The cultural practices

Nantong is rich in cultural heritage. Great figures such as Fan Zhongyan, Wang Anshi, Mi Fu and Wen Tianxiang have left their traces here. Nantong is the hometown of many cultural celebrities, including one of the "eight eccentrics of Yangzhou" Li Fang Ying, the Number One Scholar of the late Qing Dynasty Zhang Jian, performing artist Zhao Dan, and Chinese painting master Wang Geyi. What’s more, Nantong also nurtures about nearly 30 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The folk art in Nantong is colorful and diversified. The Tongzi Play is a traditional Nantong local opera, which is renowned as the "living fossil of Nuo Opera". Hai'an Dragon Dance, Haimen Folk Song Opera, Rudong Tiaomafu Dance and others are widespread. Hai'an Flower Drum Dance is even rather famous in Beijing. Tong School bonsai art is long-standing and well-established. The "Summer Night of Hao River Beach" art performances that have been held for 30 consecutive years have becoming a repertoire of Nantong people’s cultural life in the new era.