Given that the main entrance would likely be crowded with people and tour buses attempted to pick up and drop off passengers, our guide decided to let us disembark at another location; along a road which sounded funny in Chinese as it literally meant "on the road". Good thing about the side roads? Much less commercialized and you could even chance upon the daily activities of the locals, like the blatant playing of card, curing the pork legs and even a pet dog guarding the electric bike of its owner.
Cutting across the ancient street.
As there were quite a few parallel roads, we figured it might be best to check out the street along the river first and then looped back to the ancient street. p.s. this section seemed to be host a small section of a flea market.
This section should be the Binjiang West Road. Unlike the ancient street, the shophouses here had a modern vibe despite showcasing traditional architectural style. It's like things were torn down, and rebuilt to be inline with modern functions in mind.
Plenty of photo spots. For me, however, I like to immerse in just being surrounded by buildings that had existed for hundreds and thousands of years.
A shop that brings back memories for the seniors in China. Foreigners might find some of the things familiar, like the box-like television sets, and some of the games even I had played before as a kid, before the invasion of smartphones and iPads.
Views of the river, including the Wenfeng Bridge, which had covered walkways for pedestrians, and a 27-meter high viewing platform built in traditional Chinese style. It's not that old though as it was opened to traffic in August 31, 2013.
Always good to make use of empty, plain white walls. Pity my Chinese is not good enough to appreciate poetic sentences. To be fair, I don't understand even if it is in English too.
A pavilion that offered souvenirs from the Huizhou culture and my purpose of visit was more to see if I could go up to the upper levels for some photo-taking!
Accomplished! One thing about the poses made by my dad; a thumbs-up is more a routine / trademark, and has nothing to do with whether the view is nice, or not.
Cutting across the Middle Road; the loop to bring us back to the ancient street. With lanterns hung across the street, I bet this would be a lot more crowded at night.
Flushed with ancient looking buildings, including the above, which claimed to have been around for around 260 years, across eight generations, and sells traditional Chinese medicinal paste!
Those looking to chill around would really like the numerous cafes along this stretch. Pity, being on a tour package means constantly on the move, until you are back in your hotel room.
A bridge that crosses "nothing".
A useless photo spot yet, I am using it.
At the corner of Tunxi ancient street stands a building too hard to miss. Known as the Wan Treasure House, its grand structure, based on Huizhou style of architecture, would sure catch your attention and inside were exhibition halls totalling over 2000 square meters, comprising of collections from a Mr Wan Renhui. Ticket at 50 RMB per person; no, I no time to visit.
Let's now explore the ancient street, which originated back in the Song Dynasty, with a history of at least 750 years. Spanning about 1,272 meters long, a stretch of 832 meters has been converted into a street for pedestrians only. So, just need to keep a lookout for humans only!
Interesting; a special species of pear known as lipstick pear! For a moment, I thought they were apples and cost about 18 RMB / 500 grams. Pity no sample that we can try.
A few things that would keep appearing as we explored deeper; one of them would be tea, which originated from China, and was once a key exporter during the Qing dynasty.
As caffeine is something I would like to avoid, now that I am older and finds it harder to sleep, my preference would actually be the chrysanthemum tea, and the ones sold were used as tributes during the dynastic era and said to be made of "dried white flowers grown in the mountain region of Anhui Province, China".
I would strongly recommend the almond loquat paste! Minty and more powerful than the Nin Jiom Pei Pa Koa we are more accustomed to, there were samples available for you to try before buying!
Waxed products that I don't usually enjoy. Again, samples were available for customers.
While I am a foodie, I am not adventurous even if I am curious. While this store's main products were rice wine, I was drawn more to the bottles of old yogurt drink.
Calligraphy brushes of all sizes; thankfully I am not cultured enough. My handwriting, using a much simpler ballpoint pen, is already unintelligible and I bet it would be plain gibberish with brushes.
Another signature souvenir was said to be a pastry biscuit with fillings of preserved mustard greens; there were many stores selling them, but I am sorry; not my cup of tea, Maybe I should have been adventurous by trying those with other nicer fillings.
Other specialties of Anhui province, including snacks, sauces, fermented beancurd, stinky mandarin fish etc. Most of which I had no interest in; thankfully as they could be a hassle to bring back to Singapore!
I love haw but what I didn't realize was that in Huangshan and even Suzhou, there were so many types to choose from and they were super nice! In Singapore, we were most familiar with haw flakes in small disc forms packaged in cylindrical stacks!
Other products for sale.
Honestly, I didn't have time to check out!
Most shops were just a touch and go, even the one selling 夜明珠, pretty glow in the dark pearls, "legendary, phosphorescent stones from China that absorbs light during the day and glows in the dark"
The Straits Times was talking about NPC jobs in China today and I admit it's indeed not that uncommon, and they were really popular with the visitors! Maybe Singapore should do something like that in heritage zones like Chinatown, Little India and Geylang Serai!
A closed shop; the thing captivating me was the use of wooden planks to "lock up" the shop! For kiasi Singaporeans, they would feel sorely insecure not to use metal gates instead. Entrance of Tunxi Ancient Street!
There was an intention to cross over the 500-year-old Zhenhai Bridge to the other side where there's a Liyang Ancient Town! Sadly, time was running short for us.
Took a photograph with our tours mates, with the entrance of Tunxi Ancient Street behind us! The elderly couple and the lady were so fun to travel with!
Other random photographs taken before ending this post.
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Address
Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, China
Floor Map
As above.
