In-depth guides to China’s small towns — food, culture, history and travel — in Chinese and English, with sources. First stop: Shengzhou, Zhejiang, birthplace of Yue opera and home of Shengzhou xiaolongbao.https://smalltownchina.com/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/xiaolongbao/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/xiaolongbao/街头那么多“杭州小笼包”，不少其实来自嵊州。老面发酵，顶上留一个“鲤鱼口”，和上海的汤包不是一回事。 Many of China’s “Hangzhou xiaolongbao” shops trace back to Shengzhou. Raised with an old-dough starter and left open at the top, these buns are not Shanghai’s soup dumplings.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidefoodhttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/snacks/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/snacks/小笼包、炒年糕、炒榨面是嵊州小吃“三宝”。一百多种小吃，“嵊州小吃”的招牌开遍了全国。 Xiaolongbao, fried rice cakes and fried zhamian noodles are the “three treasures” of Shengzhou snacks — and Shengzhou snack shops are all over China.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidefoodhttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/yue-opera/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/yue-opera/1906 年春天，越剧在嵊州一个村子的祠堂前第一次登台。 In the spring of 1906, Yue opera took the stage for the first time — in front of a village hall in Shengzhou.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideculturehttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/poetry-road/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/poetry-road/李白、杜甫都为剡溪写过诗；王羲之在这里度过晚年；“乘兴而来”的故事也发生在这条溪上。 Li Bai and Du Fu wrote about the Shan stream, Wang Xizhi spent his last years beside it, and a famous story about following a whim ends here.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideculturehttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/made-in-shengzhou/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/made-in-shengzhou/领带、集成灶、龙井茶、竹编——这座小城做的东西，也许就在你身边。 Neckties, kitchen stoves, Longjing tea, woven bamboo — things made in this small city may be closer to you than you think.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuideindustryhttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/places/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/places/千年古镇、越剧诞生的村子、书圣后人的故里——几个值得一去的地方。 A thousand-year-old town, the village where Yue opera began, and the home of the Sage of Calligraphy’s descendants.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidetravelhttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/getting-there/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/getting-there/从杭州东站坐高铁，最快半小时左右。 About half an hour from Hangzhou East by high-speed train.Mon, 05 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTGuidetravelhttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/notes/west-lake-in-the-rain/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/notes/west-lake-in-the-rain/The fourth day of the National Day holiday, and plenty of rain. Making the most of the festive days, four of us cousins set off together from Shengzhou in the morning and reached Hangzhou by noon, hurrying to see a little granddaughter we had never met. It was good to see her, good to see her for real — only the little darling was fast asleep, so we just held her tiny hand and called it a meeting.Sun, 04 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTNoteshttps://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/notes/bless-the-motherland/https://smalltownchina.com/shengzhou/notes/bless-the-motherland/This morning I drove to Sanjie, and the singing soared the whole way: one song, “Bless the Motherland,” on repeat, and my heart surged as I listened. The lyricist is remarkable. Drawing on conversations between elders and the young, he lays out “flowers, faith, fruit, flags, the road” one after another across the melody, and through that dialogue arrives at a shared understanding — a deep love for the motherland, and songs of praise that could never all be sung. What comes next asks even more of the generations to follow: only through their unflagging effort and devotion, one generation after another, can that prosperity and strength endure.Fri, 02 Oct 2026 00:00:00 GMTNotes