Xihe ancient town

Xihe ancient town

Xihe ancient town is located in the south of Wuhu County, Wuhu City, Anhui Province, at the junction of Xuanzhou District, Xuancheng City, Nanling County and Wuhu County. It is adjacent to Yijiang River in the East and Gaoxing and Shengong administrative villages in the northwest.

The town covers an area of about 0.33 square kilometers, quiet and peaceful. There are 780 households and 1608 people in the three neighborhood committees of Xingfu, Yuejin and tangjiapeng.

Historical development

According to Hanshu and geographer, "in the third year of the reign of Han and Yuan Dynasties, it belonged to Danyang County, and each tea house was destroyed by soldiers in the Wanli year of Ming Dynasty.". As far back as the Western Han Dynasty, the town was a lakeshore with many weeds, few people and serious floods. It was commonly known as "caotou Lake". There was a local nunnery built here, which was commonly known as "cha'an". It belonged to Wanling County of Danyang county. With the dynasty, Wanling was changed to Xuancheng, which was the first place in Xuancheng county. During the Ming and Hongwu dynasties, people began to move here to settle down The market town, located on the Jiangxi Bank of Qingyi, is named "Xihe". It was destroyed by soldiers in Wanli year. During the Qing and Jiaqing dynasties, military defense agencies were set up, once known as "Xihe flood". Others say that because it is close to Zifu River, it is also called Zifu town. According to the ancient and modern Xuancheng: "in the 20th year of the Republic of China, it was designated as a built-up Town, and in the 38th year of the Republic of China, it was named as a standard market town. It is one of the seven market towns in Xuancheng county. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, it was designated as an established town for many times, and in 1984 it was designated as an established town.

The market town was once called "Xihe administrative village", "Xihe Street brigade" and "Xihe town" along with the evolution of administrative organization. It was assigned to Wuhu County on January 10, 1971.

Xihe is an ancient town in the south of the Yangtze River. It is said that it has a long history of more than 600 years. The houses and shops are built on both sides of the dike. Because of the flood control and reinforcement of the dike year by year, the house foundation is about 1.5 meters lower than the road surface, and the bluestone road in the middle of the street is winding The street is 1200 meters north-south, with uneven width, generally 2-3 meters. The shops on both sides face each other with cornices, and the windows are much lower than the street center. The old houses along the river have steep walls, and the base is made of stone. The ground is pulled up for several feet and the walls are cut Standing up in the flood season, people can walk through the bluestone protection along the outer river. Most of the houses and shops on the inner side are connected. Stepping down the bluestone steps from the street, you can walk indoors, which can extend more than ten meters. In addition, on the outside of the upper Street are Zhangjia lane, Tudi lane, on the outside of the lower Street are xuhuilan lane, Jiangdong lane and Ruijia Lane on the inside of the middle street, all of which are old streets, leading to shengongwei and the riverside quay, which are simple and old-fashioned.

In the early 1970s, a new concrete street about 50 meters long and 5 meters wide, known as "legal road", was built to cross the old street, reaching the riverside in the East and the polder in the West At the fork is the "cross street", on which a cement dry bridge is erected to connect the old street. The dry bridge is about 4 meters higher than the road surface. People can come and go under the dry bridge or enter the old street under the bluestone steps on the north side of the dry bridge. In 1983, a new cement pavement street with a length of 200 meters and a width of 9 meters was laid. It is on the inner side of the dike and parallel to the old street. It is known as "democracy Road". It is the widest street from the grain depot to Ruijia alley and across "legal Road". Agricultural and sideline products trade gather here. Every time the East appears white, the street becomes active. People carrying baskets, carrying baskets and pulling carts gather here from all directions.

Jiezhen is located on the Bank of Qingyi River. The river has a long history. It goes up to Jingxian, Jingde and Taiping counties in the mountainous area of Southern Anhui, and flows into the Yangtze River in Wuhu. According to word-of-mouth materials, it has gone through many vicissitudes. As early as in the Longqing period of the Ming Dynasty, waterway transportation became convenient, and ships often berthed here for lodging. It has become a scattered place for bamboo, wood, firewood and charcoal sales in mountainous areas. Grain merchants from the lower reaches set up spots here to buy grain. The commercial market is very lively. It is said that at that time, there were three baths, four restaurants, 44 grocery stores in the town. Many shops were in front of and behind the shops. From Wangjia village to bamianfo, they were all residential areas, and there were houses along the river. During the Wanli period, the war broke out, the houses and shops were burned seriously, the citizens were displaced, and the economy of the market town was depressed.

In the middle of the Qing Dynasty, the people's life was stable, more and more businessmen were engaged in business, and the market towns were prosperous again. Bamboo and wood handicraft industry prevailed, and bamboo and wood ware shops were all over the streets. Large families set up grain stores and purchased grain for transportation and marketing in cities along the river. There were bamboo and wood shops on the river bank. At this time, the streets gradually expanded to the north. In addition to mountain, miscellaneous and department stores, there were also new slotting shops (wine making) and sugar shops in the town Most of the merchants were from Chaoxian County, Wuwei County, jiangnanjing County, Jingjing county and Taiji County in Jiangbei. The business was prosperous and became the important town of Xuancheng County in Ningguo Prefecture. In Xianfeng years, because of the fierce battle between Taiping Army and Qing army, the common people suffered from the difficulties. Most of the shops closed down, the residents left their hometown, and the streets and towns declined again.

In the early years of the Republic of China, the market towns tended to be revived again. The number of boats and rafts passing through the Qingyi River increased. A large number of bamboo rafts were transported from the mountainous areas and docked here. The number of boats was also very frequent, reaching 70 or 80 every day. At this time, the market towns had become natural docks in inland rivers. At the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the 1930s, the business of the market towns developed. According to the old people, there were more than 100 shops of all kinds, and the large shops and workshops employed 20 or 30 apprentices and craftsmen. At that time, there were famous pastry shops such as Wang Yijiang and Yuan Taihe. They processed various kinds of pastries, especially the square cakes, which were thin, even and sweet. There are six Chinese medicine stores, the largest of which are "Chen Hengsheng", "taihechun" and "Hu Guangsheng", with self-made Chinese medicine and diagnostic formula. There are five cloth shops, the most famous of which are "hengfenghe" and "tongyuyuan". There are "canglangyuan", "Dayuan" and "Xinxinyuan" in the bath. There are sixty or seventy seats in Xinxinyuan, three teahouses, more than thirty grocery stores and six grain shops. In addition, there are peddlers all over the street. Since most people from Jingxian county come here to do business, there is a saying that there is no town without Jingxian county. During this period, hand-made crafts such as spinning, weaving, thread finding, socks weaving and embroidery began to be popular. Wang Jingji, the people of this town, also pioneered the Xihe private Peiying primary school. It is said that when it was prosperous, the population was nearly 6000. In recent years, the advantaged yellow sand resources have been developed and utilized. Thousand tons of tugboats have been used to transport yellow sand to all parts of the motherland. On February 1, 1986, the Wanxi highway was officially opened to traffic, which promoted the rapid increase of floating population in the market towns, and the market was prosperous. The sales reached 10000 yuan, which has presented the most prosperous period in history. According to statistics, there are more than 700 people engaged in construction contracting industry in other places, and more than 300 people engaged in Huangsha transportation and mining industry. The annual management fee paid by these two incomes alone is more than 80000 yuan, accounting for 70% of the management fee income of the whole town. Xihe River is no longer the "Siberia" of economy and culture. What it flows out is the inexhaustible yellow sand resources and the youth full of pioneering spirit. What it gets will be the rich harvest of material and spiritual civilization.

Xihe ancient town, a natural water transport terminal, has a very developed business since ancient times, and there is an endless stream of merchants from south to north. Special snacks are also well-known, especially Wangjia sausage and Wangjia bacon in ancient town. They have a history of nearly 300 years. The meat is mellow and delicious, with endless aftertaste, no pigment, no additives, no monosodium glutamate, no preservatives, hunton, mutton, cake, fried stinky dried seeds, square cake, Qingyijiang fish, etc.

The nearby rural land is rich in grain and cotton. After the founding of the people's Republic of China, the appearance of jierongdian has been updated day by day. In recent years, the town government building, the middle school teaching building, the post and Telecommunications Building and the Xinhu commercial street have sprung up on the ground, which is quite modern architectural style, while the old town still retains the characteristics of the ancient town. With the national agricultural tourism demonstration site -- Heping eco-tourism area, Xihe ancient town scenic area basically has the elements of food, housing, transportation, tourism, shopping, entertainment and Education (city and county education base), providing excellent services for tourists in an all-round way. With the great concern and support of Party committees, governments and relevant departments at all levels, we are stepping into a new era of great development. We will take advantage of the situation and continue to protect the resources, special snacks and folk customs of the ancient town. As well as the characteristics of green eco-tourism, increase the strength and investment of ancient town protection, constantly improve the infrastructure, supporting services, strengthen the software construction, and strive to open up the market, so as to build the scenic spot into a city It is a tourism integrating ancient town tour, special snacks, beach swimming, leisure vacation, Yijiang river rafting, folk customs and peace ecological park, ecological tourism and popular science education, and Buddhism tour in Henglang mountain scenic area.

Address: Xihe Town, Wuhu County, Wuhu City, Anhui Province

Longitude: 118.487965

Latitude: 30.989309

Chinese PinYin : Xi He Gu Zhen