Hexia Ancient Town

Hexia Ancient Town is a historic district in Huaicheng Subdistrict of Huai'an District, in Huai'an, Jiangsu province, China. Its name means 'below the river', and it grew up beside the Grand Canal and the old Yellow River channel as a commercial quarter for salt, grain and canal-transport merchants during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Today the district preserves a network of narrow lanes, stone-paved streets and grey-brick merchant houses, along with guild halls, gardens and former residences of scholars and officials. Visitors can wander freely along streets such as Zhuxiang Street, stopping at small museums, craft shops and local snack vendors. Among the key sites is the residence of Wu Cheng'en, the author associated with Journey to the West, and other historic houses are scattered through the lanes. Local specialities include Huai'an-style soup dumplings, tangbao, and simple noodle dishes served in small restaurants. A full visit takes two to three hours, longer for those who enter several ticketed houses. The town is most atmospheric in late afternoon and evening, when lanterns and building lights give the old streets a warm glow and day-trippers have thinned out. Photographers can look for the rows of tiled roofs from raised stone bridges and the reflections in remaining canal stretches. Crowds are largest on weekends and public holidays, while weekday mornings are calm and suited to quiet walking. Some areas are heavily restored and commercialised, with souvenir shops and costumed attractions, but pockets of original architecture remain and reward careful exploration. The streets are free to enter, with individual houses and museums charging their own fees of roughly 30 to 60 yuan. The district sits a short distance from the Zhenhuai Building and the Government House, so it fits easily into a wider itinerary of old Huai'an.