The ancient city of Tai'erzhuang combines tangible landscape and intangible culture. Zhao Ruixue reports.

As we entered Zaozhuang, a city in the southwest Shandong province, I couldn't help but note that what I'd expected was wrong. I had assumed the city, which is heavily dependent on coal-related business, would be smoggy. Instead, I found a city that has clean roads with large trees and lush lawns on both sides. The sky was also blue the day we visited, making the city's environment very comfortable. Our destination was Tai'erzhuang, a town located in the old part of Zaozhuang. On Aug 15, local authorities officially announced the town has been recreated as closely as possible to its condition before it was mostly destroyed in 1938 during the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression (1937-1945). The recreated town is rated a 5A tourist attraction, the top ranking in China's five-level tourist site evaluation system.

As we walked through the town gate, we encountered "Emperor Qianlong" (1711-99), who paraded along the main street of the town with his empress and dozens of attendants. "I feel like I've traveled back to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911)," my companion says.