Hongjiang Ancient Commercial City

Qing officials collected commercial levies at this lijin bureau, while Shanxi-style exchange banks nearby testify to the financial boom of a leading southwestern trade port.

Guarding river and land shipments of tung oil, opium and silver, this well-known escort agency revives tales of chivalrous bodyguards and merchant convoys.

A leading tung oil exporter built this mansion, with towering firewalls and maze-like twisting rooms in the local yinzi house style.

Built in the Xianfeng reign of the Qing, this upscale courtesan house once hosted wealthy merchants for banquets and music, and survives as a courtyard within the Hongjiang historic complex.

From the Qing into the Republic, Hongjiang grew through the Yuan-Wu river junction and became an important commercial center in southwestern Hunan.