Qingyan Ancient Town

Originally built in 1378 for the military reasons, Qingyan Ancient Town is now one of the most famous historical and cultural towns in Guizhou Province. Due to the local geology, the town was built completely of stone. Its city walls built right on the cliffs with giant rocks look very spectacular, which divided the town itself into inner and outer towns. The town is located only 29 km south of Guiyang City and occupies 3 square kilometers.

Qingyan Ancient Town is famed for its old buildings. It has 9 monasteries, 8 temples, 5 pavilions, 3 caves, 2 ancestral halls, 1 palace and 1 courtyard. They all have carved beams and painted rafters, look very grand. Apart from the Chinese buildings, a Christian church and a Catholic cathedral are also found here.

Rambling on the street, you can see the layout of the town keeps a very special architectural style, which is known as belonging to that of the Ming and Qing dynasties. You can see the intact Chaomen (monumental gateway) and wickets of the town. There are many elegant classical wooden houses on the sides of its ancient business streets. In the shops, many shopkeepers still show their time-honored stone or wooden sales counters. If you like, you can stop at one of those tea houses to sip a cup of tea and taste of the local flavorous snacks, such as Qingyan tofu, rice tofu and rose sugar.