Construction of China Song Brocade Culture Industrial Park was started at Dingsheng Silk Co Ltd in Wujiang district of Suzhou on Dec 1. This is the first silk culture industrial park featuring Song brocade, i.e. brocade produced in style of Song Dynasty. The park is invested with over 20 million yuan (about US$3.3 million) and serves as a combination of science popularization and education, creative industry, ecological recreation, as well as tourism and shopping.
Song brocade is entitled the “King of brocade”. But as time goes by, complex manual fabrication and high cost have deprived Song brocade of its advantages and market it used to have. Song Brocade Culture Industrial Park, consisting of four sections – namely, Hall of Song Brocade Culture, Hall of Fine Works, Hall of Song Brocade and Arts of Life and Silk Factory, will help visitors grasp a broad knowledge of the origin of Song brocade, and its crafts, equipment and development in modern times through display of pictures, paintings, calligraphies and weaving machines, etc., and playing of videos about Song brocade.
Wu Jianhua, board chairman of Dingsheng Silk Co Ltd, said that silk is the symbol of Suzhou and China. The consumption of silk based on traditional sales model is shrinking tremendously, so new ideas that combine traditional crafts and modern fashion are badly in need.