Top 10 ancient cities: China's best kept secret
China is a vast country with innumerable tourist destinations. If you are getting tired of going to the hot spots like Sanya, Lijiang and Pingyao, and want to get away from constant stream of tourists, the following 10 destinations are good choices for you.
These ancient towns are sure to please your senses with the rich culture of ancient China:
- Daxu Ancient Town, Guangxi (广西大圩古镇)
- Zhaji Ancient Town, Anhui (安徽査济古镇)
- Yanshan County, Jiangxi (江西铅山)
- Zhaojiabao, Fujian (福建赵家堡)
- Baoshan Stone City, Yunnan (云南宝山石头城)
- Sideng Street, Yunnan (云南茶马古道寺登街)
- Heshun Village, Yunnan (云南侨乡和顺)
- Qianyang Ancient Town, Hunan (湖南古城黔阳)
- Pianyan Ancient Town, Chongqing (重庆偏岩古镇)
- Bing'an Ancient Town, Guizhou (贵州丙安古镇)
Historical Streets & Cities in China
For hundreds of years, China's ancient streets have recorded the country's history and culture against a backdrop of change and development. The streets have retained the layout, architecture, and even the lifestyles of ancient times.
The following are the top 10 historical streets in China which contain the most vivid and richest memories:
- Guozijian Street in Beijing (北京国子监街)
- South Street in Pingyao (平遥南大街)
- Central Street in Harbin (哈尔滨中央大街)
- Pingjiang Street in Suzhou (苏州平江路)
- Tunxi Old Street in Huangshan (黄山屯溪老街)
- Three Lanes and Seven Alleys in Fuzhou (福州三坊七巷)
- Badaguan (Eight Passes) in Qingdao (青岛八大关)
- Zhaode Ancient Street in Qingzhou (青州昭德古街)
- Qilou Old Street in Haikou (海口骑楼老街)
- Barkhor Street in Lhasa (拉萨八廓街)
A Guide to China's Tourist Attractions
Top 10 Attractions in:
Wuzhen ancient town in China
Wuzhen was established as a town 1,300 years ago and enjoys a history of civilization for more than 7,000 years. According to the archeology findings on its suburb--Tanjiawan, ancestors of Wuzhen settled on this land (once called Wudun and Wushu) 7,000 years ago. The records show Wuzhen changed its name in 1950 with the merger of two towns: Wudun and Qingdun.
The most story-telling old street in China
Huangshan Tunxi Old Street
Tunxi Old Street is located in the central area of Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province. It is surrounded by mountains to the north and water to the south. It has a total length of 1272 meters, the essence of which is 853 meters and a width of 5 to 8 meters. Including 1 straight street, 3 horizontal streets and 18 alleys, the whole street is composed of more than 300 Huizhou buildings built in different years, distributed in the shape of a fish skeleton, narrow in the west and wider in the east.
Because Tunxi Old Street is located at the confluence of the three rivers of Hengjiang, Lishui and Xin'an River, it is also known as the flowing "Surfing River in Qingming Festival". It is the most complete ancient street market in China with the most architectural styles of Southern Song and Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is also China's "National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit".
In 2009, Tunxi Old Street, along with Beijing Guozijian Street and Suzhou Pingjiang Road, was elected as the "Famous Street of Chinese History and Culture".
The Unknown Mega-CIties In China 中国未知的特大城市
As of June 2020 the PRC has a total of 687 cities: 4 municipalities, 2 SARs, 293 prefectural-level cities (including the 15 sub-provincial cities) and 388 county-level cities (including the 38 sub-prefectural cities and 10 XXPC cities).
Here are some of the cities you have never heard of:
Singapore’s CapitaLand builds a much grander version of Marina Bay Sands in China
Raffles City Chongqing, designed by renowned architect Moshe Safdie, is developed by Singapore’s own CapitaLand, whose president and group CEO calls it the “largest and most complex integrated development” ever undertaken by the real estate company by far. The project will hold a shopping mall, residences, offices and a hotel.
Complicated, indeed. The megastructure consists of four 250m-tall skyscrapers topped with a 300m-long curved horizontal sky bridge, which will feature an outdoor patio with see-through glass flooring as a viewing deck. The enclosed structure — longer than Singapore’s tallest building laid on its side — will also have swimming pools, sky gardens, and dining facilities.
If all this sounds familiar, it should be. Raffles City Chongqing is what happens when someone one-ups Marina Bay Sands by taking the original concept wholesale and adding more parts to it. CapitaLand’s description about their development says nothing about the similarities to MBS, but noted that Safdie drew inspiration from Chongqing’s “thousand years of waterway transportation culture” to create “an image of powerful sails upon the river”. To be fair, Safdie did design MBS after all, so he’s at liberty to replicate the same thing somewhere else. The construction is expected to be completed by the middle of 2018, and will open in phases next year.
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