Top 10 Old Towns in China

Wuzhen

Wuzhen is a typical Jiangnan town, with a reputation of "hometown of fertile fish and rice, mansion of silk". There is a river running through the whole town. All buildings face the river, which forms a charming water-town sight. In 1991, Wuzhen was regarded as a famous provincially cultural town and now it's a National AAAA Scenery. Here perfectly conserves ancient town scenes and structures of Late Qing Dynasty and Republican Period. The special character of Wuzhen is that it wholly shows the Jiangnan Building style: streets are built on river, buildings face river, streets are linked with bridges, and town and water are combined into a body. Kown more of WuzhenThere are a lot to exlpore in the ancient water village Wuzhen in Hangzhou

Xitang Old Town

Not only Xitang is famous for its beautiful scenes, but also for its profound culture heritage: according to statistics, there used to cultivate out 19 Imperial Scholars and 31 First-Degree Scholars in history. Base on its flat land and dense rivers, Xitang possesses a perfectly natural environment: fresh air, clear waves, green trees, antique houses. The Ming and Qing architectural building are well-preserved in this small ancient town. Xitang is well-known for its many bridges, lanes and corridors. Know more of Xitang Old Town

Xitang Old Town in Hangzhou

Fenghuang

As one of the most charming towns in China, Fenghuang Ancient Town is located in the southwest of Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture in Hunan Province, with Wuling Mountain in the south and Yun-Gui Plateau in the east, which was built in the 43rd (1704) year during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.) with a history of more than 300 years, covering an area of 1700 square kilometers (656 square miles). Know more of Fenghuang Ancient Town

Fenghuang Ancient Town

Lijiang

The Lijiang City locates in the northwestern Yunnan, which is the connection of the Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau and the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, with the Tibetan Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in the north, the Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in the south and the Lisu Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in the west. Panzhihua City and the Liangshan Yi Nationality Autonomous Prefecture are adjacent to it in the east. There are 69 towns and 446 villages in total, with the population of 1,100,000 persons. Lijiang has been a multi-ethnic region since ancient times. There are 12 minority nationalities inhabiting here, including 233,700 persons of Naxi Nationality, 201,400 persons of Lisu Nationality. Know more of Lijiang

Lijiang in Yunnan Province

Pingyao

The ancient city of Pingyao is built according to the Chinese culture and architectural style with the historical appearance of the 14th-18th century.

Seen from above the city, the square wall of Pingyao is in the shape of a turtle with a perimeter of 6,163 meters (6,740 yards) long in total and 12 meters (39 feet) high, which divides Pingyao County into 2 different worlds: the streets and the architectures inside the wall are in the style of the Ming (1,368- A.D.-1,644 A.D.) and the Qing Dynasties (1,616 A.D.-1,911 A.D.); however, the ones outside the wall are rather modern; so the Ancient City of Pingyao is a combination of the ancient world and the modern world now. There are 6 gates in the ancient city with one in the south and north and two in the west and east respectively. In the south gate are two pavilions, which symbolize the eyes of “the turtle”. In the north is the lowest part of the city with the rain water of the whole city flowing from here. Know more of Pingyao Ancient City

Pingyao Ancient City in Shanxi Province

Hongcun Village

Hongcun, a village, is located in the southwest foot of Mount Huang, 11 kilometers south-west to Yixian County. It was originally the only access to Beijing for trading from Yi Xian in ancient times. The village covers an area of about 28 hectares, among which an area of 19.11 hectares is defined as the scope of the ancient villages. The bird view of village's shape is like a resting water-buffalo. The running water flows in the winding ditches to every household, and finally gathers in a little lake at the entrance of the village. The peaceful environment and beautiful surroundings present outsiders a piece of pleasing and tranquil picture of a typical country life in South China..Know more of Hongcun Village

Hongcun Village

Wuyuan

As one of the six counties of ancient Huizhou District in ancient times, Wuyuan County is located in the northeast of Jiangxi Province, covering an area of 2947.51 square kilometers (1,138 square yards), which is the birthplace of Huizhou Culture with Huangshan City in the north, Sanqing Mountain and Dexing City in the south, and it is a green pearl embedded in the intersections of Hunan Province, Zhejiang Province and Jiangxi Province. Wuyuan County is famous all over the world for its unique natural scenic spots and culture relics as well as its specialties such as tea, which is a famous cultural and ecological tourism county in China, and it is bestowed with the title of “the Most Fascinating Village in China”. Know more of Wuyuan Ancient Village

Wuyuan Village in Fujian Province

Yangshuo

Yangshuo County, founded in the tenth year of the reign of the first emperor in the Shui Dynasty (A.D. 590), is located in the northeast of Guangxi, south of Guilin. It is 65 kilometers away from Guilin land and 83 kilometers away from waterway. As a result, the traffic is quite convenient. In the north of Yangshuo County, there are two peaks of sheep-horn shape, commonly named "Yangjiao Hill". "Yang" and "Jiao" are two words that are homophonic of the local words "Yangshuo". That is why the name “Yangshuo” came into being. Know more of Yangshuo.

Yangshuo in Guilin

Shangri-la

The word “Shangri-La” comes from the Shambhala kingdom of Tibet. In the developing history of Tibetan Buddhism, the word “Shangri-La” is mentioned as the highest stage of “Jing Kingdom”. In modern times, people equate Shangri-La with "paradise”,  "ideal country”,  "Utopia” and “land of idyllic beauty”. Now, what we call “Shangri-La” is the capital of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. Zhongdian got it name in 2001 approved by Chinese central government. Shangri-La is a county of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture. But now, most people like to use “Shangri-La” when they need to mention “Diqing”. A famous book “Lost Horizon” written by English writer-James Hilton has mentioned this beautiful place. In this book, he called this place “Shangri-La” transliterated from local Tibetan people. Know more of Shangri-la

Shangri-la

Zhouzhuang

Zhouzhuang is a town surrounded by water with many branching streams, stone bridges and old residence with black tiles and white wells. walk along the best tour route to visit Shen House, Zhang house and the ancient town, which has a history of more than 900 years old with many houses built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties.

Zhouzhuang Ancient Town in Suzhou