From Bright Lights to Shadows: The Plight and Outlet of Zhouzhuang’s economy
Muhan Wang
From Bright Lights to Shadows: The Plight and Outlet of Zhouzhuang’s economy
By Muhan Wang
Small bridges, flowing water, houses, willow branches swaying in the breeze, boats gliding slowly along the canal, the oars creaking softly. Along the riverbank, cobblestone streets extend along the waterway, and occasional cries of vendors can be heard from shops lining the street.
Few people are on the street. Occasionally, birds land on the ground, only to be startled by a curious yellow dog and fly back to the branches. Workers hang lanterns on branches and under eaves along the street, preparing for the nighttime lantern festival. In a small store at a street corner called Mailun, coffee vapor rises, and an employee is taking out materials from a cabinet, preparing for an upcoming wave of customers.
This is the Mid-Autumn Festival weekend in Zhouzhuang, but behind the festivity, the ancient town faces an unprecedented tourism decline. Since the first half of 2024, the overall number of visitors to Zhouzhuang has decreased by 30% compared to the same period last year, according to the 2023-2024 Suzhou Annual Tourism report. This is possibly due to the over commercialization, the general decline of economy in the whole country, and the decline of the tourism boom after the pandanmic.
Figure 1: Photo provided by the Integrated Media Center of Kunshan City shows the Zhouzhuang Town lantern exhibition area.
Zhouzhuang, known as Zeguo and Zhenfengli in ancient times, belongs to Kunshan City, Jiangsu Province, and is one of the “six ancient towns in the South of the Yangtze River”. Every Mid-Autumn Festival, Zhouzhuang will hold a large lantern fair lasting several nights, attracting around 35,000 tourists to come and enjoy the scene.
In recent years, the “Ancient Town Economy”, a development model that centers on the tourism of ancient towns and promotes the development of surrounding areas through commerce, has become popular in Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces, especially after the pandemic. Local governments have introduced policies to support the development of local tourism. Zhouzhuang has also made efforts to develop its old streets, but its business model has changed little in ten years, still stuck at the stage of a loose customer economy centered around roadside shops and vendors, with no uniform management, according to some shop owners in the town. Among them, Qin Han, the owner of a photography store, complained about this phenomenon. “2023 was a peak in revenue. In 2024, it was approximately 50% of that in 2023, and it will be even lower for the same period, as the Typhoon is coming,” said Qin. “This year, the number of consecutive days without business has increased significantly”
It is not only Zhouzhuang that has experienced a decline in tourist flow. According to the 2024 annual report of China CYTS Travel Service (600138.SH), the Wuzhen Scenic Area received 7.4338 million tourists in 2024, a slight decrease compared to the previous year. In addition, Gubei Water Town received 1.2984 million tourists in 2024, a year-on-year decrease of 14.78%.
Faced with pressure, many businesses have chosen to relocate or close their shops. However other shops, like Mailun Academy Boutique Hotel, looked for another way out.
Mailun Academy Boutique Hotel, located in the northwest corner of Zhouzhuang, used to be the residence of famous educator and patriot, Mr. Shen Tilan. Shen was renowned for serving several times as principal of Mailun High School and as professor at St. John’s University, as well as his contributions to the War of Resistance against Japan. Mailun opened for business on June 2, 2023. Since its opening, it has attracted a large number of tourists with its unique features of combining a bookstore, a boutique hotel, a coffee shop, and a famous person’s residence.
Mailun tries to explore new possibilities, as Zheng said.
Figure 2: Outside of the shop, a nondescript little door in the mottled street. Photo by: Muhan Wang
Overcoming a Series of Challenges
Over commercialization is one of the biggest challenges for Zhouzhuang. Ten years ago, when Zheng Yan, the operator of the Mailun, first came to Zhouzhuang, what left the deepest impression on her was not the historical and cultural relics or the water town scenery, but the chaotic crowds, vendors hawking their wares, and pushy storekeepers. “It made me very sad… An ancient town should have its own core and culture, rather than being dominated by the market and commerce and becoming homogeneous,” she said. She believes that such a business model may have brought in huge economic gains for local residents ten years ago, but would damage the cultural atmosphere of the ancient town.
In such an overall environment, there are actually considerable challenges in the operation of Mailun. According to Wang, the customer flow in the first half of the year was significantly lower than in the winter, and only picked up during the small holiday, and the store had no customers most of the time, but it had to stay open, actually increasing the level of spending.
“If it continues like this, without its own characteristics, Zhouzhuang will only gradually decline,” Zheng said.
In addition to the risks of over-commercialization, Zhouzhuang has also become impacted by economic downtime and a decline in tourism caused by the pandemic.Mei Jiahui, a 3-year veteran of the hostel industry who currently works part-time at Mailun. recalled that the tourism flow during the May Day holiday this year was over 20 percent less than expected. Given that the small holiday is usually the peak business period, this level of customer loss actually has a considerable blow to the operation of not only the store, but also the whole town.
Figure 3: Zheng Yan making tea for her guests. Photo by: Muhan Wang
Having A Brand-New Business Mode
Over the past decades, shops in Zhouzhuang tended to be more of a small commodity economy, and few shops combine cultural heritage and modern economy together like Mailun does.
For many years, Zheng has been running her business in various ancient towns within Suzhou, from tea houses, and coffee shops to folk academies, or renovating ancient houses.
After the pandemic, she also came to Zhouzhuang and rented the former residence of well-known educator Shen Tilan from the Republic of China.
“For the whole Kunshan area, Zhouzhuang is a window looking outward,” answered Zheng when asked why she opened her business here. “It has a historical atmosphere and modern charm, but what I like most is the unlimited possibilities here. I love that possibility.”
After a simple renovation, it became the current academy-style guesthouse. In Zheng’s eyes, shops and streets should complement each other.When talking about the design of the store, she said, “I really like its current look… A good shop can change the atmosphere of an entire street, and I have always believed in that.”
Figure 4: Inside of Mailun, some modern elements were added while retaining the original structure. Photo by: Muhan Wang
Enjoying A Bright Moonlight Together
Each year,the Mid-Autumn Lantern Fair plays an important role in attracting tourists. This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival lantern fair takes the dragon as the main element, and designs and makes a large dragon lantern group to create a cultural journey of “dragon hunting”. The lantern fair was officially opened to the public on September 14, and the series of activities will last until the end of October.
Compared with previous years, this year’s lantern festival is larger and longer, with the exhibition area covering the whole town and a duration of up to half a month.
Figure 5: A large dragon-shaped lantern at this year’s lantern fair. Photo by: Muhan Wang
“It’s a great opportunity, and although not all guests will spend it, just taking a few pictures of our store and post them on social media would be a great publicity,” said Wang, when talking about the benefits of the festival.
The lights were flickering and the crowd was bustling. Nighttime shops opened one after another, and small boats moved slowly through the crisscrossing waterways. Another night in Zhouzhuang had come. The bustling lanterns reflect the excitement and happiness of the tourists, and the whole town was immersed in the atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival. Any annoying trifles of life seem to become less important at this time. Depression is swept away, anxiety is shelved, and people set aside all concerns for a moment and decide to enjoy the hard-won euphoria.
“What do you think the future holds?” asked Mei, sitting in the yard of Mailun.
“I just believe that everything is gonna be better.” said Zheng, with her eyes sparkling.
Muhan Wang
By the Intersections Team:
Editor: Kevin Sprague
Website Developer: Oyu-Erdene Purevdorj
