Jianshui Ancient Town

Chinese name: 建水古镇 (Jian Shui Gu Zhen)  
Location: Jianshui County, Honghe Hani and Yi Prefetcure, Yunnan Province.
Ticket: Free
Estimated tour time: 1 day
Recommended time to visit: All year round.
Nearby attractions: Yuanyang Race Terraces, Bise Village, Dongfengyun Art Town, Taiping Lake Forest Park, etc.

Jianshui was called Lin'an or Badian Town in ancient times. It is located over 220 kilometers south of Kunming. Jianshui is one of the national famous historic and cultural towns of China. With a history of about 1200 years and an abundant distinctive cultural heritage, the Ancient Town enjoys a great reputation as a 'Museum of Ancient Buildings and Residential Houses' and attracts a lot of visitors at home and abroad.
Undergoing the vicissitudes of 12 centuries, the ancient town still preserves over 50 ancient buildings, once known as the “Ancient Architecture Museum” and “Residences Museum.” Due to its remote location and difficult access, the town remains fairly secluded. Despite successive wars and social upheavals, numerous ancient buildings have survived, including the thatch- and bamboo-roofed houses of the Hani people, the bungalows of the Yi and the Dai people, and the tile-roofed one-storey houses of the Han.

More than 15 ancient buildings have remained in its present ancient town. The famous scenic spots include: Jianshui Confucius Temple, Zhu Family Garden, Double Dragon Bridge and the National Examination Site of Xuezheng (the National Education Ministry) of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Apart from these attractions, the surrounding sights are also delightful, such as the Swallow Cave and Zhang Family Garden in Tuanshan Village.

● Highlights of Jianshui Ancient Town

Jianshui Double Dragon Bridge

Outside the town, lies the Double Dragon Bridge, also called the Seventeen-Archway Bridge. Twin Dragon Bridge named due to the two rivers wind like two dragons, is a three-arch stone pavilion with seventeen holes, so commonly known as "a 17-hole bridge". With 148 meters long, 3-8 meters wide, is one of the famous monuments of Yunnan Province, and considered as the largest and highest artistic value of a porous arch bridge, which has been included in Chinese bridge-building history.

Zhang's Family Garden

Just over 20 minutes drive away from Jianshui Ancient Town, the Tuanshan village is an intact cultural village with many best preserved traditional folk houses and ancient buildings of the late Qing Dynasty. Among these buildings, Zhang's Family Garden is the second largest classical garden in Jianshui but with even better construction and of higher artistic value, thus well worth a visit.

Zhu Family Garden

Zhu Family Garden, the so-called 'Grand View Garden' of South Yunnan Province, is a representative of Chinese residential houses of the Qing Dynasty.  It was built 100 years ago by a merchant named Zhu and his brother after they became wealthy in their business.
The garden is built as a maze. The main building is built with a layout of "four vertical and three horizontal lines". It's made up of many courtyard-style folk houses. We are reminded of the lives of the Zhu Family in times past by the upturned eaves, the vivid paintings and the exquisite carvings on the roof beams.

Jianshui Confucius

The Jianshui Confucius Temple, is one of the biggest Confucius temples in China and another of the ancient structures worth visiting. Confucius the famous philosopher lived from 551-479BC. His teachings and philosophies have deeply influenced Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Vietnamese culture and life throughout history. His temples spread widely during history but most were destroyed during the civil war and Cultural Revolution.

Jianshui Confucius Temple imitated the style and design of Qufu Confucius Temple in north-south central axis symmetrical palatial style. The main buildings including: one pond, one altar, one garden, two temples, two side rooms, three halls, three cabinets, 4 doors, 5 pavilions, 6 ancestral temples and all together 37 buildings.The big cypress tree standing in the temple is hundreds of years old. Dacheng Hall is the most splendid of the hall in the temple.

Chaoyang Tower

At the eastern end of Lin'an road of downtown, the 3-storey Jianshui Chaoyang Tower (Yinghui Gate) also called East Gate Tower is the landmark of Jianshui County. It was built as the eastern gate of the ancient town in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and remains till now, while the other three towers all collapsed because of war fires and the erosion of wind and rain. Chaoyang Tower is reputed to be the 'Small Tiananmen Tower' because it is very much like the Beijing Tiananmen Tower in appearance, although Chaoyang Tower.Standing on the tower, you can have a panoramic view of whole Jianshui ancient town.

Ancient Wells

Old wells are scattered across Jianshui’s ancient alleys. According to historical records, the oldest in Jianshui is the Liquan Well outside the east city gate, with a history of over 700 years. A 60-cm-high balustrade encircles the round well with a 90-cm-diameter opening. Two arcs formed by huge boulders shape a cylindrical edge around the well opening. Molten pig iron was poured into the grooves at the brims of the two arcs to fuse them securely.
The most famous well here would be the Daban Well, also known as the Pubo Well, boasting the biggest opening – more than three meters in diameter. Beside the well stands a temple where the Water Deity is worshipped. With these innumerable wells, Jianshui people have retained the town’s ancient and traditional lifestyle. The well water is clear and soft. Tea made with it has a sweet taste, and tofu, such as the famous West Gate Tofu, made with the water is tender and delicious.