"The city's ecological advantage is its precious treasure," said Li Weiguo, Party secretary of Xinghua. "The city and its people have been benefiting from the local ecology, and we will continue to protect the environment for sustainable development."

As a cultural city with a long history, Xinghua has been home to many famous people over the centuries and earned the reputation as a "city of talent" as early as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

Fan Zhongyan (989-1052), a politician, poet and military thinker, was once the county magistrate in Xinghua.

Shi Naian, author of The Water Margin, was also born in Xinghua and returned to his hometown to finish the masterpiece, which is considered one of the most famous novels of ancient China. Shi's tomb, located in Xinduo township, is a cultural relic under the protection of the Jiangsu government.

Many novels from the Ming and Qing (1368-1911) dynasties were written by writers born in Xinghua, making it an important place related to the study of literature from that period.

Xinghua is also the hometown of many famous scholars, including Zheng Banqiao, Liu Xizai and Bi Feiyu. It was named as China's first "Home of Chinese Novels" in April 2012.

Bi Feiyu, a writer and professor at the Faculty of Arts at Nanjing University, has been awarded both the Lu Xun Literature Prize and Mao Dun Literature Prize, China's top literature awards, on several occasions.

Several of Bi's works have been adapted into movies, including Blind Massage, a winner at Taiwan's 2014 Golden Horse Awards.

The city government has been making efforts to build a "cultural Xinghua", for which several literature prizes and institutes have been established and activities themed on literature have been held.

There are more than 240 cultural relic and historical sites in Xinghua. Some of the houses of former famous residents have now been protected at a provincial level.

By 2014, there were 74 cultural relic units under protection.

Two local customs usually carried out around Tomb Sweeping Day－Maoshan haozi, a style of folk song performed to synchronized movements, with one person leading, and Maoshan boat racing, which is similar to the dragon boat racing held nationwide at Duanwu Festival, only the boats are not decorated as dragons－have also been added to the national list of intangible cultural heritage.

Liu Maomao contributed to this story.