Niche Travel Destination｜A Treasure Ancient Town with Ancient Buildings Spanning Three Provinces

⛰️Location: Jingziguan Ancient Town, Xichuan County, Nanyang City, Henan Province. An ancient town without any commercial atmosphere, preserving a large-scale group of ancient buildings.

🚗Transportation: Self-driving or taking a shuttle bus from Xichuan.

⛺️Visiting Time: One day is enough, and you can see local customs at certain times (I saw a ceremony commemorating the Kitchen God during my second visit).

👍Reasons for Recommendation:
✅The first batch of historical and cultural towns in Henan Province, and also a historical and cultural town of China. According to the records in 'Yu Gong', Jingziguan was a transportation hub connecting Qin Chuan in the west and E Zhu in the south before the Warring States period.
✅The fifth batch of national key cultural relics protection units, with more than 2,200 residential houses and over 700 street-facing houses from the Qing Dynasty, maintaining their original appearance.
✅A place where you can step into three provinces at once, with beautiful scenery. For many years, people from the three provinces have lived and thrived here in harmony, with their own customs for weddings and funerals. You can see the customs of different provinces and even the stone stele marking the three-province boundary.

📌Main Attractions
Shanxi-Shaanxi Guild Hall: Located on the east side of Jingziguan Ancient Street, built during the Daoguang period of the Qing Dynasty. It was funded by merchants from Shanxi and Shaanxi provinces. It includes a main gate, theater building, corridor building, bell tower, Chunqiu Pavilion, rear hall, and roll shed. The front and rear eaves of the building feature six sets of wood carvings, including 'Tang Monk's Journey to the West', with exquisite carvings.
Pinglang Palace: Built during the Qing Dynasty. When Jingziguan Wharf was at its peak, boat merchants formed associations and built Pinglang Palace, meaning 'calm and peaceful waves', as a place for boatmen to entertain and gather. The existing structures include a main gate, middle palace, rear palace, and several side rooms, as well as a bell tower and a drum tower.
Yu Wang Palace: Also called 'Huguang Guild Hall'. People from Huguang highly respect the hero Yu, who contributed to water control, hence the name 'Yu Wang Palace'. Built in the tenth year of Jiaqing, the most magnificent part is the palace gate, with many exquisite stone carvings on the stone strips, including the wood carving 'Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove', vividly depicting the characters' forms and gestures.
Wanshou Palace: Also known as Jiangxi Hall, a Qing Dynasty building with 12 existing rooms, covering an area of 900 square meters. This palace was funded by Jiangxi merchants.
Futai Yamen: A special institution established by the government in the mid-Qing Dynasty, with east and west city towers, Huacheng Gate, Kuixing Pavilion, main hall, second hall, trial yamen, and barracks.

Post by BONNIE BALDWIN | Jul 20, 2024