Xitang: An ancient town awakening along the waterways, where you can see millennium-old intangible cultural heritage come alive during your Zhejiang trip

Why is Xitang called the thousand-year-old town where people still live? Because beyond the flowing water, the depth of Xitang lies not in just seeing it, but in becoming part of it. The living theater of Xitang Ancient Town features Yue Opera, while the thousand-year-old intangible cultural heritage craft of pankou (knotted buttons) adorns garments as an enduring symbol of flowing Eastern aesthetics. Local temple fairs let you step into Xitang and understand its traditions and beliefs. During the Xitang Flower Goddess Festival, a parade of the Twelve Flower Goddesses winds gracefully along the Misty Rain Corridor, inviting you to dream an Eastern dream in the most authentic Chinese spring. You can also witness the light-and-shadow art of paper cutting, an intangible cultural heritage, watching an ordinary piece of red paper transform under scissors into swimming fish, leaping magpies, and blossoming "Fu" (fortune) characters. Here, every traditional craft and old custom isn't a museum specimen but the living breath of the town, inviting you to pause your sightseeing checklist and step into local life.