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Wuzhen Town, in Tongxiang City, Zhejiang Province, has stood on the riverbanks for nearly 2,000 years. Many of the ancient residential houses, workshops, and stores still stand and are sites of historical and cultural interest. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties (420-581), the famed Crown Prince Liang Zhaoming studied at Wuzhen. The prince is best known for his Literary Selections by Zhaoming, a milestone in the history of Chinese literature, and the town built a memorial archway to commemorate his stay which can still be seen to this day. From the Song (960-1279) through to the Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties, Wuzhen produced more successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations than any other town south of the lower reaches of the Changjiang (Yangtze) River.

Wuzhen has kept many of its old traditions alive. In addition to the flower-drum opera, shadow-puppet shows, and temple fairs, Wuzhen also attracts visitors with its ancient art of making indigo-dyed printed calico. In the past, indigo-dyed printed calico was used for curtains, scarves, and tablecloths in every household in the province. The raw material for dye printing comes from Eupatorium fortunei, a herb that turns indigo after being fermented and precipitated. To make transporting the cloth easier, the weaving workshops and dyeing workshops are usually on the same street, often only a few doors away from each other. At the dyeing workshop, the cloth is soaked in the dye and dried in the open air repeatedly to produce white flowers on a blue background.

Wuzhen is at its best in the rain. Strolling with an umbrella down an old lane past centuries-old wooden houses and seeing the rain flow off the engraved eaves that overhang the doorways is an unforgettable experience. The people of Wuzhen mostly live a simple life. Many of them breed silkworms and raise chrysanthemums, and they still retain the tradition of buying fruit and vegetables off of trader's boats through the windows of their waterside houses overlooking the river.

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