The bringing back to the surface a river which in past centuries crossed the city centre of Zhongshan, China is the singular experiment to which the pages of this publication are dedicated. It is the result of international cooperation between several Italian universities (Pescara, Venice and Ascoli) and the Local Planning Institute. The Jiu Qu River Renewal Project has become a large urban project, in which the restoration of the architectural heritage from the past and the demolition of less significant buildings have been used together to generate new settlement arrangements and sustainable infrastructure. The objective is to create a vital, attractive area of the city, endowed with notable figurative and symbolic values. Text in English and Italian.