A characteristic rural restaurant in Sanjiashi village, Taicang, Jiangsu province, opened recently for trial operations, attracting many visitors from local areas and Shanghai.

Different from other restaurants, all the food is cooked with wood-fired stoves made of mud and bricks, which can better keep the natural flavor of food. Though still in trial operation, the two-floor restaurant featuring authentic Taicang dishes is often filled with visitors on weekends, with half hailing from Shanghai.

Photo taken on Jan 22, 2009 shows the wood-fired stoves made of mud and bricks in Suzhou. [Photo/Asianews Photo]

Sanjiashi village is the only village in Taicang with a history of 1,000 years. With the support of the local government, more than 8 million yuan ($1.3 million) has been invested to restore the village, which used to have dilapidated buildings. The renewal project focused on architecture, environment and transportation, ultimately transforming Sanjiashi into a beautiful village with both scenic beauty and well-preserved culture.

The rural restaurant is part of the village's tourism projects. In the future, the village plans to cooperate with Shanghai merchants to boost construction of other projects. It will build a fruit base with an area of 1,000 mu (66.67 hectares) and an agricultural base covering an area of 86.67 hectares to promote agriculture tourism and increase farmer income.