Yuyang Ancient Street

Yuyang Ancient Street

Jixian County was historically known as Yuyang and has a long history, having been established during the Han Dynasty. In the fourth year of the Hongwu reign in the Ming Dynasty (1371 AD), the earthen city walls were reinforced with bricks and renovated. The city featured three gates on the east, west, and south sides, but none on the north, which was protected naturally by a mountain. The three-li-long street connecting the east and west gates served as the main thoroughfare of the ancient city. The present-day Yuyang Ancient Street constitutes the western part of this original street. After renovation, it has regained much of its original appearance. Stretching from the Drum Tower in the east to the ancient city wall in the west, the street features an archway at each end.

The entire ancient street showcases architectural styles from the Qing Dynasty, with buildings of varying heights arranged in a pleasing, staggered layout. Some structures feature upturned eaves and soaring pavilions, while others are simple and bright, integrating shops with workshops. These buildings complement the century-old scholar trees and the thousand-year-old Dule Temple, creating a harmonious and unified streetscape. Jizhou is a place rich in cultural heritage and historical depth, renowned as a famous historical and cultural city with abundant historical and cultural resources. The Mesoproterozoic strata here are unparalleled in the world, the thousand-year-old Dule Temple is unique, and the area is scattered with Neolithic sites, relics from the Xia and Shang dynasties, Western Zhou ruins, Han tombs, tombs from the Tang, Song, Yuan, and Liao dynasties, as well as burial sites of Qing princes and crown princes. Ancient relics and sites are found throughout the county, making it truly a treasure trove of cultural artifacts. Currently, the county hosts one national key cultural relics protection unit, five municipal-level key cultural relics protection units, 37 county-level key cultural relics protection units, 268 cultural relics protection sites, and over 160 revolutionary war sites and memorial locations. Tracing back to its roots, Jixian County is the very origin of Tianjin’s history.