Sichuan Hides a Ming and Qing Dynasty Small Town, Locals Still Live on the Ancient Street!

Luocheng Ancient Town, hailed as 'China's Noah's Ark', is located in the northeastern part of Qianyang County, Kangding Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It is inhabited by 7 ethnic groups: Han, Hui, Yi, Manchu, Tibetan, Li, and Miao. The main street, known as Liuhongjie (Boat-Shaped Street), is commonly called 'Boat-Shaped Street' and was built during the first year of Emperor Chongzhen's reign in the Ming Dynasty (1628). To this day, this remarkably preserved old street still retains a portion of the humanistic cultural features of old Sichuan during the Ming and Qing dynasties.

Liuhongjie, or Boat-Shaped Street, is the old town's former center. Locals call it 'Boat-Shaped Street', measuring 209 meters in length and 9.5 meters at its widest point, resembling a large boat or a giant shuttle.

This street, adorned with aging beauty, is said to be China's only boat-shaped street. The Boat-Shaped Street's two sides are lined with long rows of old wooden structures.

Over the centuries, the people of Luocheng enjoyed drinking and eating meat, playing cards, drinking tea, listening to small tunes, getting ear-piercings, smoking betel nut, and selling animal skins and herbal medicines under the Boat-Shaped Street, experiencing the joys of human life.

Under the Boat-Shaped Street, there were once several now-disappeared old shops, replaced by clothing stores, small food shops, barbershops, inns, and tea houses, with tea houses being the most numerous, approximately fifteen in number.

Perhaps due to its relative isolation from the city, Luocheng doesn't attract crowds like other Chinese ancient towns. Locals live a leisurely life at their own pace.

Local residents sit in Boat-Shaped Street, drinking tea, playing cards, chatting, and selling daily necessities, which gives the street perpetual vitality. Both the architecture and the local customs here have remained largely intact due to the lack of external interference.

The ancient town has no entrance fee, and tourists can experience life like local residents, sitting and drinking tea in Boat-Shaped Street, achieving a state of tranquility and harmony, and experiencing the town's serenity.

It is said that on double-day market days, Boat-Shaped Street can even be crowded with several thousand people, making the street congested. At these times, the street is particularly lively.

It has become a favorite place for locals, especially seniors, to gather and relax, coming from the surrounding 'Three Towns and Eight Towns'.

In the tea houses on both sides of the street, there are almost no empty tables, and many tea tables are set up under the eaves, each filled with elderly people.

In the picture, an old man walks through the ancient town with a child on his back. In China, where steel and concrete have been built over most of the old houses, Luocheng is not a place that immediately attracts tourists.

As night falls, Boat-Shaped Street in Luocheng Ancient Town lights up with lamps. Many things have aged and disappeared before our eyes, but I think many things that seem long gone will eventually appear fresh, powerful, and eternal. People living in the Sichuan region may have already lost awareness that Luocheng, the ancient boat-shaped street, is the representative of Sichuan culture in the world.