Shexian County

Shexian County is rich in cultural relics, residences, a memorial temple, and memorial arches. The county is an art museum of classical architecture.

Shexian is a famous historic and cultural county in China, located at the southern foot of Huangshan Mountain and in the upper reaches of the Xin’an River, spectacularly surrounded by mountains and streams. Firstly built about 2,000 years ago, Shexian County used to be a cultural center during the Sui and Tang dynasties and a commercial center during the Ming and Qing dynasties. It is famous for ancient residence, ancestral temples, and ancient arch, known as the art museum of classical Hui style architecture.

Numerous ancient houses, bridges, towers, streets, lanes and gardens of Ming and Qing dynasties style are dotted within the Shexian County, creating an old and simple atmosphere. With beautiful scenery and exquisite architecture, this county enjoys the excellent reputation of the water town, mountain town and bridge town. Moreover, it boasts elegantly constructed ancestral temples, ancient residential houses, and memorial archway, which be regarded as the “three wonders of ancient architectures”. And the most famous ones are Tangyue Archways and the Xuguo Stone Archway, which known as the national treasure of China and the Arc de Triomphe (the Triumphal Arch) of the oriental.  

As an ancient cultural center, Shexian County was once the home where Hui Culture (one of the three regional cultures in China, the others are Dunhuang Culture and Tibet Culture respectively) originated, which is represented by the Huizhou architecture, Xin’an painting, Xin’an medicine, Xin’an philosophy, Huizhou carvings, seal cutting, Huizhou food and so on. Many outstanding people were given birth in this picturesque place, such as Bi Sheng who is the inventor of moveable type writing, Zhu Xi, a famous thinker in Southern Song Dynasty, Bi Sheng, Huang Binhong, a famous modern painter, etc.

When rambling around this county and appreciate its attractive natural landscape and the ancient architecture, you’ll feel that you have stepping into a scenery gallery or a classical architectural art museum.