Food

Changzhou cuisine is a poetic distillation of the Jiangnan landscape and the warmth of everyday life. It offers both the bold, fresh flavors of dishes like Tianmu Lake claypot fish head, which conveys the truth that ‘good water brings out the best taste’ through a pot of milky, rich broth; and delicacies like braised pork with fermented sauce and sweet and sour spareribs, where the balance of sweet, sour, and rich tastes showcases the chef’s exquisite mastery in harmonizing flavors.

Even more remarkable is the ingenuity of Changzhou’s people in ‘turning the ordinary into the extraordinary’—a simple sheet of tofu skin can be transformed, through careful layering and firmness, to deliver the chewiness and aroma of vegetarian ham; a fresh fish, after meticulous preparation, becomes a fish ball that melts in your mouth with unparalleled tenderness.

Here, taste is not merely a pleasure for the palate but a philosophy of life: it can be the grandeur of a banquet or the comforting simplicity of a family meal. Every dish seems to tell the story of how this ancient Jiangnan city gracefully creates its unique culinary signature at the intersection of the gentle charm of its waterside surroundings and the vibrant spirit of the times.

Culture

Changzhou’s cultural legacy shines through its diverse ICH, blending craftsmanship, culinary art, and performing arts. Many can be experienced along your one-day itinerary, offering a deeper dive into local traditions:

A revered national-level ICH with a history spanning over 1,600 years, celebrated as “China’s Top Comb Craft” and immortalized in the folk proverb: “Yangzhou rouge, Suzhou flowers, Changzhou combs stand first of all” . The craft’s origins trace to the Spring and Autumn Period, with legend crediting its invention to Chen Qizi—an exiled official who crafted the first bamboo rake from split bamboo strips to remove lice during his imprisonment . Its formal production techniques took shape in the Wei-Jin Dynasties (220–420 AD), as evidenced by semicircular wooden combs unearthed from Eastern Jin tombs in Changzhou .