"The key to Chinese-style modernization lies in technological modernization." General Secretary Xi Jinping placed high hopes on Jiangsu, hoping that Jiangsu will make breakthroughs in technological innovation, build a nationally important industrial and technological innovation highland, and make high-quality development more reliant on innovation-driven, intensive growth.
“Constructing a modern civilization of the Chinese nation,
is a necessary requirement for promoting Chinese-style modernization."
In June this year, General Secretary Xi Jinping, at a symposium on the inheritance and development of culture, first expounded on the major proposition of "constructing a modern civilization of the Chinese nation."
More than a month later, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to the ancient city of Suzhou, conducted on-site inspections of the ancient city's protection and cultural inheritance, and profoundly pointed out that constructing a modern civilization of the Chinese nation is a necessary requirement for promoting Chinese-style modernization and an important content of socialist spiritual civilization construction.
One Gusu City, half of the poetry of the south of the Yangtze River.
From the time Wu Zixu built the city of Helu in the Spring and Autumn Period to the present, Suzhou has had a history of more than 2,500 years. As time flows, the city's history and cultural memory have been preserved and continued.
On the morning of the 6th, General Secretary Xi Jinping came to the Pingjiang Historical and Cultural Block, located in the northeast corner of Suzhou's ancient city, for inspection and investigation.
On the display board, a "Pingjiang Map" carved during the Southern Song Dynasty clearly shows the plane outline and street layout of ancient Suzhou.
The General Secretary approached and examined it carefully.
The arrangement of city gates, the crisscrossing streets and alleys, and the intersecting waterways—despite the passage of time, the layout of today's Suzhou Ancient City remains largely consistent with that depicted in the "Pingjiang Map." At one end stands the Beisi Pagoda, the highest point in the ancient city, built during the Southern Liang Dynasty; at the other, the skyscrapers of Suzhou Industrial Park rise into the sky, a timeless echo across time and space.
Following the stone-paved road, the General Secretary entered the ancient streets and alleys. Small bridges and flowing water, adjacent streets and rivers, white walls and grey tiles, changing scenery with every step—a quintessential example of the charm of a Jiangnan water town.
In a shop along the street, the General Secretary met Lu Jianying, a representative inheritor of Suzhou embroidery. With an embroidery frame, glasses, a steel needle, and a strand of silk thread, her calm and focused needlework brought a "太平鸟" (a type of bird) pattern to life.
Lu Jianying has been deeply involved in embroidery for over 30 years. She showed the General Secretary two works she had created in collaboration with her mother and daughter: "It has been passed down to the fourth generation. My daughter studies painting and design, and she also loves this craft; she can combine tradition with innovation."
"How long does it take to complete a work like this?" the General Secretary asked.
"Some take a year," Lu Jianying replied.
The General Secretary was deeply moved: "The strength of the inheritance of Chinese culture can be seen through this Suzhou embroidery. This kind of skill fully embodies the resilience, patience, and determination of the Chinese people—part of the spirit of the Chinese nation."
General Secretary Xi Jinping strolled into a store selling cultural and creative products, inquiring about best-selling items, prices, and business conditions.
Qiao Lanrong, an inheritor of intangible cultural heritage, was making Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures in the store. Upon seeing the General Secretary, she enthusiastically invited him to try his hand at it. Evenly brushing the paint onto the carved block, then carefully overprinting it onto the draft… a "一团和气" (a picture with the meaning of harmony), a highly representative New Year picture from the Suzhou region, appeared on the paper. The General Secretary said: "The New Year picture of '一团和气' has a very good meaning. We should strive to create a harmonious social atmosphere!"
Local officials told the General Secretary that in addition to Suzhou gardens and the Suzhou section of the Grand Canal, two World Heritage sites, Suzhou also boasts seven items of intangible cultural heritage.
"Which seven?" the General Secretary asked with interest.
"Kunqu Opera, Guqin, Song brocade, kesi (a type of silk weaving), Xiangshan School traditional architectural construction techniques, Suzhou Dragon Boat Festival customs, and Biluochun tea."
"It's a great blessing to live here. It's full of ancient charm, everywhere are historical sites, scenic spots, and culture. The phrase 'within a hundred steps, there is surely fragrant grass' can be applied here." said the General Secretary.
In a small square by the street, under several large camphor trees, local residents and tourists sipped tea and enjoyed a Pingtan performance.
"Above is heaven, below is Suzhou and Hangzhou; within the city are gardens, outside are water towns…" The soft Wu dialect, winding and turning, has a long and lingering charm. After a performance of "Suzhou's Beautiful Scenery," the General Secretary led the applause.
“I came here especially. Yesterday I visited Suzhou Industrial Park, and today I came to see Suzhou's excellent traditional culture. Suzhou has done a great job in combining tradition and modernity. It not only inherits historical culture, but also has high-tech innovation and high-quality development, representing the future direction of development. Pingjiang Historical and Cultural Street is a valuable asset for inheriting and carrying forward China's excellent traditional culture and strengthening socialist spiritual civilization construction. We must protect, excavate, and utilize it well, not only inheriting it in material form, but also in our hearts.”
