A Thousand Years of Poetry, A City of Elegance. On May 16, the first Bai Juyi Poetry Conference, themed “Millennia of Dialogue, Poetic Suzhou,” was held in Suzhou, Anhui Province.

“Grasses grow thick on the plain, wither and flourish year by year. Wildfires cannot burn them all; come spring, they sprout anew.” More than 1,200 years ago, the 16-year-old Bai Juyi composed the renowned poem Grasses on the Ancient Plain in Fuli, Suzhou. Now, following the poetic geography paved by the Tang Dynasty poet, Suzhou embarks on a poetic dialogue that connects the ancient and the present.

AI-generated portraits of Bai Juyi released, reimagining the poet through technology

A set of cross-temporal AI-generated portraits of Bai Juyi was publicly released for the first time, preserving the elegance of the poet as recorded in ancient texts while imbuing him with a vivid modern charm. These portraits offer a glimpse into Bai Juyi’s dramatic life: in youth, a burning passion for study forged the foundation of his talents; in early adulthood, driven by a desire to serve the world, he entered officialdom and displayed the noble spirit of a scholar; in later years, though his hair was frosted with age, his sincerity endured, revealing a transcendent disposition.

Ten Bai Juyi-related research results were unveiled at the poetry conference, including “A Study of Suzhou Place Names in Bai Juyi’s Poetry” and “Inspiration from Folk Culture for Cultural Tourism Integration.” These findings explore cultural connotations, folk experiences, and brand building from multiple perspectives, offering valuable insight into the high-quality development of Suzhou’s cultural tourism industry and contributing to the construction of a new cultural landscape of “Poetic Suzhou.”

Themed routes such as “Following Bai Juyi Through Suzhou” and Bai Juyi’s favorite local delicacies were released simultaneously. Tourists can follow the rhythm of ancient poetry, stroll along the Bianshui River, witness dawn at Fuli by the Sui River, visit the Donglin Cottage ruins to explore the “Yongqiao Retreat,” and savor three dishes praised by the poet—Fuli Old-style Fish, Donglin Four-Stew, and Northern Anhui Claypot Chicken—experiencing the essence of Suzhou.

Sixteen cultural tourism projects carefully planned by Suzhou were unveiled during the conference and opened for public investment. Among them, the planned Bai Juyi Cultural Tourism Resort centers on the poet’s life and stories as its core IP, integrating Suzhou’s regional culture and Tang-Song cultural elements to offer a full-time immersive experience themed “Tour Ancient Fuli by Day, Sleep Beneath the Starry Sky of the Mining Valley” and more. The Grand Canal Intangible Heritage Town project, relying on the Xinbian River scenic area, will serve as a living heritage base with exhibition halls and clusters of artisan studios. Located at the crossroads of four provinces and within a two-hour radius of 200 million people, Suzhou invites cooperation from all regions to let culture take root and creativity blossom.

Expert and scholar roundtable

In the afternoon, experts, scholars, and guests from cities related to Bai Juyi gathered for a roundtable discussion to explore the millennium-old connection between Bai Juyi and Suzhou and decode the cultural genes of Suzhou in the poet’s works. Suzhou sincerely invites experts, scholars, cultural tourism professionals, and media friends to serve as cultural ambassadors and advisors, providing insights for Suzhou’s cultural tourism integration and helping the city become a cultural benchmark in northern Anhui and a model destination for cultural tourism in the Yangtze River Delta.

Creative market at the first Bai Juyi Poetry Conference

“Bianshui flows, Sishui flows—flowing into this grand millennial gathering! Who would have thought, dear Master Bai, that the lights of today’s Fuli would outshine the stars you once admired?” “Is this truly the Master Bai who wrote the eternal poem Grasses on the Ancient Plain? Look at this new bridge over the Bian River—it’s livelier than the ‘green skyline meeting the old city’ in your verse!” A specially designed interactive AI Bai Juyi experience offered visitors a magical audiovisual journey. The poetry conference focused on intangible heritage, cuisine, and cultural creativity, featuring themed experience zones and a creative marketplace with decorative backdrops that attracted numerous citizens and tourists to check in and engage.

The first Bai Juyi Poetry Conference also included screenings of outstanding creative short videos, exhibitions of innovative calligraphy and paper-cutting works, and cultural exploration tours along the “Following Bai Juyi Through Suzhou” route.