Zhejiang Culture

  • Language

    Language here mainly refers to dialects. Because of its mountainous areas, zhejiang has fostered the development of multiple distinct local cultures. Most inhabitants of Zhejiang speak Wu, but the Wu dialects varies from one place to another, especially in the south, where one valley might speak a dialect completely unintelligible to the next valley a few kilometers away. Zhejiang province borders to different provinces around so that dialects there were influenced by nearby places. For instance, Mandarin and Huizhou dialects are spoken on the border with Anhui, while Min dialects are spoken on the border with Fujian.

  • Cuisine

    Zhejiang cuisine is one of the eight great cuisines in China. As a place of abundance known as a land flowing with milk and honey, Zhejiang has more than 500 kinds of commercial fishes and shell fish products that contribute to its cuisine.

    Zhejiang cuisine is rich in variety, with a long history of exquisite dishes, dishes of delicious tender, crisp and soft taste. It has characteristics of lightness, sweetness, crispiness, freshness and tenderness, which plays a key role in many of the local flavor dishes in China. Zhejiang cuisine mainly has four schools which are Hangzhou, Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Wenzhou school, and each of them has its own strong local characteristics.

    Zhejiang cuisine makes the best of seasonal ingredients which contribute to its freshness and tenderness.

  • Music

    Zhejiang is the home of Yueju, one of the most prominent forms of Chinese opera. Yueju originated in Shengzhou and is traditionally performed by actresses only, in both male and female roles. Other important opera traditions include Yongju (of Ningbo), Shaoju (of Shaoxing), Ouju (of Wenzhou), Wuju (of Jinhua), Taizhou Luantan (of Taizhou) and Zhuji Luantan (of Zhuji). Some of them use local dialects which make them unique and special.

  • Cultural Heritage

    More than 100 neolithic sites have been found in Zhejiang like the Hemudu Culture dating back to 7000 years ago, the Marjiabin Culture of 6,000 years ago, the Liangzhu Culture of 5,000 years ago, etc.
    For provincial intangible cultural heritage, there are 36 folk performances, 24 plastic arts, 5 folk customs, etc.