Tunxi Old Street, located at the center of Tunxi District of
Huangshan
City, has been the distribution center of south Anhui Province knowing for the production of green tea and ink. It is the witness of the flourish of Anhui merchant’s for a period of time.
Tunxi Old Street is an ancient Western-European architect once visited the old street and said that he had found “The Eastern Ancient Rome.” First built over 700 years ago, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279), the street is flanked by some buildings from this period. More noticeable are the buildings from the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911), during which time the “Tunxi Old Street” became a distribution center for goods and materials to Huizhou.
The street is 1.5 kilometers long and 7 meters wide. There are long lines of shops along two sides of the street. They are all made of brick and wood and have double floors in Ming-and-Qing-Dynasty style. Most of the buildings are only three stories high, stone-based and brick-laid. They are decorated with small green tiles, wood carvings in the Hui style, ancient shop signs, and red-lacquered with double eaves on the roofs. They are simple and elegant, magnificent and clean. The street is regarded as the living picture of Riverside Scene at Qingming Festival. So far, over 100 movies have been shot in the old street. Here you can buy featured souvenirs such as traditional Chinese medicine, Qimen Black Tea, Anhui ink stick, Shexian ink stone and Anhui Four Carvings.