Chongqing- Guizhou Province, which borders along the south of Chongqing Municipality, forms part of a regional tourism corridor with fine heritage, architecture, food, customs, and scenery, all connected through a modern transportation network and served with high-standard facilities.
On invitation from DiscoverGuizhou, Bridging News and iChongqing reporter James takes a guided tour of two old towns in the Chishui region of northwestern Guizhou Province and savors the atmosphere, surroundings, and history in these ancient streets well preserved over the past millennium, where the original families continue their daily lives.
Bing’an Old Town is less than 3 hours from the Chongqing Urban Area by car and is listed among 100 classic red tourism sites. It was a stopping point during the Long March when they set foot here in January 1935.
The town is built upon a steep riverbank, not too dissimilar from the Yuzhong Peninsula in Chongqing. Visitors can find a lot of stilted architecture. The tightly knit rooftops are covered with intricate green tiles that vie for prominence from above.
Experts have praised this attractive location as a living fossil of Ming and Qing architecture and retain high appeal in the regional travel corridor. Bing’an was once a key node in the salt trade between Guizhou and Sichuan, so the congregation of people here ultimately led to this town being founded.
Datong Old Town is around 20km from Bing’an and is well-known for its serene environment set amongst a sea of bamboo and gushing river waters, and this feature created the fine local tradition of bamboo weaving.
Absolute bamboo is a professional training center for traditional bamboo weaving techniques. Apart from preserving intangible cultural heritage, many local people come here to learn basic skills and then earn a decent living based on them.
Datong also prospered thanks to the trans-shipment of wares between the road and river networks, and popular trade goods included local specialties and medicinal herbs.