If you open a map of Zhejiang, highlight in red the Grand Canal, the Cao’e River, the Jiaojiang River, the Nanxi River, the Oujiang River, the Jinhua River, the Qiantang River, among other major waterways, and the modern transport routes that correspond to them, you will see that the highlighted lines resemble the ancient Chinese character “wen” (文). 

Then, look for those poems written about Zhejiang, you will find the places that the poets from Jin（266-420） and Tang （618-907） onwards travelled are all within the confines of these red lines; indeed, Zhejiang’s water transportation, the lineage of Zhexue (the Zhejiang Scholarship), Zhejiang’s ancient and historic towns, as well as its cultural heritage, traditions and customs, can all be found within these lines.

Guoqing Temple in Tiantai County, Taizhou city. Built in 598 AD, Guoqing Temple was initially named Tiantai Temple.

In fact, Zhejiang’s four poetry roads are “concealed” in the “wen”-shaped character as well, and their development starts right from here, by drawing up the “five maps”, i.e. the map of past poets’ movements, the map of waterway transportation, the map of historic and ancient towns and the map of cultural heritage, traditions and customs.

It is proposed that the unique local culture of each place in Zhejiang be connected via poems, based on the “five maps”, which will not only reveal the aesthetic image of the poetry roads, but also uncover the hidden wisdom of Zhexue. As to the spatial form of Zhejiang’s poetry road culture, it is proposed that “One Belt, Four Roads, Ten Regions and Hundred ‘Pearls’” be developed, with major waterways, ancient routes and modern transportation as links. 

More specifically, One Belt refers to the “wen”-shaped character on the map, a concrete manifestation of the poetry culture and a visible symbol for the building of “Cultural Zhejiang”.

Oujiang River scenery: Guyan Huaxiang Scenic Area. Photo by Wang Peiquan. 

Four Roads refers to the four poetry roads contained within the One Belt, which largely correspond to Zhejiang’s modern transportation and serve as an important pillar in Zhejiang’s drive to become a “Culturally Strong Province”.

Ten Regions refers to regional “cultural highlands”, focusing on ten urban clusters with unique local cultural features and a relatively large population, and strong in economy, which can facilitate the development of surrounding areas.

Hundred “Pearls” refers to the hundred-odd culturally distinctive “pearls”, for example ancient towns, that have scattered around Zhejiang and generally fall into the following six categories, namely cultural artifacts and relics, intangible cultural heritage, historic and ancient towns (villages), landscape and maritime cultural tourism, cultural and creative industries, and agricultural and industrial ruins.