Tunxi Old Street

Tunxi Old Street: The Ultimate Guide for Foreign Visitors

Stretching for 1.5 kilometers along the Xin'an River in the heart of Huangshan City, Tunxi Old Street is one of China's best-preserved ancient commercial streets — a living, breathing marketplace that has operated continuously since the Song Dynasty nearly a thousand years ago. While many Chinese "old streets" are reconstructed tourist zones, Tunxi Old Street retains genuine Ming and Qing Dynasty shopfronts, real artisans at work, and a commercial vitality that connects it directly to its centuries-old role as the trading hub for the wealthy Anhui merchant community. If you are passing through Huangshan City on your way to the famous mountain, Tunxi Old Street deserves far more than a quick stroll.

Overview and Why Visit

Tunxi Old Street (also called Tunxi Laojie) runs east-west through the old Tunxi district of modern Huangshan City. The street is lined with approximately 300 shops and residences, many dating to the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1912) dynasties. The buildings display classic Hui architectural features: whitewashed walls, dark wooden shopfronts, upswept horse-head gables, and intricately carved stone and wood decorations. The street has been recognized as a National Historical and Cultural Street and is often compared to the Champs-Elysees of Anhui — though its charm is entirely different from anything European.

For foreign visitors, Tunxi Old Street serves as an excellent introduction to Hui culture before venturing into the countryside. It is also a premier destination for purchasing authentic local crafts — particularly Hui inkstones, Xuan paper, Huizhou ink, and writing brushes (collectively known as the "Four Treasures of the Study"), as well as local teas, bamboo carvings, and traditional medicines. Unlike purpose-built souvenir markets, the shops here include genuine workshops where craftsmen produce their goods on-site.

A Brief History

Tunxi has been a commercial center since the Song Dynasty (960-1279), when its position at the confluence of three rivers made it a natural trading post. During the Ming Dynasty, as Anhui merchants rose to dominate China's salt and tea commerce, Tunxi became their commercial base — the place where goods were warehoused, deals were struck, and profits were banked before being sent back to ancestral villages like Hongcun and Xidi.

The current street layout dates primarily to the late Ming and early Qing periods (16th-18th centuries). At its peak, Tunxi was one of the busiest commercial streets in the Yangtze River delta region, with over 400 shops trading in tea, silk, lacquerware, medicines, ink, and paper. The street survived the Taiping Rebellion (1850-1864), which devastated much of Anhui, and the subsequent political upheavals of the 20th century. In the 1990s, the local government recognized its heritage value and implemented preservation regulations that have maintained the street's character while allowing continued commercial use.

What to See: Top Highlights

The Four Treasures of the Study Shops

Tunxi Old Street is one of the best places in China to buy traditional Chinese writing implements. Multiple shops specialize in She inkstones (She yan), carved from stone quarried locally in the She County mountains. These inkstones, used for grinding ink sticks with water, are prized by calligraphers and painters. Quality stones have a smooth, fine-grained surface and can cost from CNY 50 for a simple student stone to tens of thousands for a master-carved collector's piece. Other shops sell Xuan paper (the soft, absorbent paper used for Chinese painting and calligraphy), Hui ink sticks (prized for their deep black color and fine grinding), and writing brushes.

Huangshan Tea Shops

The Huangshan region produces some of China's most celebrated teas. Shops along Old Street offer tastings and sales of Huangshan Maofeng (a delicate green tea, one of China's Ten Famous Teas), Keemun (Qimen) black tea (the base for English Breakfast tea blends), and Taiping Houkui (a distinctive flat-leaf green tea). Most shops will brew samples for you to taste before purchasing. Prices are negotiable for larger quantities. Fresh spring-harvested tea (April-May) is the most prized.

The Cheng Dawei Abacus Museum

This small museum on the street is dedicated to Cheng Dawei (1533-1606), a Tunxi native who wrote the seminal "Suanfa Tongzong" (Systematic Treatise on Arithmetic), which standardized abacus calculation methods across East Asia. The museum displays a fascinating collection of abacuses from different eras and regions, plus reproductions of Cheng's mathematical texts. It is a quirky but genuinely interesting stop, especially for those interested in the history of mathematics.

Hui-style Architecture Details

Walk slowly and look up. The shopfronts themselves are the attraction — carved stone door frames, brick reliefs of auspicious symbols, wooden lattice windows, and horse-head gables that step up rhythmically along the roofline. Many shops retain their original Qing Dynasty signboards in elegant calligraphy. The side alleys leading off the main street reveal quieter residential lanes with even older buildings.

Traditional Medicine Shops

Several traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) shops along the street have been in continuous operation for over a century. The dark wooden cabinets filled with hundreds of drawers of dried herbs, roots, and fungi are atmospheric and photogenic. Staff can prepare traditional herbal remedies, though foreign visitors without Chinese medical knowledge should treat this as a cultural experience rather than a medical one.

Wannan Ancient Art Gallery

Near the eastern end of the street, this gallery specializes in Hui school painting and calligraphy, both antique and contemporary. The gallery offers a good overview of the artistic traditions that the merchant wealth of Tunxi once supported. Prices for contemporary works are reasonable by international art market standards.

Practical Information for Foreign Tourists

Tickets and Hours

Admission: Free. The street is a public thoroughfare with no entrance fee. Individual museums or exhibitions along the street may charge small fees (typically CNY 10-20).
Hours: The street is accessible 24 hours. Most shops open from 8:00 AM to 9:00 PM. The best atmosphere is in the early evening when the lanterns are lit and the street is bustling.

How to Get There

Location: Tunxi Old Street is in the center of Huangshan City (Tunxi district). It is walkable from most city-center hotels.

From Huangshan North Station (high-speed rail): Take a taxi (CNY 20-30, 15 minutes) or city bus No. 12 directly to the Old Street area.

From Huangshan Tunxi Airport: A taxi takes approximately 20 minutes and costs CNY 20-30.

From Tangkou (Huangshan mountain base): Buses run regularly from Tangkou to the Huangshan city bus station, a short walk from Old Street (1 hour, CNY 20).

Food and Drink

Old Street and its side lanes offer excellent Hui cuisine dining options:

• Laojiedi Yi Lou: A well-known restaurant on the main street serving classic Hui dishes including stinky mandarin fish and hairy tofu. English menu available. Budget CNY 60-100 per person.
• Street snacks: The side alleys host numerous vendors selling Huangshan sesame cakes (shaobing), stinky tofu, rice cakes, and local sweets. A full snack tour costs CNY 20-40.
• Tea houses: Several traditional tea houses offer tea ceremonies and tastings in atmospheric settings. These are excellent places to rest and learn about local tea culture. A tea session costs CNY 30-80.
• Huangshan Gourmet Street: One block behind Old Street, this parallel lane (called Binjiang Lu) has more modern restaurants with river views, including hot pot and barbecue restaurants popular with locals.

Shopping Tips

Bargaining: Expected and accepted at most shops, especially for tea, inkstones, and art. Start at 50-60% of the asking price and negotiate from there. Be polite but firm.

Quality verification: For inkstones, rub the surface with your finger — high-quality She stone is smooth and slightly oily. For tea, always taste before buying. Reputable shops will happily brew samples.

Shipping: Many shops can ship purchases internationally. Confirm the shipping method and cost before purchasing. For valuable items like fine inkstones, consider carrying them with you in your luggage.

Payment: Most shops accept WeChat Pay and Alipay. Cash is accepted everywhere. Some larger shops accept international credit cards.

Photography Tips

• Night photography: Old Street is most atmospheric after dark when red lanterns illuminate the wooden shopfronts. The warm lantern light against the dark wooden facades creates a magical atmosphere. Use a fast lens or brace against a wall — tripods are impractical on the busy street.
• Details and textures: Close-up shots of carved stone doorframes, weathered wooden signs, medicine cabinet drawers, and craftsmen's hands at work tell the street's story more effectively than wide shots.
• The river side: Walk to the riverfront behind the south side of Old Street. The view of the old buildings rising above the Xin'an River, with reflections in the water, is particularly good in early morning light.
• Horse-head gables: The stepped roofline of horse-head gables is the visual signature of Hui architecture. Photograph these from across the street or from elevated positions (some tea houses have upper-floor seating with views).
• Human interest: Craftsmen carving inkstones, tea masters pouring from traditional pots, elderly calligraphers practicing on water-dampened sidewalks — Old Street offers rich human subjects. Always ask permission before photographing people at close range.

Insider Tips

• Visit in the evening. The street is most alive between 6:00 and 9:00 PM, when locals come out to shop, eat, and socialize. The lantern-lit atmosphere is far more appealing than the daytime.
• Explore the side alleys. The lanes branching off the main street are often more interesting than the main street itself. Smaller workshops, local eateries, and residential scenes are found one turn away from the tourist flow.
• Use Tunxi as your base. Huangshan City has far better accommodation options than the mountain base at Tangkou. Stay in a hotel near Old Street, enjoy the evening atmosphere, and take a morning bus to the mountain.
• Early morning tai chi. Arrive at the riverfront behind Old Street before 7:00 AM to see elderly residents practicing tai chi and other morning exercises along the water.
• Combine with Huizhou Ancient City. She County, the historical capital of Huizhou, is only 30 minutes from Tunxi by bus and contains additional memorial archways, clan halls, and a well-preserved old town. It sees far fewer tourists than the UNESCO villages.
• The Xin'an River night cruise. A short boat cruise on the illuminated river in the evening offers beautiful views of the Old Street area from the water. Cruises run from the dock near the western end of Old Street (approximately CNY 80-120).

Tunxi Old Street is not a museum piece — it is a working commercial street where the buying and selling that made Anhui merchants famous continues in buildings their ancestors built. Stroll it slowly, duck into workshops where craftsmen carve stone and grind ink the same way they have for centuries, and you will connect with a mercantile tradition that once drove the economy of imperial China.