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Guiyang Tour of Qingyan Ancient Town
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Qingyan Ancient Town, one of the most famous historical
and cultural towns in Guizhou Province, lies in the southern suburb
of Guiyang. As an ancient town, covering an area of 741 acres, Qingyan Town was originally built in 1378. Nowadays, because of its
long history and strong cultural atmosphere, Qingyan Ancient Town
has become an attractive destination for numerous domestic and
foreign tourists.
Dating back to the beginning of the Ming Dynasty
(1368--1644), Qingyan town was built for military reasons. Because
of its geographical location, Zhu Yuanzhang, the first emperor of
Ming Dynasty established it as a station for transferring military
messages and to house a standing army. Through years of modification
and repeated restoration, Qingyan Ancient Town has gradually become
a distinctive ancient town with cultural features of Ming and Qing
Dynasties (1644 - 1911).
Although small in size, Qingyan Ancient Town has a
well-planned architectural style, hundreds of sites of relics, and
an influential local culture.
Due to the local geology, Qingyan Ancient Town was
built completely of stone. Visitors can see spectacular city walls
built right on the cliffs with vast rocks, which divided Qingyan
into inner and outer towns. There are four gates in the wall facing
north, south, east and west. Outside the four gates, there were
originally eight stone tablets, which were considered the symbols of
Qingyan Ancient Town. Of the eight, three remain with delicate
sculptures on each surface. The most famous one is called Zhao Lunli
Baisui (longevity) Fang.
Walking inside the inner town, visitors will surely
marvel at the ancient architecture here. There are over 30 types
including monasteries, temples, cabinets, caves, courtyards and
palaces. All of them were delicately designed by the skillful
architects of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. A number of exquisite
articles, such as the stone sculptures of Ciyun Temple and wooden
sculptures of Shoufo Temple are all worth a look. You can visit the
ancient business streets to admire the elegant classical wooden
houses. If you like, stop at one of those tea houses and have a
taste of the famous local snacks, such as Qingyan tofu, rice tofu
and rose sugar.
Religious culture here is also quite rich, including
Buddhism, Taoism, Catholicism and Christianity. If you are
interested in Buddhism, you can take this chance to learn the
typical Buddhism culture here. Also, you will be impressed by patter
of the Taoists. What's more, you will be surprised to find that so
many residents here are Catholic and Christian, since Catholicism
was introduced here in 1851 by a French missionary and Christianity
was introduced to Qingyan Town nearly 70 years ago.
While traveling in Qingyan Ancient Town, visitors will
hear many stories of historical figures that were born or lived
here. The first Zhuang Yuan (winner of the national examination) of
Guizhou Province during the Qing Dynasty was Mr. Zhao Yijiong who
was born and brought up in Qingyan Town. Mr. Chang Pinggang, the
General Secretary of Dr. Sun Yat-sen was a county fellow of Qingyan
Town.
Qingyan Ancient Town is really a fantastic place for
visitors to learn about ancient Chinese culture. Time permitting, it
is worthwhile to stay in the town for one or two days. By doing so,
you can grasp a better sense of the classical elegance of this
unique ancient town in the early morning. |
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