With a total investment of 20 million yuan ($3.28 million), the Song Brocade Cultural Industry Park is under construction in Wujiang. It will be China’s first silk cultural industry park themed around Song brocades. It will function as a comprehensive place for the popularization of science, innovative industry, leisure, shopping and travel.

Originating in the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and produced in Suzhou, Song brocades, together with Yun brocades of Nanjing and Shu brocades of Sichuan, are known as China’s top three famous brocades. Dingsheng Company invested 2 million yuan last year to design the world’s first electronic jacquard machine suited to the weaving process of traditional Song brocades. To pass down and innovate the techniques of Song brocade, the company put 5 percent of annual sales revenue into new product development, greatly enriching the pattern of Song brocades and delicately combining Song brocades with fashion elements.

The industry park under construction includes a Song brocade culture hall, Song brocade products hall, Song brocade life arts hall and silk factory store. The Song brocade culture hall details the origins of Song brocades and the development of Song brocade techniques and the industry with photos, paintings and weaving machines.