Yiwu is known as the largest small commodity market of China.But a growing number of visitors are discovering that the countryside surrounding the city offers other attractions.Inbound travelers to Yiwu accounted for over 300,000. The top five source countries were Republic of Korea, India, the United States,the United Arab Emirates and Malaysia,according to local authorities.

Fotang town is an increasingly popular destination in Yiwu's countryside.The 1,500-yearold settlement features traditional buildings adorned with stone and wood carvings,and is celebrated for its merchant culture and sweet snacks.The town's main street is lined up with shops,restaurants and snack bars.An exhibition hall showcasing local cultural heritage displays cultural artifacts related to local customs and culture,including abacuses used by merchants in the old days.It also houses antique wooden beds carved with auspicious (吉利的)patterns and gilded with gold or glaze.Such beds were dowry(嫁妝)requisites in ancient China.

Yiwu is known for its brown sugar,the processing of which dates back four centuries.It was listed as a form of national intangible cultural heritage in 2014. Fotang's brown sugar culture center features bronze figurines that vividly demonstrate the complicated process of making it using sugar cane.Chinese traditionally believe brown sugar is good for health,especially for women.

Fenshuitang village is a red-tourism destination in Yiwu.Travelers visit to see scholar Chen Wangdao's (1891—1977) former residence, where he completed the first Chinese translation of The Communist Manifesto based on its Japanese and English versions.Around the Spring Festival in 1920,Chen returned to Fenshuitang and lived in a woodshed,translating by the light of an oil lamp.In 1952,he became president of Shanghai's Fudan University.Travelers can visit the restored woodshed,where a wax figure(蠟像)of Chen sits in front of a simple desk.The statue appears pensive,and holds a Chinese writing brush in one hand and a zongzi (a pyramidal glutinous-rice dumpling)in the other.It's meant to portray a moment when Chen was concentrating so hard on translating that he dipped the dumpling in black ink rather than brown sugar.He didn't realize this until his mother discovered his lips were dark, as the story goes.

Indeed,travelers in Yiwu will discover that,in addition to the commodities sold downtown,its countryside also offers travel products that feature nature,history and culture,and make visiting all the more valuable.

Critical thinking

What makes the visit to Yiwu valuable in your opinion?