GUIDEBOOK

Wujiang District, Suzhou
CHINA
Preserving the historic landscape of a Chinese village:
the case of Wujiang 1 , Suzhou, China
Giulio Verdini, Westminster University & Xi’an Jiaotong – Liverpool University (XJTLU)
1. Layers of the site
The rural village of Shuang Wan, located in the south part of Wujiang district of Suzhou
(almost 2,500 inhabitants), appears similar to many other organic villages in the Yangtze
River Delta. Developed along its main canals, it is comprised of ordinary rural housing and
a core of early 20th Century structures, mainly concentrated in the south. There is also
a stone portal of the 17th Century, which is an important symbolic element for the rural
community. The vernacular character of the village, still surrounded by a particular rural
landscape of fields and fishponds, reminds ‘Peasant Life in China’ (1939) of Fei Xiatong. In
his seminal study, the father of Chinese sociology and anthropology, analysed the particular
way Wujiang farmers were involved in agricultural activities and silk production. This is an
element of the local identity, which is still alive today (Fig. 1).
Fig. 1. Tangible
and intangible
resources in
Shuang Wan: the
stone portal and
the local textile
activities.
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