On the morning of April 25, the fifth Qiandeng Culture Tourism Festival opened in the town theatre. The Suzhou municipal CPPCC chairman, Wang Jinhua; Kunshan municipal Party committee secretary, Zhang Guohua; and city leaders Shen Liming, Xu Qinglong, Hang Ying, Zhang Bin and Huang Jian attended the opening ceremony. At the opening ceremony, Zhang Guohua conferred the national AAAA tourism award to Qiandeng town. Shen Liming, member of the standing committee and deputy secretary of the municipal Party committee, and Hang Ying, municipal propaganda department minister, unveiled the Gu Yanwu Memorial Hall. Qiandeng has already held five sessions of the culture tourism festival. It has become an important window to demonstrate the area’s historical and cultural charm, as well as a way to communicate to the outside world.

This year, the festival has emerged as an important part of the second session of the Kunshan International Cultural Tourism Festival. Traditional opera culture and art and religious culture were given the opportunity to shine. The 500 acres of rape flowers and 500 acres of safflowers in the region were promoted as an ecological tourism project. As the birthplace of Kunqu opera, Qiandeng recently held several influential opera competitions. Qiandeng also has a long tradition of religious culture. Qinfeng Tower and Yanfu Temple were built 1,500 years ago. In order to propagate the culture, the world’s biggest jade Buddha will be enshrined in the newly-renovated Yanfu Temple with a grand opening ceremony. In recent years, through historic monument restoration and cultural value exploration, Qiandeng has formed a tourism pattern with a river town background and five cultural characteristics. Qiandeng also has won titles like "National Town with Exquisite Environment", "Charming Town in China" and "Chinese Famous Historical and Cultural Town". In 2008, Qiandeng again won the Jiangsu province Habitat Environment Contribution Award thanks to its precious tourism resources. It became a national 4A tourism resort and was recognized as a national ecological agricultural tourism centre.

Time: April 25

Location: Qiandeng