The new-year-cake of sparerib is a kind of snack in Shanghai that is economical and has a unique taste.It has a history of fifty years.

　　The fried and large sparerib and small and thin new-year-cake,has the fragrant and crisp flavor of sparerib as well as the soft and waxy flavor of new-year-cake.It is very tasty.The sparerib is golden color,its surface is crisp and the inner is fresh and tender.When you eat it,it is delicious and good palatability.Although the new-year-cake was wrapped in sweet sauce,your mouth is full of the fragrant flavor of meat when you eat it,but the new-year-cake remains its glutinous and sticky.The white new-year-cake,the golden,oily tender sparerib and delicious seafood sauce make an attractive fragrance.It is excellence in color, aroma and taste.

　　First put the flour,tapioca and egg together,make it into paste,then wrap the paste on the surface of the sparerib,fry the sparerib in oil.The new-year-cake are all hand-made with traditional method.It is waxy but not sticky, quite chew.Put the sparerib and new-year-cake together,then pour the sweet and spicy sauce.When you eat it,it is glutinous and fragrant,sweet with slightly spicy, very delicious.

　　You can see the new-year-cake of sparerib everywhere in Shanghai.The most famous stores are “Xiaochangzhou”and “Xiandelai”.You can try both of it and savor their differences.

　　The two main materials of new-year-cake of sparerib both have highly nutritional value. There are protein, fat, vitamins in sparerib and it also contains a lot of calcium phosphate, bone collagen.It can provide calcium for children and the elderly.The new-year-cake contains protein, fat, carbohydrate, calcium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and other nutrients.It is a nutritious food.

　　Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish

　　The Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish, a typical traditional dish in Suzhou, is highly appreciated by guests from home and abroad. Not only does it feature in the color and flavor, but also in the taste and shape.

　　There are some notes we should take in the making of Squirrel-shaped Mandarin Fish. Firstly, fresh and alive mandarin fish should be chose so that the meat can well retain fresh and tender. Second, the cutting should be very good and delicate and make it shape as a squirrel. Thirdly, the sauce should be tasted both sweet and sour, making the fish tasty.

　　When fried fish is served on table, it usually come with hot sauce, while dropping the sauce down on the fish, the fish turn out loud noise similar to that of a squirrel, thus caught the name.

　　When the dish is ready, it is in the shape of a squirrel with crispy skin outside but with tender flesh inside, the color is orange but taste in appropriate sweet and sour with a special pleasant flavor.

　　It is said before emperor Qianlong went to south of China, there had been the famous Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish already, but at that time, it was made not by mandarin fish, but by carp. Emperor Qianlong tried and appraised. Later on, this dish turned into the Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish.

　　It is said, when emperor Qianlong went to south of China, he once visited Songhelou Restaurant, and saw many mandarin fish and wished to have a try. At that time, the fish was prepared for worshipping the god and no one dared to eat it, but it was hard to be against the order from emperor, through discussion with chef, finally, the fish head was taken as squirrel, for avoiding the crime of taking “fish for the god”. When the fish was served, accompanied with the loud sound from dropping sauce on the fish, it was similar with that of squirrel. The inch- length squirrel hold up head and tail in the plate, the body of fish was spineless, carved with knife, after hot-oil fried, then dropped tomato sauce, in appropriate sweet and sour, crispy outside, but tender inside, when bite, very tasty. After Emperor Qianlong tasted , and appraised it a lot.

　　Another story is when emperor Qianlong travelled to south of China, he visited Suzhou unofficially. Suddenly felt Hungary, he enter a restaurant with name Songhelou. He saw the dish name “Squirrel-shaped mandarin fish” in the menu and ordered this dish. When it was served, because emperor Qianlong felt Hungary after half-day walking, additionally the dish was really crispy outside and tender inside, taste in appropriate sweet and sour, the emperor Qianlong felt rather satisfied after tasting it. After dinner, because emperor Qianlong knew nothing about money and payment, and tried to leave without paying. The servant in Songhelou did not know the real identity of emperor and stopped him from leaving. When they had a quarrel, the local government was patrolling on the street and saw the funny scene. And sent the owner of restaurant money and settled the dispute.

　　Beggar's chicken

　　Beggar's chicken got another name “Changshou Beggar’s Chicken” and is a renowned dish from district Changshou of Han ethnics which roasts the well-dressed chicken wrapped with earth and lotus. The color is bright red with fragrant. The skin is crispy and flesh is tender. When try it, it is crispy, fatty and tender with a unique flavor.

　　It is said, long time ago, there is a beggar, passing through one village in county Changshou. One day, he got one chicken. He tried to eat the chicken, but he did not have any cooking wares and seasonings. He came to the foothills of Mountain Yu, after killing the chicken, and got rid of viscera, wrapped the chicken with earth and dried grass, simmered the chicken, when the earth was dried, chicken was well-done, after get rid of the earth shell, the fur of chicken was taken off automatically, the flesh comes. Around 100 years ago, Shancaiyuan restaurant lied at west to Yushan resort of Changshou county made some renovation of this dish and copied this method according to the sayings.

　　Story one:

　　“Beggar’s chicken” is sourced from Zhejiang and it is the chicken stolen by those poor beggarWrapped chicken with earth and roast the earth, when the earth is heat, then the chicken is well done too. Beggar’s chicken got another name as “noble’s chicken”, originally made by beggar thus with name beggar’s chicken. It is said when Zhu, yuanzhang competed for emperor, one time, he was defeated and ran three days and three nights. Enemy ran after him and zhu,yuanzhang felt so tired and felt hungry. At that time, he saw some fire in front and there is some earth in the fire. There was one beggar besides the fire, Zhuyuanzhang asked him In surprise, what did you do here? The beggar saw Zhu,yuanzhang and said: I made the roast chicken for you. After hearing it, Zhu,yuanzhang felt very shocked. The old beggar took the chicken out of the fire and unwrapped the earth, the good smell spread out. When zhu, yuanzhang ate it, he appraised it, “very delicious”. Since then, Zhu,yuanzhang won many fights and became the emperor later. After that, Zhu,yuanzhang renamed the chicken as “Noble’s chicken”.

　　Story two:

　　There is another fairy tale. When emperor Qianlong visited south China, he got lost in the wild land. One beggar sent him the Beggar’s chicken. At that time, Qianlong felt hungry and sleepy and of course felt the chicken was delicious. After eating it, he asked the name of the dish. The beggar felt embarrassed to name the chicken as “Beggar’s chicken”, instead he named the chicken as “noble’s chicken”. Qianlong appraised the chicken a lot. Later the beggar knew that the stroller was the emperor. Because the emperor appraised the dish, so until now, it turns out as a dish in the banquet.

　　Story three:

　　It is said in Qing dynasty, at the foothill of Yushan mountain, Changshou, a hungry beggar caught a chicken from the grass and tried to eat it. But the beggar did not have any cooking utensils and seasonings, and even without hot water for pulling off chicken’s fur. The beggar killed the chicken, took the viscera out of the chicken. Then he wrapped the chicken with lotus leave and earth and dried grass and roasted the chicken on fire. When the earth was dried, the chicken was fallen down to the ground, the fur was taken off automatically and a good smell spread out. There is a servant of a local rich man passing by and attracted by the good smell. He got the cooking method from the beggar and told his boss. The rich man cooked the chicken and asked relatives and friends for trying it. Everyone appraised it and asked the dish name. The rich man named the chicken as “Beggar’s chicken”. A famous cook of Yingyuan restaurant in Changshou made some renovation and added various seasonings in the stomach of the chicken, then wrapped with pig net oil and lotus, at last wrapped with yellow earth and roasted. It tastes really delicious and renamed as “simmer chicken wrapped with yellow earth”.

　　How To Make Beggar's Chicken?

　　Ingredient

　　2 small poussins or spring chickens , for the dough covering: 600 g flour water.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Stuffing

　　1 tsp sunflower oil, 110g/3.5oz lean pork cut into cubes,1 medium onion finely chopped,1cm piece of fresh ginger peeled and grated, 8 finely sliced shiitake mushrooms finely chopped, 1 tsp toasted sesame oil 1 tbsp light soy sauce, freshly ground black pepper,Mixture for skin1 tbsp salt, 1 tbsp rice wine or Amontillado sherry, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 2 spring onions finely chopped 1cm piece of ginger,1 tsp sunflower oilUtensilsUtensils1 rolling pin

　　1 bowl

　　1 baking tray

　　1 frying pan

　　1 small mixing bowl

　　aluminum foil or roasting bag

　　1 spoon

　　Step 1: Preheat the oven

　　Set the oven to 200?C (400?F/ gas mark 6).

　　Step 2: Marinate the chicken

　　Mix the dark soy sauce, wine, half of the oil, a little of the shredded ginger and the spring onions in the bowl. Spread this mixture all over the poussins and let it marinate for 1 hour.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 3: Make the stuffing

　　Heat up a little of the oil in a frying pan and add the pork. Fry until nice and crispy. Then add the mushrooms, onion, the rest of the ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce, and pepper. Cook over a moderate heat for a few minutes.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 4: Stuff the poussins

　　After a few minutes of cooking, take the saucepan off the heat and drain away any excess oil if necessary. Then, open up the necks of the poussins and put in the mixture.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 5: Wrap up the poussins

　　Wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in a roasting bag and close tightly to prevent the juices from escaping.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 6: Make the dough

　　Put the flour in a bowl, gradually, stir in the water and mix until it is a firm dough ball.

　　Step 7: Roll out the dough

　　Once mixed, divide into two and roll out the dough to around 0.5 cm in thickness so that it is big enough to completely cover the poussins.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 8: Cover the poussins

　　Fold the dough over the poussins and press the edges and ends together. Add a little water to make the dough stick.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 9: Cook the parcels

　　Place the parcels on a baking tray. Check that there are no holes in the dough or at the joins for the steam to escape. Now place in the oven and cook for 3 hours 200℃.

　　Beggar's Chicken

　　Step 10: Break, open and enjoy

　　After 3 hours in the oven, take out the parcels. Crack open the dough (this is not meant to be eaten) and discard. Cut open the roasting bag or the foil. And tuck in!

　　Beggar's Chicken.

　　Fried shrimps with biluo tea

　　Fried shrimps with biluo tea is a traditional dish of Province Jiangsu. The main ingredient of the dish is shrimp with Biluo tea as side-ingredients. The finished dish bear tea flavor, light and refreshing plus the color is simple and elegant. The color of the shrimp is so white as jade, sipped with tea, tasting tender, and at the same time adding more sweet.

　　Biluo tea originated from east of Dongting lake and Western mountain. Fried shrimps with biluo tea has Biluo tea juice as seasoning, cooked with shrimp together. After eating it, combine both the fresh taste of shrimp and the fragrance of the famous tea. When served, dotted with tea leaves, it turns out to be a dish with good flavor and pretty color.

　　Biluo Tea is a famous tea from east of Dongting, taihu lake of Suzhou and Xishan mountain and regards as the top of all teas. The original name is not so elegant, when emperor Kangxi travelled in Taihu, he renamed the tea as “Biluochun”.

　　Cooking method:

　　Fresh shrimp: 350g, Biluochun: 10g, salt:6-7g; One egg white; dried starch: 20-25g; Oil:400g (oil in real use 50g)Fresh shrimp is washed clean, and dried. It is put into bowl with salt, egg white, dried starch and mix hard.

　　Made a big cup of hot biluo Tea.

　　The oil was put into hot pan, when heated to 120, put shrimp inside it.

　　When shrimp is medium-done, it is taken out and skips the oil.

　　Remove the shrimp back and put 30g tea water.

　　when is served in the plate, dotted with tea leaves around the plate.

　　Remarks:

　　The tea water bears pleasant flavor and can remove the bad flavor of shrimp. Tea taking place of wine is a good method to add pleasant flavor to dish Shrimp cannot be heated too long. Shrimp needs to be done in a quick speed for both maintaining the fresh taste of tea and the fragrance of tea. The tea dotted around the plate also adds both color and made the dish more pleasant too.

　　Fresh shrimp need to be rinsed in the water for keeping transparent color of the cooked shrimp.

　　Cherry meat

　　Cherry meat is one traditional dish of Province Jiangsu of Han ethnics. The dish was originally from province Jiangsu, and began to be popular in Qing Qianlong Reign. The dish bears a feature with bright red color combining with crispy, fatty and ground meat. Cherry meat has bright red color in tiny round shape. Its skin is soft, sweet, salty and fatty. It is an ideal dish for wine and  rice. Cherry meat needs to meet some basic requirement: the dish color is enticing, the meat has the size of cherry, the dish is put in order, the color should be the same as Cherry. Meanwhile, cherry meat is one famous cuisine for Northeast China. It is said it is a culture brought by people emigrating from Shandong and immigrating to Dalian. According to the recommendation from Su style dish, “there is different for four seasons, every season matches with respective dish, Cherry meat is appropriate for spring cuisine.

　　The guy who named “cherry meat” must be a guy who can read mind of eater. Cherry is a very expensive fruit. The color of cherry is bright red with appropriate sweet and sour. In spring and summer, cherry is the same round as agate, embedded with green leaves, in fresh red color. Because the color and shape of Cherry is very wonderful, many famous people like Cherry a lot. Cherry is appraised by Li, shimin as: “the shape and color of cherry is the same as sun seen from far distance”. Cherry is appraised by Sun ti also as “The color of the cherry is like a bright bead”. Cherry is appraised by Du, Mu as “ The cherry is so round as one got from the mouth of dragon. The bright red cherry embedded with green leaves really depict the famous words written by Feng, yan from southern Tang Dynasty: After the rain, red cherry grow out of the tree from the east side of wall. Zhao, Yanduan in Song dynasty depicted in his poem “Red cherry is beneath the green leaves”. But it is more appropriate that red cherry is above the green leaves”. Usually cherry is served around with green pea seedlings the same as Cherry is picked from trees of  green leaves.

　　There are many people who love to eat Cherry. Besides cherry is very delicious, another reason  is very easy to connect cherry with ancient beauty. Typical ancient beauty has one standard picture: “willow-brown, lotus-cheek, cherry-mouth, and lotus-forehead”. Cherry mouth is the token for beauty. In real life, woman is like cherry, crystal-like, with pleasant smell and grace figure. Suzhou is a place for the beauty and the same for the best cuisine. Cherry meat is qualified to be a key dish of Suzhou. Cherry meat is appropriate for spring. Cherry meat is the same as a beauty from spring with enticing color and crystal-like, and reminds romance.

　　Longjing prawns, also known as shrimp stir-fried with Dragon Well tea, is a specialty of Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province, produced using the meat of live river prawns coated with egg white and moistened starch, fried in lard at a medium-low temperature for 15 seconds, removed from the oil and drained when jade-white in colour, and then quickly stir-fried over extreme heat with boiling water infused with Longjing tea, tea leaves and Shaoxing wine. This dish consists primarily of white and green colours; the colours are elegant and the flavour is light and fragrant. According to legend it arose when the Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty visited southern China. Hangzhou's famous Louwailou restaurant is a well-known producer of Longjing prawns. in Hangzhou , it’s one of the most enjoyable dishes to eat during summer. Newly picked longjing , or dragon well tea, is used to accompany the river shrimp. Traditionally, the tea leaves have to be picked around Qingming  in early April to ensure their tenderness. The shrimps have to be plump residents of the river, and must be captured alive. Green tea such as longjing is rich in antioxidants, while shrimp is high in protein. When cooked carefully, the shrimps remain white and the tea leaves green. In one bite, the smoothness of the shrimp contrasts with the slightly bitter taste and rougher texture of the tea leaves. Together, the two ingredients form a perfect balance of nutrient content, color, texture and taste.

　　Hangzhou people favor this dish so deeply that its origin has been romanticized. It is said that the great poet Su Shi  was the inspiration behind this delicious invention. Sitting by the riverside on a spring day, he wrote the lines “Brewing the freshly picked tea on the newly started fire, I should enjoy poetry and wine while my youth lasts.” A suitably inspired Hangzhou chef then combined newly picked tea leaves with shrimps from the river to create the dish.

　　An alternative anecdotal tale involves the Qing Dynasty (1616 A.D. – 1911 A.D.) Qianlong  Emperor, who is said to have enjoyed traveling incognito to Southern China. During one such journey, he stopped at a farmhouse and was offered a cup of tea. The brew carried such a delicious fragrance that he grabbed some tea leaves from the farmer’s basket before he left. Later, he visited a restaurant in town and gave the tea to the waiter to prepare. By accident, a corner of his dragon robe, a garb that could be worn only by the emperor, gave away his identity. The waiter scuttled in to tell the chef the news. Reeling from the shock, the chef mistook the tea leaves for chopped green onion and mixed them with the shrimp. The dish turned out surprisingly well and greatly pleased the emperor.

　　Now, you can follow in his footsteps and can enjoy this dish at home by gollowing the recipe below:

　　Ingredients: [serves two people]

　　1000g fresh shrimps

　　2tbsp longjing tea (or any green tea, but make sure they are leaves, not tea bags)7tbsp cooking oil

　　1tbsp egg white

　　2tsp Chinese cooking wine

　　1tsp salt

　　1/2cup starch, mixed with 1/4 cup of warm water2tsp chicken powder (optional)

　　Method

　　1.  Marinate the shrimps with salt (1/2tsp), egg white, starch and water mixture (1/4cup), 1tsp chicken powder and 1/2tsp of cooking wine.

　　2.  Brew the longjing tea with boiled water and set aside for 5 minutes, then separate the tea leaves from the liquid tea.

　　3.  Heat 5tbsp of oil in a pan until hot and add the shrimps. Stir fry until the shrimps curl up and turn red. Be careful not to overheat the shrimps. Set them in a temporary container. Pour out the remaining oil. Clean and dry the pan.

　　4.  Heat 2tbsp new oil in the pan until hot. Add the shrimps, 1tsp cooking wine, 1/2tsp salt and 1tsp chicken powder.

　　5.  Add in the longjing tea leaves, quickly stir fry. Then add 2tbsp of the liquid tea and stir until the ingredients are evenly mixed. Keep heating until the liquid boils.

　　6.  Add in 1/4 cup starch mixture and stir until even.

　　7.  Serve hot.

　　The romance of the song dynasty

　　The romance of the song dynasty is a must-visit show in one’s life and the soul for Song Dynasty scene and ranked as three most famous shows in the world together with the “O show in Las Vegas” and “the moulin rouge in Paris”. It depicts in an unexpecting manner with the most-advanced sound, lights, electrical skill and stage equipment for acting the suffering of

ancient Liangzhu, the brilliance of Song Dynasty Palace, the severe battle of Yue family troops with the love story of the Butterfly Lovers and Lady White Snake. The show fully depicts an active picture of silk, tea, smoke and drizzle with a heart-shaking visual experienceThe performance consists of five parts: the first part is highlighted with the civilization light of Liangzhu. In Neolithic period, the local people of Hangzhou created a great prehistoric civilization. This part show based on this historic discovery is themed with the worship to sun, the primitive sacrificing dancing, picking dancing and rice-planting dancing. It is a preparation period of the upcoming glory of Song Empire. The second part is highlighted with the feast and dancing of imperial palaces. It is the show of the glory and power of South Song Dynasty. The third part is highlighted with the warring time - shining spears and armored horses. In 1127, troop of Jin invaded Bailiang(today’s Kaifeng) and captured Emperor Huizong and Emperor Qinzong of North Song Dynasty, and this historic event is called Jingkang Incident(The Humiliation during Jingkang Reign). Song was forced to move to south China. Zhao Gou, the ninth son of Emperor Huizong established South Song Empire in Hangzhou. And General Yue Fei led his troop to fight against the north invasion in order to reoccupy the lost territory. This part is themed with the fighting experience of Yue Fei’s patriotic movement. The third part is the folklores of West Lake, and it shows the romantic love story of Lady White Snake, the Butterfly Lovers and many impressive local legends. The fourth part is the classic affection beyond the time; it is the end of the whole show.

       Culture attributes “The romance of the song dynasty” long-lasting life. The whole performance grasps the root and soul of essence of culture in Hangzhou. In the eyes of both domestic and exotic traveller, the romance of the song dynasty is not only a show, it is more regarded as a symbol for city Hangzhou, a sign for culture and history. As Broadway show in New York and the moulin rouge in Paris, one must watch the show once arrive city Hangzhou. The show passes around city history and culture, defines the cultural base for a city, combines with city as the cultural soul, and leaves an unforgettable history memory to the city.

　　Chinese Acrobatics is one of the oldest performing arts. Its history can be traced back to Neolithic times. It is believed that acrobatics grew out of labor and self-defense skills, which people practiced and demonstrated during their leisure time. The early performance is "walking on three-meter-high stilts while juggling seven gaggers". Then it developed into an entire art formTogether with the developing economy, acrobatics is also evolving into a kind of performing art. It became well known worldwide while performances are presented along the Silk Road. In Europe and North America, Chinese acrobatic performances always attract large audiences.

　　Many acrobatic shows come from the art performance of living skills and labor skills. Acrobatic show has a history of over 2000 years in China. It is named as “Baixi” in Han dynasty, “sanle” in Sui and Tang Dynasty, named as Acrobatic after Tang and Song dynasty in order to differentiate from acts in other forms.

　　There are nine specialties in acrobatic.

　　Acrobatic pays lot of attentions on leg and waist training. Since ancient, Chinese acrobat focus on the position “top”. There are many “Stand on one’s head”, and “somersault” depicted in ancient fresco and earthenwares. For Chinese acrobatic, including actor of ancient show, he should has very deep Kung Fu foundation.

　　“Stable” out of “steep” while “move” is out of “stable” are both for showing a very quiet and accurate hard skill. Such as walking on the steel rod which require all actions for stable. The moving bench and ladder, one after another, but needs the man on the top find the stable from the move and it require a stable head, super skill, and hard training . It shows fully the super skill of our mankind conquering danger and difficulties.

　　“Unique” is out of the “usual”. From none to everything, it fully shows our mankind creating the world. Different from western magic, which focus on colorful stage property, Chinese magic only needs very simple property. From cuisine to fish and bird alive, a simple long sleeve gown can turn out everything. Or one somersault can turn into a firing bronze basin or another one for a fish bowl with water and fish.

　　Hard and soft Kung Fu combines. Kicking is mostly acted by women. The actor lies and kick thing including wine jar, colorful bowl, clock, tables, ladder, wooden pole, wooden plate, drum and bell,  from weightless umbrella to heavy living persons. Things kicked is rotating quickly, jumping back and forth. From the smooth vase to heavy wooden desk, everything is kicked so quickly only for image, not for picture.

　　Super power and Nimble dexterous somersault combines. According to history record, the seat for human pyramid is quite amazing. Previously history record, 18 men seats on one man while 6 men seats on one man both appeared. Over a thousand jin including eight men seats on one man fully show the program well. The traditional “ Pulling the bow” and “playing with knife” are both heavy-loaded hard Kung Fu.

　　There are a great amount of living utensils and labor instruments used in the acrobatic show including bowl, plate, altar, handleless cup, rod, whip, fork, pole, ladder, desk, chair, umbrella and cap. Those normal things is changeable in the hands of acrobatic, fully exhibited a close tie between labor life with Chinese acrobatic show.

　　Simple arts and body arts combine. “playing fun with altar”, “rotating plate” combine both Porcelain painting with traditional Chinese acrobatic. In the kicking show, the colorful umbrella and colorful peddle the same offer feeling of ancient aesthetics.

　　Chinese acrobatic is quite accommodated in different style and various places. From market, theatre, lane, room with place of hundreds of people to only one, Chinese acrobatic is fit for any places with thousands years of history.

　　Chinese acrobatic has an intimate heritage tradition. One generation after another generation, regional, blood-related and sister arts,  previous acrobats are always inherited and passed around.

　　Zhouzhuang in Four Seasons

　　Zhouzhuang in Four Seasons is a live-action performance that depicts the everyday life of the water town's residents and is a window opening to the world for showing classical traditionally south watery culture.

　　The total staff covers over 300 actors including both professionals and the local residents, such as farmers, fishermen, and average citizens. The whole show is full of living lives. The show takes a background of small bridge, flowing water and household, those classical environments and quite elegant, queer, regional, cultural, visiting, rooting, artistic ranked as the top of performances.

　　There are three performances in the show including fishing songs, fishing women and fishing lantern. In the chapter “sailing” which combine acrobatic fully show the saga of “Shen, Wansan” a very successful business men having international trade with exotics via the convenient watery path in Zhouzhuang; while the spring scene of “four seasons in zhouzhuang” in dance “drizzle lane in small town” is a real spot performance really rival with “version of Evening for Spring Festival”. The autumn scene “harvest” reappears the harvest time of watery lands with dotted autumn harvest background including rice, ox, farmers on the stage and sounds noisy.

　　“Folk Zhouzhuang” is full of rich folk culture everywhere. Welcoming the God of Wealth and Tian Cai Tian are both watery traditions, together with the ” picking flower basket”, “the main prop of which is a stick decorated at both ends”, “swinging the boat in the lake” in real life and etc folk custom performance, fully pass around the best wish of praying for good harvest, happiness and health of local citizens. “The watery wedding” depict the tradition wedding of bowing the fast boat to get married the bride, via the interaction between audience and actors for reaching the peak of performance.

　　The whole performance is quite excellent and it fully recalls the simple life of citizen in Zhouzhuang. The normal and aboriginal life is the hottest selling point. The show last one hour and fills with laughers. It looks everyone take part in the daily life of local citizen around four seasons, and feel so lovely and simple for the local citizens. There are many actors in the whole performance with vivid acting, at same time combine acrobatic, dance, humorous dialogue, visual and sound, take on a noisy and exciting picture.

　　Impression West Lake

　　Staged entirely upon the lake itself, Impression West Lake, directed by Zhang Yimou, is a grand open-air show of light, music, dance and theatrics. First initiated in 2007, Impression West Lake deploys the lake and its surroundings as props to create a life-like charming background. Through the vividly performed folklores and myths of Hangzhou, Impression West Lake highly exhibits the deep-rooted culture and natural beauty of Hangzhou.

　　Impression west lake is another live performance of “Impression serial” after Impression liusanjie and Impression Lijiang. Based on rich history culture and excellent natural landscaping, after in-depth ancient fairy tale, folk stories, Impression west lake pays a lot of attention on the representative figures, meanwhile with the assistance of high tech, recreates western lake rain for reflecting the natural power of rain in west lake and west lake’s rain. Through animation and real picture show, city Hangzhou and natural landscape combines and reach a peak for high-class arts banquet. The audience not only watch a high-class water and mountain landscape acting but also enjoy a world-class concert.

　　Yuehu Lake Scenic Area is the venue of Impression West Lake. There is a retractable and moveable platform to hold 1800 audiences at the south of Yuehu Lake Tower. With the combination of live environment and high-end technologies, Impression West Lake extends varied marvelous visual appeal to audience in accordance with the natural changesAll the acting are made above the water, with natural mountain, water and scenery as the natural stage, it is what we called “west lake live performance show”. This is a concept for water theatre. It owns a vast visual room of accumulated thousands of years’ culture. It is not a dance, sing, play or evening party. All the performance must be lined with the natural landscape. Thus it is exclusively and can not be replaced. Natural environment is one part of performance, as the change of four seasons, climate is different too. Accompanied with the change of natural landscape, the visual image from the natural stage is different too. That is the real reason live performance so charming.

　　There are five parts of performance.

　　The first Part: meet

　　A white crane fly afar and turn into a young man. At same time, another white crane fly and turn into a lady. The couple enjoy the wonderful time on the lake. In the dreamy fog and rain, a silk umbrella is the evidence for the love of young couple. It is the first-time meet of lady white snake and Xuxian.

　　The second part: Falling into love

　　Fish in west lake are all spiritual. In the love lake, they flirt and play on fun in the lake. Similar on the stage in the boat, a fish and water play is acting. Love is a promise sourced from the spirit. Only if heart and spirit relying on each other, intimate can be felt from the wonderful love world as fish play with water and heaven seeks harmony from earth.

　　The third part: Bid farewell

　　The happy moment is short as fireworks. Loud drum sounds sufferings which imply a tremendous power to apart the couple. The white crane of the lady are finally dead, similar to the tragedy of Xuxian and lady white snake. There is always suffering hidden behind meet. Bid fare well is the next step after meet however bid farewell can be the everlasting in the paradise…The forth part: Recollection

　　When the guy made by white crane came back the spot initially meeting the lady crane, though many pretty girls passing by, the lover had already gone. He recollected the rain exactly made for the couple, seek the ship once offering promise. The by-gone lover seemed only twinkle in the gloomy while the guy recollect the bygone past at his own regret and wishes.

　　The five parts: Impression

　　As the lake, it is so elegant, profound and spiritual. As the love story of west lake is sad but not sorrow. The love partner suddenly appears but walk away by water. Meanwhile, there is a everlasting love walking for you slowly. It brings you to the myth end. You might think, if alive at the point, that would be the best. Everything needs not so earth-shakening, though only left with a rough image, but ends in unforgettable.

Hefang Old Street is the one and only best preserved urban area of ancient Hangzhou and is a miniature of the city's history. The legendary Bai'niangzi from an ancient Chinese story had a beautiful love affair in Hefang Street with Xu Xian. Hangzhou was China's capital during the Southern Song Dynasty more than 800 years ago and Hefang Street having many shops, restaurants and taverns. It has passed the test of time after the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties and it is still being a prosperous marketplace today.   

It divided into day cruise and night cruise. Night cruise has become the most distinctive tourist project. You can see both banks of the Huangpu River on this cruise. The style of buildings along the bank are various, take 50-minute to relax and have a panoramic view of breathtaking modern skyscrapers and Chinese ancient quaint bridges under the reflection of colorful lights, which forms an awe-inspiring sight in front of our eyes. And you can explore the newly developed business district at Lujiazui.

The cruise will open from 11:00 am to 21:30 pm every day. 

Visitors can choose the following schedules: 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 14:30, 15:00, 15:30, 16:00, 16:30, 17:00, 18:00, 18:30, 18:45, 19:00, 19:15, 19:30, 19:45, 20:00, 20:15, 20:30, 20:45, 21:00, 21:15, 21:30 (Schedules will do some adjustment based on the season, time, water of level and other factors).

Ps: Ticket is free for children under 13 years old.