Anhui's Least Developed Ancient Town, Dubbed 'Little Shanghai,' Has Free Admission But No Visitors
Located on the shores of Lake Chongchao in Anhui Province, this ancient town is the first overseas Chinese town in Anhui, a national civilized village and town, a national key town, and a national construction town demonstration pilot town. Although it is not widely known by many people, it once had a glorious history, but now it is little known. It is 'Changlinhe Ancient Town'. A charming ancient town with a distinct old-time atmosphere.
Changlinhe Town is located at the southernmost end of FeiDong County, Hefei, on the shore of the Yangtze River. It is named after Changlinhe. It takes about 40 minutes by car from Hefei. There is also a railway station here, called Changlinhe Station.
Changlinhe Ancient Town has a long history, traceable back to the Ming Dynasty's Hongwu reign, with a history of 600 years. Many people from Jiangxi were migrated here, and gradually formed a village and town, with numerous characteristic Jianghu ancient architectural groups rising from the ground.
Six hundred years of sedimentation have made the town's cultural heritage particularly deep. It still retains many historical sites, with the most famous being 'Old Street'. It is a national 4A-level tourist attraction and does not charge an entrance fee. There are many attractions on Old Street, including a century-old post office, an old newspaper, Wu's Old Residence, a Folk Museum, and Zhunti Temple.
Old Street is distributed in a 'T' shape, with a total length of more than 600 meters, with north-south sections measuring over 360 meters and east-west sections measuring over 240 meters. The streets and alleys are all lined with Qing-style brick-and-tile buildings, which is a typical Jianghu folk residence style. This is also one of the characteristics of Changlinhe Old Street. Unfortunately, very few visitors and people who know about it come here. When we went there, there were only the three of us wandering through the streets and alleys.
Although the Changlinhe Ancient Town is somewhat dilapidated now, it was very prosperous in history. As early as the Qing Dynasty, Changlinhe Old Street flourished due to ( – transportation of grain), and was the main trading center on the south bank of the Yangtze River. At that time, there were numerous trading posts and merchants gathered on Old Street, with cloth shops, money changers, pharmacies, rice shops, wine shops, department stores, and lending businesses. It was known as 'Little Shanghai',
Although there are few visitors, there are many attractions. There is a newspaper called 'Jixian Zhonghua' (Jixian Zhonghua – 'Virtuous China') in the old street. The old newspaper was renovated on the basis of the original folk residence. It is said to be one of the museums with the most collected old newspapers in China. It displays newspapers and historical materials from the Ming Dynasty to the modern era.
Wu's Old Residence is located at No. 25, East Street, Changlinhe. From the outside, this building looks very rustic and elegant, a typical Huaipei folk residence. However, it was the birthplace of the famous surveyor Mr. Wu Zhongxian. The main entrance of the courtyard is particularly peculiar, not parallel to the walls, but facing north-east, which means 'Eastern Purple Air',
There is also a century-old post office on Old Street. It was originally the residence of Generals Wu Yuxin and Wu Yulan of the Huijun (Huijun – Army of the Huai Qing) . It has a history of more than 300 years and became one of the earliest post offices in FeiDong in the early years of the Republic of China. It has a history of 110 years, witnessing 110 years of postal history in Changlinhe Town,
Now it still belongs to the postal service, but it does not provide postal services, but is a museum. It displays texts and items related to postal history.
Do you hear of or have you been to this 'Changlinhe Ancient Town' in FeiDong County, Hefei? What are your impressions? Please leave a comment.
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