Qiantong Ancient Town

Qiantong, Ninghai ancient town. Qiantong, Ninghai is an ancient town south of the Yangtze River. About 10 km (6 mi) from Ninghai, it is straightforward to get to because the G15 highway from Ningbo heads directly there with an off-ramp nearby. Since it is located in front of the Baixi river, it is named Qiantong (“Qian” meaning “before” or "in front of"). The town has been around more than 760 years, successive generations of Tongs choosing to remain here. If you've been to other "ancient towns" in China, you will know that they run the gamut of being fully functioning towns as just as they were hundreds of years ago, to tourist dumps with nothing but trinket shops and unwashed hordes. The level of preservation is still very good, although there were a few buildings being rebuilt in the "old style". This town strikes a decent balance between having some tourists, while maintaining its role as a functioning village. It seems like they've built up the infrastructure to really push more tourism though, despite relatively few making the trip out, so you might want to check the place out now before it becomes overrun.