Sanhe Ancient Town

Sanhe Ancient Town is located about 40 kilometers south of Hefei urban area. It is named after the three rivers, Fengle River, Hangbu River and Xiaonan River, flowing through it. The ancient town developed from the ancient docks on the Sanhe River. It has a history of more than 2500 years. In the Spring and Autumn Period, it was called Que’an. It was first called Sanhe Town in the Ming Dynasty. In 1858, Chen Yucheng and Li Xiucheng of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom defeated the Qing army here, known as the ‘Great Victory of Sanhe’. The old street in the ancient town is paved with bluestone slabs, which have been polished smooth by people and vehicles over thousands of years. The Huizhou-style buildings on both sides are unique. Many of them are directly built with blue bricks as walls. The upturned eaves on the horse-head walls are much more exaggerated than those on the horse-head walls in Hongcun and Xidi.
The tour guide generally starts to visit the ancient town from the town center. After taking a long-distance bus to Sanhe Bus Terminal, turn right and walk for 10 minutes. Passing through the Dajie Gate archway built to commemorate the ‘Great Victory of Sanhe’, you will come to the three-arch stone bridge Sanxian Bridge in the town center. It is named because it is at the intersection of Feixi County in Hefei City, Lujiang County, and Shucheng County in Lu’an City. The north-south flowing Xiaonan River flows under the bridge.

To the northwest of Sanxian Bridge is the Guocui Tower, which is seven stories high. Climbing the tower, you can overlook the panorama of Sanhe Ancient Town. Inside the tower are displayed exquisite Huizhou-style cultural relics such as sedans, plaques, carved beds, and stone carvings.

The cultural relics exhibited in the Dafudi (Sanhe Folk Custom Museum) near Guocui Tower are also exquisite, including the hall layout of an official’s private residence, beautiful wood carvings, and a 1.5-meter-long abacus.

To the northeast of Sanxian Bridge is the Xiangu Tower (the former site of Zhonghexiang), a Huizhou-style residential temple built by a big businessman at that time.

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Walking north along the east bank of Xiaonan River from Xiangu Tower is the ancient West Street paved with bluestone slabs, which is 500 meters long. It was once the busiest street in the ancient town’s history. There are many traditions. For example, there is the Zhonghexiang pastry shop still in business next to Xiangu Tower.

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Among these traditions, the relatively large one is Liu Tongxinglongzhuang, and the interior is still arranged like a shop.

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In addition, you can also take a look at Zong Xian’s root carving museum on Ancient West Street.

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Walking south along the west bank of Xiaonan River from Sanxian Bridge, first look at the Quezhu Corridor Bridge on the river with a history of more than 1500 years. Then on Ancient South Street and Wannian Street, mainly look at the residences. There are Yang Zhenning’s former residence, Sun Liren’s former residence, ancient entertainment workshop, Helu (Liu Bingzhang’s former residence), etc. In the former residences of celebrities, there are pictures and texts of the owners of the houses.

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Among them, the most famous one is the former residence of Yang Zhenning, who won the Nobel Prize in Physics. At that time, Yang Zhenning lived here to avoid the Japanese invasion. Near the former residence, there is an interesting alley, One-Person Alley, which is really narrow enough for only one person to pass through.

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On Wannian Street, you can also visit Wannian Temple, Town God’s Temple, etc.

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Walking to Ancient East Street on the east bank of Xiaonan River (connected to Ancient West Street and in the south of the ancient town), you can visit the Earth God Temple and the ancient city wall built by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Army. At the Wannian Stage, there are Lu Opera performances to watch on holidays.

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Food and accommodation. The snacks in Sanhe Ancient Town are concentrated around Sanxian Bridge. There are more restaurants in the south of the ancient town than in the north. Special delicacies include Sanhe rice dumplings, Sanhe shrimp paste, crispy duck, river delicacies such as mussels and snails. Tea dried, which is a kind of dried tofu, can be bought and eaten while walking. Rice wine is also good to take home as a gift. As for characteristic souvenirs, feather fans can be purchased. There are accommodations in and around the ancient town. They are not expensive, around 100-200 yuan. However, almost no tourists stay overnight in the ancient town. After visiting, you can return to Hefei urban area on the same day. Accommodation is not very necessary.

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Opening hours. Open all year round and all day. The opening hours of internal small scenic spots and sculling boats are from 8:30 to 17:30.

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