About the Ranking
Beautiful ancient towns in south of the Yangtze River are distant and quiet. Holding an oiled paper umbrella in the rain, you walk in the long and narrow lanes paved with green flags. That kind of happiness with slightly sadness is what you only experience in person. No matter if you are strolling, taking a photograph or searching deep and remote explore, the following Jiangnan towns are which you never miss visiting.
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Zhouzhuang, one of the most famous water townships in China, situated in Kunshan City which is only 30 kilometers southeast of Suzhou. In an area of half a square kilometer, 60 percent of the Zhouzhuang's structures were built during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is noted for its profound cultural background, the well preserved ancient residential houses, the elegant watery views and the strong local colored traditions and customs.
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Xitang is a famous town with hundreds of years of history, lying in Jiashan County in Jiaxing City, Zhejiang Province. Its flat terrain is marked by a quiet, natural environment with rivers running through it. The quiet water, handsome bridges, and the reflections in the early morning and the rosy sunset, fishing boats and the glistening lights in the evening, form an amazing picture full of a sense of poetry.
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Tongli is an ancient water town in east China's Jiangsu Province. Tongli enjoys fame across China for its beautiful rivers, historic bridges and opulent court yard homes. Because of the landscape, almost all of the buildings are constructed along the waterfront. The water also creates reflections of the town's arched roofs, lofty gables and stone bridges while green willows also line the banks can. This creates a truly poetic atmosphere.
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Wuzhen, a town with a history of 1200 years, is just 50 minutes' drive from Hangzhou. This small town, with its black tiled, oil-painted timber framework houses that contrast sharply with its white walls and gray flagging brings to mind a Chinese ink and wash painting. The window sills of the houses on the banks of the river are further extended with boards, on which flowers, plants and bonsai bloom in the warm sunshine, adding a touch of life and color to this tranquil, old-style town.
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Shaoxing's legacy ranks it as one of the first and most famous historical and cultural cities in China. Shaoxing is famous for its long history, its culture, and the natural beauty of mountains and water. Tourists can enjoy exploring Shaoxing's wine culture, its stone culture, its history of calligraphy, Buddhist sites, and of course the rivers and bridges.
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Located in the northwest part of Jiangxi Provence, adjoining Zhejiang and Anhui Provence, Jingdezhen is known to the world mainly because of its porcelain production. In the long time development, Jingdezhen porcelain has been formed its own four special features, that is, “White like jade, bright as a mirror, thin as paper, sound like a chime.
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Villages lie along small rivers, trees stand on riverbanks, and old farmers leisurely drive ducks toward a pond, forming a typical Chinese countryside scene. The county's glorious past can still be found in its uniquely-built houses, most of which, big or small, feature white walls, black roofs, elegant eaves, and dark green footstones.
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The village is situated adjacent to a mountain and facing a river, the residences are characterized as Hui type beside streets along a river with white colored walls and black tiles and flying brims and outstanding ridges, forming a beautiful view of the river and streets at the river bay. The roads in Likeng extend in all directions with more than 40 streets and alleys constructed with flagstones, 9 bridges constructed with stone arcades and flagstones.
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Furong Town is in the north bank of the west water, the Tujia special buildings are scattered along the mountainside, overlapped if you see from far, and it goes to the half way of the mountain, and formed a 2.5 kilometers of Long Street. The street road is covered by stone slabs, and the ages washed them to leave a cold shining surface.
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Fenghuang covers an area of 1700 km with a population of 370,000. There are the minority ethnic groups, such as Miaos, tujias. Fenghuang was described as“the most beautiful ancient city in China” by the famous writer Louis from New Zealand. Fenghuang has lots of relics and the sightseeing, the ancient city’s mountains and Tuo river, residents and establishment, temples and pavilions and so on.