Walking time: 2020.4

Walking route: Gaochun Mancheng Lujia Village-Shiweiqiang Village-Dashan Village-Qiqiao Ancient Village

Qiqiao Old Street:

Address: No. 1, Qiqiao Old Street, Qiqiao Town, Gaochun District, Nanjing City

Tickets: Free

We walked around several villages in Mancheng. In fact, there are many interesting villages in Mancheng. We just chose three villages to visit. I never visited all the villages at once because time didn't allow me, and secondly, I couldn't see enough villages at once. Only by appreciating the different forms of beauty of nature can we not produce aesthetic fatigue. Today is the plan to see Gaochun in the form of villages and old streets. I planned to go around the old street, but I estimated the time and felt that it would be a bit rushed to Gaochun old street, which was rich in content. You can see Qiqiao Old Street on the map, an old street with a length of 500 meters and a history of nearly 2000 years. Let's go here! At sunset, you can turn to the Shijiu Lake Bridge. If you are lucky, you can see the beautiful sunset.

Starting from Dashan Village, follow the navigation all the way to the southern end of Qiqiao Old Street. There is a parking lot here. Judging from the vehicles in the parking lot, you can see that there are few tourists here. Parking is free. Stop the car and take a look at the guide map of the ancient village of Qiqiao and the introduction of the ancient town of Qiqiao.

A majestic Nanlingguan Pass stands at the southern entrance of the old street

The east, south and west sides of the old street are surrounded by water. Wherever there is water, there must be bridges. A small stone arch bridge spans the river. At this time, the lazy sun shines on the river surface charmingly and proudly.

In this artistic conception, leave behind your back in this nostalgic mode.

Boat by the river

We climbed the tower and looked down at the old street running north and south at our feet. An old street more than 400 meters long is not straight to the end as we imagined, but extends in an arc shape, the roadway is symmetrical, and the entire plan layout is similar to the shape of a centipede.

Look closely at the stone road of Qiqiao Old Street, there is a deep mark, which is said to be the rut left by unicycles traveling from south to north when transporting goods. Add a nostalgic tone to the photos and imagine the scene when Qiqiao Town became one of the "Seven Cities of Gaochun" during the Jiajing Period of the Ming Dynasty. At that time, Qiqiao merchants gathered and all industries flourished.

Climbing the tower and overlooking, you will see the river, small bridges, and the sun hiding behind the clouds and dust working hard to shed its light, giving this ancient village the artistic conception of quiet years.

Pass through the city gate and walk on the bluestone road into the old street to find the flavor of the past.

Looking back at the tower

Walking on Qiqiao Old Street, time seems to flow back. The Qiqiao Ancient Village, known as the "No. 1 Ancient Village in Jinling", still retains the remains of street buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Dwelling houses, shops and temples on the main street are well preserved.

The building shape of the old neighborhood is a brick-and-wood structure. When you look up, the eaves are protruding from the outside. The width between the doors is less than 1 meter. The two sides are made of wooden boards, and the low wooden boards are still left on the facade facing the street. There is an arcade and flowered windows on the second floor facing the street.

The bluestone slab on one side of the wall tells us that the shop in Qiqiao Village was built in the Qing Dynasty. It has a two-story wooden structure and three rooms wide. There is a shop below and a house above. There is a row door on the front on the bottom. It belongs to the remains of the traditional street-facing shops in Gaochun Market Town at that time.

Blue bricks and black tiles, latticed windows and lanterns tell the story of the past prosperity. This bluestone brick house is now a tourist center. Only the visitor center here was closed during the epidemic.

The flowered windows on the wall are very Chinese in style, and there are two symmetrical Western-style wall lamps on the lintel, a simple combination of Chinese and Western.

There must be a local temple in the village. The symmetrical prototype flower windows on both sides are very artistic. If you didn't look at the lintel, you wouldn't know that this was a local temple.

From the layout of this winery, you can see the typical layout of front shops and back houses on the old street. It has two floors, and a depth of more than 100 meters.

Traditional shops now have rows on the front.

Looking up deep into the lane, many old-fashioned houses still retain brick symmetrical airflow ventilation windows on the front walls, commonly known as "high eyebrows and low eyes." The doors of rich households are built with thick walls and door covers. Such Ming Dynasty shapes are rare and difficult to find as an ancient residential style in Jiangnan.

The countless alleys on both sides of the old street attracted us to turn into the alleys and enter deeper into the courtyards of ordinary people.

Many houses in the village are now lacking in popularity. It can be seen from the sense of ruin that most of the strong workers in the village are also making a living outside. Most of the village are left-behind elderly people who are still doing small businesses.

There are also exquisite cottages.

The village roads along the river in the village are clean and tidy,

The greening on both sides of the road is also very beautiful.

The scenery along the river and the pastoral scenery in the village complement each other, forming a harmonious picture. From the ancient town of Qiqiao,"two streams sandwich one street, and the roadway connects to the water port. The geographical location of "There are families near the water and shops are erected at the bridge head" makes it easy to understand why Qiqiao Old Street has been a famous market since the late Southern Song Dynasty. Why did the old street reach its peak during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty, merchants gathered, the market flourished, and boats traveled constantly?

We were taking photos by the river. I accidentally checked the weather forecast on my mobile phone. The forecast showed that it would rain heavily ten minutes later. Looking at this gorgeous picture in front of me, I think how is this possible? Continue to wander at your own pace.

This is the slow food square in the village. It is covered with thatch and rows of long chairs under the corridor. Opposite the corridor is a large stage. There are many shops in Old Street that make delicious food. Here, you can slow down, watch shows or just chat under the corridor, and enjoy slow life while eating local snacks. It is a good leisure. But because of the epidemic, it was also deserted and deserted.

Exit Slow Food Square and return to the old street and look back at the square.

Opposite is the villagers 'activity center, and the village rules of Qiqiao Village are written on the wall. This house reminds me of the supply and marketing store in Lantian Village, which was very close to our factory when I was a child. It feels very cordial.

I like the light tone here. The old streets are basically undeveloped and everything looks like letting nature take its course, pure natural type of old towns and villages.

A simple stone road of only 500 meters leaves traces of history. On the old street, the houses on both sides are old brick-and-wood shops.

Due to wind and rain erosion, the grain of the wood on the wooden door has become blurred, but if you look closely at the eaves, the lintel is carved with exquisite patterns.

Most of the old houses along the street appear ancient and ancient due to their disrepair. Although some windows and door eyebrows reveal the dilapidated appearance of no one living in it for a long time, they make people think of the past when time passed...

There are actually traditional shops next to each other on the old street. Kongjia Sugar Shop, Tao Osmanthus Cake, vermicelli Shop, bamboo strip shop, wine shop, tofu shop... many handicrafts and old businesses that have gradually become extinct are here. Inherited and displayed. However, due to the impact of the epidemic, most of the doors were closed. Although the entire economy is slowly recovering in mid-April, not many people travel. This is also the reason why shops are closed! It is really commendable that traditional handicrafts are still maintained here. Here are local people's authentic tea, fermented bean curd, pickles, bamboo strips, craftsmen, pastries... Walking through it feels like turning back the times, and it also tells me that I will visit this old street again when the flowers bloom in warm spring., look at those precious handicraft traditions, and taste the handmade specialties here.

There are two ancient wells in the ancient town of the Song Dynasty, one is called the "Baoan Well" and the other is called the "Baoping Well". They have protected the ancient town from generation to generation. They stretch endlessly and have a prosperous population.

An interesting thing happened at this time. The sky suddenly turned dark without any warning, and the strong wind was strong. The narrow streets and alleys made the wind even more fierce and spinning. A few open shops hurriedly closed their stalls, and some residents laughed and said,"Evil winds are coming!" I suddenly thought of the "rain in ten minutes" I just saw. Amazing. In order to protect the camera, our partner took off his clothes and wrapped the camera, and we quickly returned to the car.

Stop in the car for a while and check the weather forecast. The rain will stop in half an hour. After waiting for a while, we set out, gave up the short return road and chose to take the Shijiu Lake Bridge. Not willing to accept it, we still wanted to try our luck to see if we could see the sunset.

Beautiful Shijiu Lake, but I didn't get the sunset today. It's a pity, so I will come again.