Yixing's Graceful Linggu Valley

Yixing Yangxiang Old Street

Yangxiang Old Street is located in Yangxiang Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. Known since ancient times as a "living water wharf," it formed as a market street as early as the Zhou Dynasty, flourished further during the Tang and Song Dynasties, and eventually became the Yangxiang Old Street we see today. Backed by Han Mountain and facing the Beixi River, the old street stretches from the wharf all the way to the provincial-level cultural relic Yangxi Bridge — several hundred meters in length — winding gracefully along the riverbank. Most of the houses along the street are single-story buildings erected after the War of Resistance, retaining the old appearance of an ancient water town market in the Jiangnan region.

“Vast lands bring merchants to the ancient town; connected waters bring thriving wealth.” This couplet once hung on the Guangtong Bridge, reflecting not just the heartfelt wishes of the people but also the true image of Yangxiang Old Street in its heyday. Thanks to its crisscrossing waterways, Yangxiang had long earned the reputation of being a “living water wharf.” According to the Yang Family Genealogy from Henan in Yangxiang, during the Xianfeng Year of the Qing Dynasty’s Gengshen Catastrophe, the entire town was razed to the ground, leaving the old street almost in ruins. By 1937 (the 26th year of the Republic of China), the town suffered further attacks from Japanese aircraft and artillery. During one rural raid, the invaders set the entire market area ablaze, burning every building to the ground. After the victory of the War of Resistance, businesses from various trades gradually rebuilt makeshift stalls and shops on the ruins, and the market slowly revived. Especially along the section of the old street on the north bank of the Beixi River, grain businesses were densely clustered, with transport boats coming and going non-stop. For a time, the area once again became a bustling hub of prosperity.

In 1991,

In 2009, to restore the old town’s traditional appearance, fully explore the cultural essence of the ancient streets, and develop and protect the cultural heritage left by previous generations, the Party Committee and government of Yangxiang Town decided to carry out protective renovation of the old street and include it as a key government project. The renovation included implementing rainwater and sewage separation, restoring bluestone-paved roads, refurbishing antique-style wooden sunshade (and rain) awnings, standardizing the signage of time-honored shops, and demolishing some illegal and dangerous structures. The total cost of the renovation reached 2 million yuan. Today, as you walk once again on those bluestone paths, you’ll find tea houses, carpentry shops, tailor shops, barbershops...