The Ancient Town of Shiba Du

The Ancient Town of Shiba Du

The Ancient Town of Shiba Du is a national-level historical and cultural town and a hometown of Chinese folk art. Historically, it was the first settlement on the route from Zhejiang to Fujian, often referred to as the "Key to Fengxi." With over a thousand years of history, it is now a national AAAA-level scenic area.

The Ancient Town of Shiba Du has a style that is completely distinct from other water towns in the Jiangnan region, and is even tinged with a sense of mystery. Over 1,300 years ago, Huang Chao led his troops southward, carving out the ancient Xianxia Trail through the rugged mountains between Zhejiang and Fujian. Since then, Shiba Du, surrounded by towering peaks and fortified passes, became a strategic military encampment and a contested battleground throughout the dynasties. By the Ming Dynasty, due to the court’s strict maritime prohibition policies that closed off coastal ports in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, the Xianxia Trail—originally of mainly military significance—gradually transformed into a vital trade route. Textiles and daily goods from Jiangsu and Zhejiang were transported up the Qiantang River to Qinghu Wharf in Jiangshan, then carried overland by porters to Fujian and Jiangxi. Meanwhile, local specialties from Fujian and Jiangxi were also shipped along this ancient path to Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and even as far as Beijing via the Grand Canal. As the first stop along this trade route and a key transportation hub, Shiba Du quickly flourished into the most bustling commercial center at the tri-provincial border. At its peak, the cobblestone streets were lined with shops, restaurants, and inns, bustling day and night with porters and merchants coming from all directions. For centuries, the town thrived in wealth and liveliness.

The ancient town has preserved a remarkably intact and expansive collection of historic residential architecture. Thirty-six representative residences and eleven public buildings are spread along the Fengxi Valley, forming a nearly two-kilometer-long Ming and Qing dynasty old street. The architectural styles integrate elements from Zhejiang, Fujian, Jiangxi, and Anhui, earning praise from experts as “rare nationwide and ranked first in Zhejiang Province.” It serves as an authentic museum of ancient architecture. Moreover, despite having only a few thousand residents, the town is home to people bearing 142 different surnames and speaking 13 distinct dialects, leading experts to call it a “town of commoners and a kingdom of dialects.” The residents continue to preserve unique folk arts passed down from their ancestors, such as mountain songs, folk dances, dry-land boat performances, lantern festivals, paper-cutting, puppetry, stilt-walking, and stone-sliding. Various external cultures have converged and collided here, creating a unique phenomenon known as a “cultural enclave.” Shiba Du is a living historical and cultural border town. The writer Wang Zhecheng once described it as “a dream lost deep in the mountains.”