Hometown of Kunqu - Qiandeng Town

Qiandeng town is located in Kunshan City of Jiangsu Province which is only 22 kilometers east of Pudong District, Shanghai. The town is a gathering place of talented people and cultural relics from China’s history, and it’s accessible by both land and water. With a history of more than 2,500 years, it is notable for its cultural background, the typically colorful lights, the well-preserved ancient residences, and the elegant watery views. Also known as a water town in East China, Qiandeng water town is the hometown of Gu Yanwu, a great ideologist, scholar and patriot and the cradle of Kunqu Opera.



Qiandeng Ancient Town is noted for its typical southern Chinese riverside scenery featuring small bridges, murmuring streams and elegant dwellings, and it’s an ideal destination for relaxing and spending your holiday. The town has an antique flavor featuring white walls and black titles, where the highlighted attractions include the Former Residence of Gu Yanwu, the Tomb of Gu Yanwu, Qinfeng Tower and the Yu’s Pawn Shop. A number of architectural buildings of the Ming and Qing dynasties are retained in the town, which are characterized by the Suzhou style and the Huizhou style, and you can fully appreciate them on Zhongshi Street, Qinpan Street and Nanshi Street.

Slate Street, which was built in the Qing Dynasty, paved with 2072 of slate tiles and stretches 1.5 kilometers. The 3,000-meter long stone Slate Street still retains its original appearance after the renovations made in the Ming and Qing dynasties. It’s composed of 2,072 pieces of stone slates, boasting the best-preserved and longest of its kind in Jiangsu Province. The Yu’s Pawn Shop boasts of being the first pawn shop in China.

The former residence of Gu Yanwu, an ancient construction of Ming and Qing Dynasty style, is a historic site. Gu Yanwu, a Chinese philologist and geographer of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644), was known for his famous remark: "Everyone should be responsible for the rise and fall of his country."


Qianfeng Tower is opposite the former residence of Gu Yanwu. Repeated improvement and expansion has turned the tower into a traditional and plain one nearly 40 meters high. It is home to on of the world's biggest – some say the biggest – reclining jade Buddhas, which measures 8.9 meters in length, 2.45 meters in height and is 1.35 meters wide, is also home to one of the world's largest jade reclining Buddha.



Newly produced and shipped from Myanmar, the statue is 8.9 meters in length and 32 tons in weight. It is interesting that there is one brass bell for each cornice on each storey. When a gentle breeze comes, the brass bells make musical sounds.

As the birthplace of Kunqu Opera and the hometown of Gu Yanwu (a famous patriotic poet of the Qing Dynasty), Qiandeng Ancient Town is among the famous historical and cultural towns.Its beautiful name impresses many travelers and stirs many imaginations.



Actually there are many stories about the name, but no one is accepted widely, which leaves more room for travelers to guess.