5. Tunxi Old Street in Anhui, China With a centuries-old
history dating back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279), Tunxi Old
Street is one of China's best-preserved commercial streets and
features the architectural styles of the Southern Song, Ming
(1368-1644) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911). Located in the center
of Tunxi District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province, the street,
paved with maroon flagstones, has a total length of 1,273 meters,
of which 895 meters is the pedestrian commercial street. Two and
three-storey shops line both sides of the streets and feature the
local Anhui style of architecture including a stone base, brick
construction and tile roof. The buildings typically house shops at
the front, with houses and workshops being located at the rear. The
street developed into the distribution center for materials in and
out of Anhui in the Qing Dynasty. Visitors today can still find
many old and famous shops on Tunxi Old Street, such as Tongderen, a
TCM shop with a history of more than 120 years. The area is a
distribution point for the world-famous Qimen black tea and Tunxi
green tea, and there are many teahouses, wine shops, bookshops and
ink shops along the street. The street has been dubbed "Riverside
Scene at Qingming Festival", a famous painting which describes the
economic activities in ancient China. It attracts six million
foreign and domestic visitors every year, and is also a popular
site for shooting films and TV series.