Not far from Tianzhuang, in Gaozhuang village, is the city's most famous bean curd mill. The handmade bean curd is known for its natural flavor. Nearby, is Jin'gang town, which was formerly known as Leigou, and is famous for traditional Leigou cloth.

Although Gaozhuang and Jin'gang have no ancient buildings, their ancient skills have been passed down through the generations.

The bean curd mill has been operated by the Xie family since the Qing Dynasty. The family has special techniques to control the taste of the bean curd, and it carefully controls the output because there are not enough people in the family to do the hard work.

The local township government uses the bean curd when there is a feast. The dishes are all made at a nearby hot-spring resort.

"The bean curd offers me many possibilities. But the most popular dish is the oldest as well as the simplest one, bean curd stewed in broth," Jiang Daoren, head chef of the resort hotel, said.

Huang Shengliang, a textile master of Leigou cloth and general manager of Jinling Textile Co in Zhangjiagang, learned the 300-year-old skills of producing handmade cloth in Jin'gang town from his parents in the 1970s.

He is still familiar with every aspect of production from planting to dying, even though his company has advanced cloth-making machines and world-class designers now.

Leigou cloth in Zhangjiagang [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"The roots of Leigou cloth are in Zhangjiagang. I will not move production to other places in search of cheap labor. It is important to pass this tradition on. Innovations can be done on the old techniques and craftsmen can draw inspiration from traditional patterns in designing for today's consumers."

His company sells about $100 million worth of cloth globally every year, and invests 5 percent of its sales revenue in R&D. His customers include Levi's, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, Zara and H&M. The textile and garment industry now accounts for about 15 to 20 percent of Zhangjiagang's economy.