Yixing, a county governed by Wuxi, ranked first in the 2017 "China's counties in the field of cultural competitiveness" ratings. [Photo/WeChat wuxibobao]

Yixing, a county governed by Wuxi, ranked first in the 2017 "China's counties in the field of cultural competitiveness" ratings as "the home of purple clay and Butterfly Lovers".

The ranking list takes local history, celebrities and cultural tourism into account. Counties which are in rich of culture resources and atmosphere and stage various culture activities promote the development of their citizens and society.

Following Yixing city of Wuxi, east China's Jiangsu province, the second and third places went to Qingzhou city of east China's Shandong province and Nan'an city of south China's Fujian province.

Yixing is renowned as the home of ceramics, as precious purple clay is produced here. [Photo/WeChat wuxibobao]

Yixing is well known for its pottery, which has a long history of more than 7,000 years. Its purple clay teapot craftsmanship is unique and attracts many tourists. The city was listed as a "national famous historical and cultural city" in January 2011.

Yixing is also the hometown of many artists, including Xu Beihong (1895-1953), who is famous for his wash paintings of horses and Wu Guanzhong (1919-2010), an oil painting artist.

Academicians of the two academies (the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering) in Yixing number 28, which is a testimony to Yixing's cultural tradition and history.

Yixing is renowned as the place where the Butterfly Lovers story happened. The Butterfly Lovers is a Chinese legend of a tragic love story of a pair of lovers, Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai. The title is often abbreviated to Liang Zhu, and the story is now counted as one of China's Four Great Folktales.