After going to Jungdezhen and before coming to Hangzhou, we visited a couple of old towns. “Old town” in China is as likely as not to be one of the few remaining places where buildings more than a hundred years old remain. Usually they are a small part of a large new town. Sometimes they are by themselves. Often there is a charge to enter. Often there is a charge, but you can walk around the entrance and go in some other way. This was the case in Likeng, Xidi and Hongcun in Anhui. They are famous in China because they are so well preserved. Here are a few pictures. Likeng is the place with all the canals. The white walls and dark tile are typical traditional Huizhou architecture of the area.
And this city is Shexian. It is a mixture of old and “new old”, as well as new.
When we went to Anhui, we went up to the capital, Hebei, and met up with a couple we met along with Pipi and Xie Xie in Lijiang. For my sake, they are all going by their nicknames. Here are Xuan Xuan and Wie Wie. They are cute newlyweds who were honeymooning in Lijiang. The older guy is Shuan Shuan’s dad. They took us out to a spectacular dinner in Hebei. Ah, Chinese food is so exotic. China is a gastronomic thrill seeker’s paradise. You gotta love the pink and peach decor in their apartment.
That’s probably it for now. See you in Hong Kong. Be well, all of you.