Zhangjiagang, a county-level city in East China's Jiangsu province, has experienced a boom in the development of cultural relic protection and intangible cultural heritage in the past decade.

The city has added three new national cultural relic protection units and five provincial ones over the past ten years.

The Huangsipu site made the list of the top 10 new archaeological discoveries in China in 2018.

In 2020, the Zhangjiagang Museum was upgraded to a national second-class museum. The museum houses 5,880 treasures, including nearly 600 valuable cultural relics.

To date, Zhangjiagang has 51 heritage protection units above the provincial level.

The city has also introduced two national and four provincial intangible culture heritage programs in the past decade. It currently has 92 intangible cultural heritage programs, including four provincial ones, 11 provincial ones and 20 municipal ones.

In addition, 14 intangible cultural heritage education bases and one intangible cultural heritage research and protection center have been established in the city to protect and promote local intangible cultural heritage.

Zhangjiagang has also been encouraging a combination of tourism and intangible cultural heritage.

For example, Phoenix town in Xiaojiaxiang village has formed a tourism industry characterized by folk songs and ancient streets.

In 2021, the Phoenix Hill Scenic Area made the list of 2020-2021 Jiangsu travel bases for experiencing intangible cultural heritage.

A performance is held in Xiaojiaxiang village to show off local intangible culture heritage. [Photo/WeChat account: zjgwtgl]