5. Tunxi Old Street in Anhui, China
With a centuries-old history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Tunxi Old
Street is one of China's best-preserved commercial streets and features the
architectural styles of the Southern Song, Ming (1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties
(1644-1911).
Located in the center of Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, the street,
paved with maroon flagstones, has a total length of 1,273 meters, of which 895
meters is the pedestrian commercial street. Two and three-storey shops line both
sides of the streets and feature the local Anhui style of architecture including a stone
base, brick construction and tile roof. The buildings typically house shops at the front,
with houses and workshops being located at the rear. The street developed into the
distribution center for materials in and out of Anhui in the Qing Dynasty.
Visitors today can still find many old and famous shops on Tunxi Old Street, such as
Tongderen, a TCM shop with a history of more than 120 years. The area is a
distribution point for the world-famous Qimen black tea and Tunxi green tea, and
there are many teahouses, wine shops, bookshops and ink shops along the street.
The street has been dubbed "Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival", a famous
painting which describes the economic activities in ancient China. It attracts six million
foreign and domestic visitors every year, and is also a popular site for shooting films
and TV series.
46. Four treasures of Chinese Writing
Brush, Ink, Paper and Inkstone
文房四寶毛筆、徽墨、宣紙、歙硯琳瑯滿目,應有盡有。
[毛筆] 產於浙江的湖州。
[歙硯] 以石質堅韌,紋理縝密,發墨益毫,貯水不涸,雕刻精湛,造型獨特,美觀
適用,深得歷代名人的高度讚譽。
[徽墨] 用黃山的古松研製出,光澤如漆。
[宣紙] 正宗產地是涇縣。