the setting for 20th century modern Chinese writer Lu Xun's short story Kong Yiji about an intellectual confounded by the imperial examination system.

Sanctuary of Sages

THE water town of Shaoxing has been the haunt of Chinese literati for centuries. In 353 of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-420), Wang Xizhi, most well-known calligrapher in Chinese history, went on an outing to the Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing with some friends. There he used his calligraphy brush to write a 324-character preface to the Orchid Pavilion Collection in running script style. Each of Wang's characters shows his consummate calligraphy skill and noble character. This piece is considered the finest work of calligraphy ever, and the Orchid Pavilion is consequently also well known. Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) also stopped at the Orchid Pavilion and inscribed their writings on a stele there.

The black awninged boat, a form of transportation unique to Shaoxing.

Shaoxing's deep-rooted culture has nurtured many a man of letters. Lu Xun was born here in 1881, and several of his works of literature reflect Shaoxing's local life and culture. One of his neighbors, nicknamed Mencius, was an alcoholic. When young, he helped out at a private school transcribing texts, but in later life was penniless and frustrated. One day he broke into the study at Lu Xun's house to steal books but was captured and soundly beaten. His defense was, "Taking books is not stealing!" Lu Xun wrote Kong Yiji with Mencius in mind, portraying him as a regular patron of the Xianheng Pub.

The old pub, near the former residence of Lu Xun, dates back to the Qing Dynasty. It was only open for two to three years, but Lu Xun's description of Kong Yiji drinking liquor and eating aniseed flavored beans there has imprinted the Xianheng indelibly on the Chinese consciousness. In 1981, on the centennial of Lu Xun's birth, the Xianheng, refurbished according to Lu Xun's description of it, re-opened. At the front gate of the pub stands a cast iron statue of Kong Yiji.

Lu Xun's descriptions of the folk customs and characteristics of Shaoxing helped promote its tourism. Every year, Shaoxing attracts about 5 million domestic and overseas tourists. In 2003, it received 10.15 million Chinese and foreign travelers in spite of the negative impact SARS had on its tourism industry.

Yue Opera has its origins in Shaoxing.

The black awninged boat is a mode of transportation unique to Shaoxing. It can normally seat four to six passengers, and is the best way to enjoy a tour of Shaoxing and appreciate its natural beauty.

The Shaoxing people also like opera. Yue Opera, popular in eastern coastal provinces, has its origins in Shaoxing.

In order to share its cultural heritage, the Zhejiang Provincial Tourism Administration and the Shaoxing municipal government jointly launched the 2004 Experience Chinese People's Life Tour. It includes a look at local wedding customs, local opera, and other folk art forms. "There are only six well preserved ancient cities in China, and Shaoxing is one of them," says Shaoxing mayor Wang Yongchang proudly.

Shaoxing is one of the first 24 historical and cultural cities of China. The story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai -- the Chinese Romeo and Juliet - was set in Shaoxing, another literary facet of this old cultural city.

Heart of China's Textiles

THE textile industry is a tradition in Shaoxing. Early in the Tang Dynasty, Shaoxing silks were known throughout the country. Shaoxing is considered the heart of China's textile industry. Having long been Shaoxing's pillar industry, textiles have secured Shaoxing's number one place in the Zhejiang economy for 20 years.

Shaoxing is now China's textile manufacturing center.

The Shaoxing-based China Light Industry and Textile City does not look very modern from the outside, and neither are its equipment and facilities the most advanced. It is, however, the largest textile product distribution center in Asia, with some 10,000 wholesale companies and hundreds of private enterprises that produce textiles for export. Piles of packaged textile products ready for export can be seen at the front door of many shops. In 2002, the business volume of China Light Industry and Textile City reached 22.6 billion yuan. According to Pan Ronghai, manager of the Shuangxin Cloth Company, the daily sales volume of his company is about 50,000 yuan. In 2002, in order to make better use of Shaoxing's textile resources and dyeing capacity, many of its cloth merchants invested in building garment manufacturing enterprises. An eight square kilometer garment park is planned in the Kexi Industrial Area of Shaoxing County.

A prefectural-level city, Shaoxing has 15 listed companies, most of them private enterprises. In 2002, the textile production in Shaoxing accounted for over 10 percent of the national production volume. Its woven fabric amounted to one-sixth and its dyed cloth to one-third of the national total.

Taiwanese merchant Lin Rongzhen has been in the textile business for 20 years. He came to invest in the mainland 10 years ago, and finally selected Shaoxing as his textile manufacturing base. He regards Shaoxing as the most suitable area for textile development due to its low costs and convenient access to production materials. There are several other large-scale textile enterprises near Lin's plants. Taiwanese businessmen are encouraged to invest in textile technology training and the upgrading of old enterprises. The Shaoxing Light Industry and Textile City provides a large investment space for Taiwanese merchants with rich international textile marketing experience. Its procedures are simple and efficient.

Ties produced in Shengzhou, Shaoxing City, account for 80 percent of China's tie production volume and 33 percent of that of the world.

Local officials confirm that foreign and Taiwan investors in Shaoxing need only to pay taxes and no other charges.

Compared with enterprises in other Chinese cities and provinces, Shaoxing textile enterprises took early steps to upgrade its technology. They focused on the shuttleless loom in the early 1990s, and by the mid-1990s the added value of Shaoxing textiles had reached a new high. Within five years the Shaoxing local government spent 12 billion yuan on more than 20,000 shuttleless looms. Shaoxing now has the largest number of shuttleless looms in the country that manufacture 2 billion meters of fabrics of different varieties each year.

Technological renovation played a key role in Shaoxing's success in the market. The Pengyu brand fabric produced by Shaoxing Pengcheng Textile Co, Ltd., now sells well on the domestic and international markets. Shaoxing textile enterprises have also developed eight new textile technologies, five of which are of an advanced international standard. Their next target is to develop Shaoxing into an international textile manufacturing center, whose market share will take up more than 10 percent of the world total. This will bring textile industry development in Shaoxing to a still higher stage.

Booming Manufacturing Industry

SHAOXING, with its 80,000 manufacturing enterprises, is well known in the Yangtze River Delta area for its strong manufacturing capacity. Township enterprises laid the foundation for industrial development two decades ago, but the disadvantages of small rural enterprises, like low production capacity and quality and low standards of technology, soon emerged. In order to advance industrial development, in the late 1990s the Shaoxing municipal government decided to build the Township Industrial Zone. In the following five years, several industrial parks opened in Shaoxing.

Shaoxing mayor Wang Yongchang (middle) inspecting a local enterprise.

In 1998, the Shangyu Refined Chemical Park, the largest chemical production base in China, started its construction on the southern bank of Hangzhou Bay. Two years later, the Shengzhou Economic Development Zone began to expand. In 2000, the Paojiang Industrial Park, largest in Zhejiang Province with a planned space of 66.2 square kilometers, started operation. In 2002, the 100 square kilometer Binhai Industrial Park began its construction, and the Cao'e River Estuary Watergate project was also approved that year. These industrial parks combine the manufacturing industry of Shaoxing with the economic development of the Hangzhou Bay and Yangtze River Delta.

Rows of new factory buildings equipped with advanced production facilities stand in Paojiang Industrial Park. It is hard to imagine that five years ago, the site was a farmland growing traditional crops. The local government invested an accumulated fund of 1.8 billion yuan in the park's infrastructure facilities, and by May 2003, more than 150 industrial projects had signed up to enter the park, at a planned investment of over 16 billion yuan and approved investment of 9 billion yuan.

The Hi-Tech Enterprise Park in the Shaoxing Economic Development Zone also began its construction in 2002. It attracted overseas Chinese Ph.D.s finishing their studies abroad, as well as some technology-major graduates from Chinese colleges and universities. Within a year, dozens of high-tech enterprises were set up in Shaoxing, providing other local enterprises with new software products and information technology that they had developed themselves. The Shaoxing Economic Development Zone turned out to be a local information technology center. Shaoxing industrial output value grew from 31.078 billion yuan in 1997 to 47.699 billion yuan in 2002, and many of Shaoxing's industrial economic indexes are top in Zhejiang Province.    

The development of manufacturing in Shaoxing has occurred along the hard road of new breakthroughs, and the secret of its success is investment in technological upgrading.

Most of Shaoxing's manufacturing enterprises started out as private township enterprises that took shape in the 1980s. In the beginning they brought huge changes to local people's lives, but a low technology capacity put them at a disadvantage within market competition. The Southeast Asian financial crisis in the 1990s made products even harder to sell. It was at this crucial moment that the Shaoxing local government decided to adopt the strategy of large-scale technological upgrading, starting with its textile industry. In just five years over 21,000 shuttleless looms were imported from abroad. This transition took most developed countries 30 years.

Technological upgrading has spread to many other industries in Shaoxing. Datang Socks has introduced computerized sock knitting machines, and now produces 6.5 billion pairs annually. Every year, 300 million ties are produced in Shengzhou, Shaoxing City, accounting for 80 percent of China's tie market share and 33 percent of the world's. After several years' research and development, the first nano technology tie has been produced in Shengzhou.

In order to advance its science and technology level, Shaoxing has cooperated with more than 300 colleges, universities and science research organizations in setting up more research and development centers in Shaoxing.

Shaoxing aims to build itself into an advanced manufacturing base, says Shaoxing mayor Wang Yongchang. According to his plan, in the next ten years Shaoxing will become an international textile center, an international refined chemicals manufacturing base, and a new chemical pharmaceutical manufacturing base. A plan to establish a new Shaoxing Industrial City is also under discussion. By combining its industrial, economic and geographical advantages, Shaoxing is set to become the leading light in East China's economic development in the coming years.