Anchang Ancient Town

Pass under the ceremonial archway and you are in Anchang, a town a thousand years old. The three-li-long street along the river was once the commercial heart of the town. Today it still has its bluestone paths, timber-framed arcaded houses and traditional shops and workshops, and every few dozen metres a stone staircase leads down to the water where you can board a boat. A boatman in a black felt hat greets you, and as he gently works the oar, the wupeng boat carries you lazily along the waterways, past old stone bridges dotting the river.