Jinli Street

If you come to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan in southwestern China, don't miss the opportunity to go to Jinli, a busy trading street with a history stretching back to the Qin Dynasty around two thousand years ago. Today, a new Jinli Street has been built on the site of the ancient lane in the southern part of Chengdu. It has become a tourist attraction, featuring aged buildings and folk customs from the area. Our reporter Yun Feng takes us for a closer look at this bustling street.

Dating back to the Qin Daynasty (221BC-206BC), Jinli Street was in ancient times one of the busiest of commercial boulevards of the Kingdom of Shu, during the Three Kingdom Period (220-280). It is known as the "First Street of the Shu Kingdom".

Nowdays,The 350-metre-long Jinli Street enjoys a reputation as a historic town. Extending from a gatehouse decorated with two red lanterns, the slabstone-paved street stretches with ancient-style buildings lined on both sides. The grey bricks and crimson columns of these two and three-storey teahouses and antique shops are of classic beauty and primitive simplicity. Porcelain and folk handicrafts displayed in the shops are so dazzling, you can't tear yourself away from them.