Yunshuiyao Ancient Plank Walkway

Yunshuiyao Ancient Plank Walkway

In the Changjiao Scenic Area of Meilin Town, Nanjing County — the hometown of Fujian Tulou, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, where the Huaoyuan Building and Hegui Building are located — there is a thousand-year-old ancient plank walkway that has recently been officially named “Yunshuiyao Ancient Plank Walkway.”

This ancient plank walkway follows the stream and stretches over 10 kilometers in total, all paved with cobblestones. Walking from east to west along this ancient path, you will first reach the Hegui Building, and further ahead lies the Huaoyuan Building. According to elderly villagers, this ancient walkway was not originally called an “ancient plank walkway,” but rather an “ancient secluded path,” due to its tranquil atmosphere. A thousand years ago, members of the Jian clan who lived here and aspired to become scholars or top imperial examinees had to walk along this ancient secluded path to Beijing to take their exams. Now, after a thousand years of wear, the cobblestones on the walkway have been smoothed by countless footsteps.

In the middle section of the ancient walkway, there is a large cluster of ancient banyan trees, with roots twisted and branches lush, creating a spectacular sight — there are 12 in total. Among them, two old banyan trees located beside the riverside stilt house at the end of the old Changjiao Market have a history of four to five hundred years, and their trunks on the ground are so wide that it takes more than ten people holding hands to encircle them. Sitting under the old banyan trees, listening to the murmuring stream, feeling the gentle countryside breeze, and watching the simple and leisurely villagers pass by, one can’t help but feel a deep connection to the land and a longing to return to nature.

The reason Nanjing County named this ancient plank walkway the “Yunshuiyao Ancient Plank Walkway” is because the 2005 film “Yunshuiyao” was filmed here. The movie “Yunshuiyao” tells the poignant love story of a couple separated by the Taiwan Strait.

Leveraging the fame of “Yunshuiyao,” Nanjing County is increasing investment and improving facilities to develop the ancient plank walkway and its surrounding ancient villages into a cross-strait film and television production base. To date, Nanjing County has invested over 6 million yuan to restore 3 kilometers of the ancient plank walkway, as well as to renovate river barriers, ancient roads, wooden bridges, old stages, and traditional markets, effectively restoring the original appearance of the ancient walkway. (By Wei Hua, Wen Fu, Guo Ping, and Yan Ni)

Location

Yunshuiyao, Shuyang Town, Nanjing County, Zhangzhou City