She County

She County, Anhui (Shexian) is located in the middle of the tourist route of Hangzhou, the Qiandao Lake, Huangshan Mountain and Jiuhua Mountain. It has the Huihang and Tunwu Roads converging and the Anhui-Jiangxi Railway running through. With green mountains and crystal-clear rivers, Shexian has a collection of ancient gardens, pavilions, bridges, archways and pagodas. The county is a living historical museum with major spots of the Taibai Building, the Xin'an Stele Garden, the Archway of Xuguo, the Doushan Street and the Memorial Hall for Tao Xingzhi.

To the west of the Taibai Bridge, the Taibai Building is the place one must pass by from Huangshan Mountain to the Qiandao Lake. The building is of the typical Anhui-style and features two stories with exhibitions of steles, and scriptures of all dynasties. It is said that in the Tianbao Reign of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), Li Bai once came to Shexian to visit the hermit, Xu Xuanping. However, they missed each other on the bank of the Lianjiang River. In memorial of this experience, people built the Taibai Building on the seat of the place where Li Bai (Li Po) drank. Climbing up the building, one can enjoy the scenery of the old bridges and pagodas.

Standing in the downtown of the She County, the Archway of Xuguo is a key protection unit of the state. It was set up in the 12th year (1584) of the Wanli Reign in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) to honor Xu Guo, the Minister of the Board of Rites and the Scholar of the Wuying Palace. Xu Guo was successful in the highest national examination in the Jiajing reign of the Ming Dynasty, thereafter became a prestigious minister for three emperors, namely Jiajing, Longqing and Wanli. The archway has eight pillars on the four sides.

All the pillars, railings, ridges and tiers were made of black stones of 4 to 5 tons with delicate carvings of dragons and phoenixes. The twelve stone lion in front of the archway are the typical demonstration of the Anhui carving art. All the scriptures of the archway were the works of the famous calligrapher Dong Qichang, student of Xu Guo, which have an effect of adding to the boldness and dignity of the archway. Located in town, the Doushan Street is an integration of ancient residences, streets, sculptures, wells and arches, and looks like a long picture scroll of history.

In Shexian, the other famous site is called Dongqiao Gate or Yanghe Gate, which was a clock tower in the old days. The gate is a two-storeyed tower and was built in the Hongzhi Reign of the Ming Dynasty.

Passingly, when you visit Huangshan Mountain, you should not miss this living museum of Anhui Province.