Six towns in the Yangtze River delta in east China, a modernized region considered the economic powerhouse of China, stand out for their traditional appearance, anchored in centuries-old building styles.

The small towns boast houses with white walls and black tile roofs sprawling down long narrow lanes, and stone arch bridges spanning rivers.

The lucky residents enjoy outdoor living in summer, eating and chatting in their leafy surrounds.

Nowadays, such scenes are rare in the Yangtze Delta, and the modernization tide that began in the 1980s has filled most towns with skyscrapers, wide roads, steel bridges and huge factories.

"In fact, we wanted very much to build big factories here because that means more money," said Xue Mingren, senior official with Luzhi town, one of the best preserved six.

"But none of us dare to destroy the old pattern and calm life here because it is so beautiful and lovely," he said.

Due to careful protection, lots of traditional houses, historic sites, and fascinating gardens remain almost intact in the one square km area of the town.

A total investment of three billion yuan (US$366 million) was spent on sanitary system upgrade, infrastructure improvement and pollution treatment in the six towns.

The efforts paid off. As many as 7.9 million travelers visited the six towns last year, contributing 1.5 billion yuan (US$183 million) to the local tourism revenue. The annual income per capita of the six towns peaked at 5,000 yuan (US$610) last year, which is almost same as the industrialized towns nearby.

In 2001, the six towns were included in the nation's application for world cultural heritage list.

"We felt lucky and happy," said Qu Lingni, official with the ancient Zhouzhuang town, neighboring Shanghai.

"It was not easy to protect the original sites while maintaining economic development, but fortunately we made it."
 
(Xinhua News Agency September 8, 2003)