Zhang Jian Culture and Art Week opens

The 9th Zhang Jian Culture and Art Week, also known as the 5th Jianghai Culture Tourism Festival, opened in Changle town, Haimen district, Nantong, Jiangsu province on Nov 15.

A study tour route featuring Zhang Jian culture and a series of cultural venues, including the Zhang Jian Study Tour Center, were unveiled during the opening ceremony.

The event will run until the end of December, during which more than 80 cultural activities featuring the district’s operas, music, calligraphy and painting, and intangible cultural heritages will be held.

This year marks the 170th anniversary of Zhang Jian (1853-1926), an industrious and aspiring entrepreneur who not only established the Dasheng Cotton Mills that once led China's cotton-spinning industry in the early 20th century, but also built museums, hospitals, nursing homes, and founded and co-founded some 370 schools in Nantong.

It was he who earned his hometown the title of the first city in modern China.

As the hometown of Zhang Jian, Haimen has always attached great importance to the protection of Zhang Jian's heritage and the inheritance of his spirit.