Land of painters, scholars and poets

For thousands of years, Wuzhen has been home to many great talents in China.

Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty (502-560) studied here, compiling the first "selected Chinese writings" in history, which were studied by many others in the following centuries. The second half of the Book of the Later Han was discovered in Wuzhen. Talents in Wuzhen one generation after another chose to serve the country in the government, and when they left the government, they would start businesses. Many rich families lived in big residences, their gardens connected with each other, decorated with tall, thriving trees and painted leisure boats. Ginkgoes planted during Tang Dynasty (618-907) still flourish today. Even common people were well-educated and enjoyed access to libraries.

Today, visitors can go to Wuzhen's Dongzha area to see the academy named after Zhaoming. At the entrance, there stands a memorial gateway that was set up in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), but the academy was not built until the local government started developing Dongzha in 1999.