Hekou Ancient Town 河口古镇

About Hekou Ancient Town

The old street runs five li and is divided into four named stretches: Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao and Banbian streets. The buildings along it include paper merchants, tea firms and pharmacies. The plan is characteristic of a river port: the shophouses face the street at the front and the water at the back, with high covered galleries and a deep succession of courtyards behind each frontage. Many of the old firms were rebuilt with a mixture of Chinese and Western detailing.

Hekou's wealth came from tea. The Ten Thousand Li Tea Road began in the late seventeenth century and ran 13,000 kilometres from Wuyishan in Fujian to St Petersburg, flourishing for two centuries; after crossing the Wuyi mountains it reached Hekou, which the county bureau describes as the recognised first town on the route, its first assembly point and the birthplace of the historic Hehong tea. The bureau's pages also count Hekou among the four great towns of old Jiangxi and call its Ming and Qing street the first in the province to be named a Chinese Historic and Cultural Street. In March 2019 the National Cultural Heritage Administration placed the Tea Road on China's tentative list for World Heritage nomination.

What to look for

• The four named stretches of the old street: Yibao, Erbao, Sanbao and Banbian
• The century-old pharmacies Jinlihe and Jishengxiang
• The buildings the county bureau identifies as the earliest bank in Jiangxi and as the only Qing-dynasty post office surviving in the province
• The guild halls built by merchants from other regions who traded here
• The shophouse plan itself: street frontage, river at the back, high covered galleries and deep successive courtyards

Location & getting there

Getting to Hekou Ancient Town

Identify the main visitor approach and any separately managed houses, museums or performances. Ask before entering residential spaces or photographing residents.

• Search for 河口古镇 with 上饶市 and 铅山县.