Zhangjiagang, the county-level city in Suzhou, Jiangsu province is home to many historical cultural heritages. Pingtan Opera, Heyang folk song, and Heyang treasure scrolls have been listed in the national intangible cultural heritage expansion project directory.

Pingtan Opera

Pingtan Opera is an art incorporating storytelling and ballad singing in the Suzhou dialect which is popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang province and Shanghai city. Also known as Suzhou Opera, Pingtan Opera is deeply influenced by Wu culture and has developed into an important carrier of the?local folk culture. It was listed as a national intangible cultural heritage in 2008.

Artists perform Pingtan Opera. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Heyang folk song

The Heyang folk song is an original ecological ballad created by laborers in the south region of Zhangjiagang city. Local farmers loudly sing songs when working on the farm to express their joy in life. The folk song, with distinctive characteristics, is inherited from generation to generation.

Heyang folk song is an original ecological ballad created by laborers in the south region of Zhangjiagang city. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Heyang Teasure Scroll

The Heyang Treasure Scroll evolved from Bianwen, an art form that popularized Buddhist stories during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) and reached its peak during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The scroll is a form of storytelling and ballad singing that fosters harmony among individual humans, society and nature. Zhangjiagang has kept over 200 varieties of scrolls and published three volumes of new scrolls, which are a significant source for Chinese cultural studies.

The Heyang Teasure Scroll, a form of storytelling and ballad singing, tells of harmony between individual humans, society and nature. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]