Shexian歙县

Shexian dates back to the Qin dynasty, when the county was first established around 221 BCE, and it served as the seat of Huizhou Prefecture from the Song through the Qing — earning the epithet "the Zou-Lu of the southeast, a land of ritual and propriety" (a nod to Confucius's home region). Huizhou studies (徽学) is counted alongside Dunhuang studies and Tibetology as one of China's three great regional fields of scholarship, and Shexian is its core field site — this is where Huizhou merchants set out to build fortunes across the empire, and where Hui ink, She inkstones, Hui cuisine and Hui opera all took shape or matured. Today's Huizhou Ancient City still holds its full prefectural-town layout intact: the Xu Guo memorial archway, Doushan Street, Yuliang Dam and the Yanghe Gate aren't reconstructed stage sets — they're the genuine article, centuries old. Most visitors treat Huizhou as a Mt. Huangshan side trip, but the old town's own historical density is worth a day or two on its own.

Culture

The original home of half of "Huizhou culture"

• Shexian holds honorary titles including "Capital of Chinese Hui Ink," "Home of She Inkstones," "Home of Hui Opera" and "Land of Memorial Arches"
• Two of the "Four Treasures of the Study" — Hui ink and She inkstones — are still made in workshops around the old town
• In 1790, the "Four Great Anhui Troupes" traveled to Beijing to perform for Emperor Qianlong's 80th birthday, a moment widely credited as a key root of Peking opera
• Huizhou studies ranks alongside Dunhuang studies and Tibetology as one of China's three great regional scholarly fields

The old town is itself the relic

A one-of-a-kind archway standing right at the crossroads

• The Xu Guo memorial archway is a rare Ming-dynasty "eight-pillar" arch — the only one of its kind still standing in China — right at the old town's central crossroads
• Doushan Street is a fully intact lane of old residences, its carved wooden gate-towers and horse-head gables all original
• Yuliang Dam dates to the Sui dynasty, an ancient stone weir across the upper Xin'an River, ranked among the "Ten Scenes of New Anhui"
• About 6km outside the old town, the Tangyue Memorial Archways — seven Ming and Qing arches on the Confucian themes of loyalty, filial piety, chastity and righteousness. Note: the actual UNESCO World Heritage site "Ancient Villages in Southern Anhui" refers to Xidi and Hongcun in neighboring Yi County — same cultural region, different heritage listing

Everyday Life

Real residents still call the old town home

• Original residents still live in the old town — Doushan Street and the Yuliang riverside are lived-in streets, not a pure stage set
• Below Yuliang Dam, the Xin'an River runs high in summer (Jul–Aug), when locals and visitors alike take to the water
• As a county town, the economy still centers on tourism services rather than a digital-nomad scene
• The old town sits about 28km from Huangshan North station — better as a place to stay than a transit hub