Taicang 太仓市

Setting and landscape

Taicang lies on the flat alluvial plain of the Yangtze delta, tilted slightly from north-east to south-west: a riverside plain in the east and low-lying polders in the west. Kunshan (昆山) borders it to the west and Changshu (常熟) to the north. Because the city lies east of the Lou River (娄江), it was also called Loudong (娄东) in the past.

History

In the Yuan and Ming it was a major seaport and trading town, known as the 'wharf of six countries' (六国码头); after grain shipping by sea began in the Yuan, its harbour of Liujiagang (刘家港) was called the 'first wharf under heaven'. Zheng He (郑和) sailed from here on each of his seven voyages to the Western Oceans in the early Ming. Taicang became a department (州) in 1497, a county under that name in 1912, and a city in March 1993. It also keeps an unusual group of surviving Yuan-dynasty bridges.

Taicang is the birthplace of Jiangnan sizhu (江南丝竹) silk-and-bamboo music and of the Loudong school of painting (娄东画派). The city government counts the Ming writer Wang Shizhen (王世贞) and the painter Qiu Ying (仇英) among its great artists; Liuhe (浏河) is the home town of the physicist Chien-Shiung Wu (吴健雄).

What to see

Shaxi Ancient Town (沙溪古镇), formerly called Shatou (沙头), was founded 1,300 years ago and is a national AAAA scenic area and a Chinese historical and cultural town, with Ming and Qing waterside buildings, old streets, lanes, bridges and former residences. Nanyuan (南园), a AAA garden, was where the Ming grand secretary Wang Xijue (王锡爵) enjoyed plum blossom and grew chrysanthemums; it holds a lotus show each summer and a chrysanthemum show each autumn. The Yangtze Estuary tourist resort at Liuhe, the old port town where Zheng He weighed anchor, includes Liuhe old town, the Tianfei Palace (天妃宫) and the Parade Platform (阅兵台). Jincang Lake (金仓湖), in the urban area, is a park with more than 1,000 mu of water.

Food and local products

Taicang calls itself a home of mutton, and Shuangfeng (双凤) holds a mutton food festival every autumn. The city government lists as specialities Taicang meat floss (太仓肉松), zaoyou seasoning (糟油), Shuangfeng ao chicken (双凤爊鸡), Shuangfeng mutton, new-season taro and Taicang rice.

Getting oriented

The city centre is 50 kilometres from central Shanghai. Since the first German firm arrived in 1993, Taicang has attracted more than 530 German companies. The Rothenburg street (罗腾堡风情街) copies Rothenburg's Bavarian-style buildings.

Highlights

• Shaxi Ancient Town 沙溪古镇: Town founded 1,300 years ago with Ming and Qing waterside buildings; national AAAA scenic area.
• Liuhe 浏河: Historic port town where Zheng He weighed anchor; has the Tianfei Palace and the Parade Platform.
• Nanyuan 南园: Garden of the Ming grand secretary Wang Xijue, with summer lotus and autumn chrysanthemum shows.
• Taicang meat floss 太仓肉松: Listed by the city government as a local speciality.