Many age-old professions used to play a big part in local people’s lives. They are now gradually vanishing, but still appear one after another in this month every year. Hoopers, bamboo craftsmen, blacksmiths, and cotton quilt processors, etc, come to the town and their faces remind you of the hard life your forefathers experienced in the past.

When you sip tea in a teahouse in a back street and listen to the tranquil serenade of the Anchang river, you can feel life in the water town seems like a breeze, uneventful and indifferent to fame and gain in the outside world. Tracing the hawking down the street, you may find you cannot tear yourself away from street kiosks that sell sugared New Year cakes and spongy cotton candy.

The twelfth month of the lunar year in this ancient town witnesses the most hectic days of the year when a few theatrical troupes come to the town. People crowd across stone bridges and through streets. Arias sung in soft voices touch the softest part of theatergoers’ hearts. A few people will tie knots in this season. Following age-old customs, friends and relatives walk through streets and travel on rivers to accompany the bride to the groom’s house in the melody of drums and gongs accompanied by embroidered silk banners and blessing couplets of double happiness. As the new year approaches, households in the town light candles and hold sacrificial rites and pray for peace and prosperity in the coming year. The simple ceremony reflects their hopes and philosophy about their life in the ancient town of labyrinthic lanes and antiqued streets.

Some say the age-old town in the twelfth month of the year is in a painting of bright and ethereal colors. Some say it resembles a song that goes all the way through a breeze to give you a lifelong memory.