Anchang ancient town

Today's Anchang has been commercialized. It's more suitable to choose a quiet day and walk alone. The place that is really called ancient is about 3 li. A river divides Anchang into the south bank and the north bank. On the river, there are various ancient bridges connecting the two banks. The old streets along the river are full of the marks of everyday life. There are craftsmen pulling sugar and hooping wooden barrels, old people sitting in silence, and all kinds of old shops. The most delicious one is Xuchang soy sauce garden. There are soy sauce VATS on the soy sauce sun drying ground, which you can visit at will. There are also shiye hall, the former site of the Bank of China and other buildings that record the history of the ancient town. The most lively time is during the twelfth lunar month, when every household hangs sausage, a peaceful atmosphere.

Anchang ancient town

Anchang ancient town is one of the four famous ancient towns in Shaoxing and the first batch of historical and cultural towns announced in Zhejiang Province. Located in the northwest of Keqiao District, Shaoxing City, it is adjacent to Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou City, Keqiao city in the South and Hangzhou Ningbo Expressway in the north.

It was first built in the Northern Song Dynasty, then burned many times due to the war, and rebuilt in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Its architectural style inherits the typical characteristics of the water town in the south of the Yangtze River, with a strip of water, simple and elegant. Its specialty Anchang sausage and white sugar are well-known, and the water wedding with the style of water town is also unique. It is the hometown of Shaoxing master. The most distinctive is the small bridge in Anchang. Every year, the wind of the twelfth lunar month attracts a large number of tourists.

In February 2020, in honor of medical workers, the scenic spot will be open to medical workers from the end of the epidemic to December 31, 2020.

Architectural features

The old street is built along the river with a total length of 1747 meters. In the south of the river are dwellings, and in the north of the river are commercial markets. The two banks are connected by ancient bridges. In the south of the river, there are covered corridors, shade and rain proof, various traditional shops and workshops, and Fanxuan arcades. On the other side of the river, there are green stone path, simple old houses, narrow and deep alleys. It was built in Chenghua and Hongzhi years of Ming Dynasty. From Gaoqiao in the east to qingdunqiao in the west, there are streets near the river. The streets and rivers depend on each other. The streets are paved with local bluestone slabs in Shaoxing. Now there are old stone slab Road, Fanxuan arcade, shop workshop, arch bridge stone beam, taimen lane and so on. There are many kinds of traditional stores along the street. They sell a wide range of local products, especially the traditional food made by the people, such as sausage, sugar, etc. Scattered in the streets of the deep courtyard, especially the wedding hall, master hall, coin hall, etc., can make the tourists immersed in the deep water customs.

Anchang's small bridge is very unique, with various types of arches, beams and pavilions, simple and elegant. It is known as the "blue water passes through the street, and the rainbow crosses the river seventeen bridges". Among them, the most famous are the three bridges named Fulu, Wan'an and Ruyi. When people in the ancient town marry their daughters, they have to take the whole three bridges.

With the opening of "Shaoxing shiye hall", "Anchang folk custom hall" and "Anchang culture and history hall", which are renovated according to the former residence of shiye and other ancient folk houses, the ancient town has added a strong humanistic atmosphere, making it a "corridor of water culture", "scroll of market customs" and "long street of characteristic commodities". Shaoxing's thousands of years of folk customs have been preserved and continued in most ancient towns. In the middle of winter, walking along the old street of Anchang, you can appreciate the local customs of the ancient and simple water town. In Anchang, you can also see the strong folk customs in the south of the Yangtze River. The folk customs of Shaoxing for thousands of years are displayed incisively and vividly here: the lively water town social drama, the festive wedding on the boat, the traditional hand-made wine making, the shuttling awning boat... And even the Jiangnan customs such as blessing, wrapping zongzi, stringing sausage, pulling sugar, etc. Shaoxing's thousands of years of folk customs have been preserved and continued in most ancient towns. In the middle of winter, walking along the old street of Anchang, you can appreciate the local customs of the ancient and simple water town.

Main attractions

Suikang bank

Suikang bank has been in operation for nearly a hundred years from 1850 to 1949, and the receptionists here are the third generation of Yu family who founded the bank. According to the third generation of Yu's descendants, Yu's father and son (the grandfather and father of the receptionist) who started the business of the bank were not only businessmen, but also literati. They could not only write but also draw. There are not only some ancient coins on display in the bank, but also the calligraphy and painting works of father and son. The God of wealth in the bank is quite different from the modern God of wealth. He holds three stacked Yuanbao in his left hand, holds his right fist flat on his right chest, wears an ancient costume of red on top and blue on the bottom, and sits on the chair with a smile. Originally, it was placed in a shrine facing the front door, under which the word "Kecun Xinyi" was written.

Stone carving Museum

The museum displays more than 200 precious stone carvings from the early Tang Dynasty to modern times. There are stone pieces of different ages, such as stone lions, stone windows, stone pools, mills, tables, piers and mortars. There are 13 epitaphs of Tang, Zong, yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasty inlaid on the wall. There are more than 10 steles of Shaoxing ancient primary school built in Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty. There are also more than 10 steles of "zongjunzi Xiuji Pei Chen Ruren tomb" written by Cai Yuanpei. These stone objects have unique shapes, different shapes, powerful calligraphy and superb craftsmanship.

"Huaxingbao" in Anchang

"Huaxingbao" in Anchang is the earliest cotton industry center in Shaoxing. The farmers are also engaged in the textile of local cloth. The cloth is fine and uniform, and is known as "Nansha Serge". Therefore, in the serge branch of Nansha, there are all kinds of local textile tools, local cloth clothing, and twelve pieces of "imperial cotton weaving" inscribed in the 30th year of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The colorful sedan chair, the magnificent wedding hall and the complicated dowry display fully demonstrate the traditional marriage customs of Shaoxing. The bride's room is half drawn to make a bed. It's made of research and exquisite technology. It's a family property handed down by rich and noble families.

Master Hall

It is said that the world's masters come from Shaoxing, but few people know that most of them come from Anchang. It is said that there were no less than 10000 senior masters who went out from here in 200 years. Today, there are many senior masters' former residences scattered on both sides of the river. Relying on the former residence of Mr. Lou Xintian, shiye hall displays "Shaoxing shiye", a special social group, special political and cultural phenomenon in the late feudal history of China, and its deep foundation in Anchang. There is a group of painted sculpture works in the master's hall, which shows the scene of local yamen officials in the Qing Dynasty when they went to court to hear a case. The plaintiff and the defendant knelt down in front of the court, and the three groups of Yamen officers held sticks to wait on them. However, the real "backbone" is the master sitting at the back of the hall. Because he has no official identity, the master can only sit at the back of the hall for hearing. Once he finds that there is something wrong with the party's evidence, he will send a note. When the master is angry, he should be reminded in time.

Former site of Bank of China

The two bridges beside the former site of the Bank of China are very distinctive. They are built in the shape of eight characters across the river. Although they are not connected, they are also interesting. Entering the bank is a big counter, in which there are some books, lamps, abacus, electric fans and so on on on several tables; beside the old cabinet standing against the wall, there is a wall clock and an old telephone under the wall clock.

Chenghuang Hall

On the opposite side of the Chenghuang hall is a stage built by the river, on which there is a plaque of "ancient and modern mirror" in 1725 A.D. The Chenghuang hall was built in the late Ming Dynasty. The hall is spacious, with three entrances in front and back. The building is magnificent, with cornices and angles. In the first five rooms, a couplet is carved on the stone pillars of the Mountain Gate: snow takes advantage of the strong wind to occupy the countryside for a few days; clouds take advantage of the rain to hide from the world for a short time. The main hall has three rooms. The roof is decorated with "cloud dragon", with bronze mirrors in the middle. On both sides of the hall, there are four characters of "peace of the country and peace of the people". Under the eaves, there are straight plaques with lace and gold characters of "le Feng Yong Zhen Hou Li". The stone pillars in the hall are decorated with fine relief. On the left and right pillars, there are two dragons dancing their claws and hovering in the air. There is a square table in the middle of the hall, on which sits the City God "Yong Zhen Hou Li"; beside it is a sitting statue of his son in the palace, which is dignified and dignified; beside the hall, there is a wall to be erected.

local customs and practices

Since 2000, it has been held every year in December.

During the wind plot period, there will be rich folk activities in Anchang town (now Anchang Street). Ancient town tour: visitors can go to the old streets, take the wupeng boat to visit the ancient town, and see all kinds of stone bridges, Qingshi lane, Chenghuang hall, suikang bank, folk custom museum, shiye hall, etc. The Dongshi section of the old street is the place where the folk flavor of the ancient town is most concentrated. Local people will display various special activities: coop, bamboo weaving, iron making, shoes taking, lace picking, cotton spinning, etc. During the wind plot, visitors can truly see the lively scenes of the ancient town people welcoming the new year: pushing New Year cake, wrapping zongzi, pouring sausage, pulling sugar, etc. In addition, she Xi, lianhualuo, Yaogu, guessing riddles, Shuixiang wedding, Shuixiang birthday banquet They all have a mellow taste of water folk customs.

festival activities

Every golden week in the town, there are social dramas, but they are not usually performed. At the same time, starting from 2000, on January 1 of every year, it will hold the "La Yue Feng" festival in Anchang ancient town.

December Festival

La Yue, a word that can only be seen in Lu Xun's novels, has been completely preserved in Anchang. In history, Anchang used to be an important town with a large number of merchants and developed economy, and it was also a product distribution center connecting more than 100 Li, especially for the cotton textile industry. Anchang "took advantage of water transportation and relied on abundant products" and became an important cotton distribution center in eastern Zhejiang for hundreds of years. At that time, it came from all over the country

Chinese PinYin : An Chang Gu Zhen