Qiantong Ancient Town

In the Hongwu reign the great scholar Fang Xiaoru inscribed a plaque for the Tong clan hall and taught here, nurturing a strong tradition of clan rites and family values.

Water from the Baixi River runs through Qiantong in an eight-trigram network of open channels, flowing past doorsteps where neighbors wash vegetables and draw water in harmony.

Masterpieces of Qiantong's three carving crafts, these mansions are covered with openwork figures from the Three Kingdoms and Water Margin, glittering with gold leaf.

Multicolored Baixi pebbles form lions playing with balls, coin patterns and trigrams along this old lane, polished to a glossy sheen over centuries.

In 1380, descendants of Qiantong's Tong Boli founded Shijing Jingshe and invited Fang Xiaoru to teach there twice.

Qiantong's residents brought living water from the Baixi River into the village, forming a Bagua-pattern canal system through its lanes.