Hekou Town, the seat of Yanshan County, was once one of the four famous towns in Jiangxi’s history. During the Northern Song Dynasty, it was known as ‘Sha Wan Shi’. During the Jiajing years of the Ming Dynasty, the handicraft industry thrived here, and waterways led directly to Poyang Lake. By the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, Hekou entered its golden age, with goods from Fujian, Zhejiang, Anhui, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Guangdong, and Jiangsu converging here for distribution across the country, becoming a bustling ‘eight provinces’ hub’ for merchants. Today, the town still retains the marks of its former prosperity and its simple and elegant style.
The five-meter-long Ming and Qing Dynasty streets along the river are lined with multi-storied buildings, extending in an orderly manner, ancient and elegant; the ruts on the bluestone pavement record the prosperity of the town in those years. Inside the town, the small river winds and turns, with numerous bluestone bridges spanning both banks, adding to the water town ambiance. On the steles of the riverfront docks, the inscriptions are still clearly visible, reminding one of the ‘gathering of goods from eight provinces, mixed languages from two Zhejiang and Huaiyang, boats mooring at night, and the surrounding banks shining with lights’ in its heyday. The opening hours and business status are subject to the actual situation on the day.
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