Credits: Now is paper in green and orange; 4ever paper in argyle, love, and solid blue; 4ever striped ribbon—all by Splendid Fiin; Queen of Quirk star element.

Many stop for lunch, but not many stay the night. An optional gateway just 117 kilometers northeast of Yuanyang, we thought that it would be nice to spend a leisurely afternoon and evening in Jianshui County.

Relaxing on shaved ice, coffee and beer ordered mostly through google translate.

It may not be the highlight of our trip, but it was a pleasant interlude, watching the day pass by in a small, sleepy town.

Walking around Jianshui brings you back to the Ming Dynasty.

Many of the structures still keep the tradition architecture of that time. It is like walking through a museum of ancient buildings and residences.

Small enough to walk around, we covered most of the must-sees in one afternoon.

After a sumptuous lunch in one of the very few “foreigner friendly” (menu presented on a tablet with photos) restaurants in Han Lin Lu, we headed out to explore the town.

Not far from the restaurant in Jianxin St. is a fascinating example of the Qing era, the Zhu Family Garden.

Transporting you 150 years back into imperial times, it showcases the elegance of the Zhu family’s architectural complex from raised eaves, intricate carvings to the spacious 20,000 square meter compound—

courtyard

intricate carvings

garden

comprising of ancient buildings, family houses, ponds, lovely gardens and courtyards that took thirty years to build.

The main road, Lin-an Lu is shaded with old trees and on its eastern end stands this three-story Chaoyang Tower with a panoramic view of the town.

Built in 1389, the gate tower stands in the middle of Jianshui County and with exactly the same style as Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, it has been labeled as the “Little Tiananmen”.

A lovely place to while away time, many locals spend their free time socializing at the square.

On the opposite end of Lin-an Rd. is a well-preserved and one of the largest Confucius Temple in China.   The temple is constructed in traditional Chinese architecture with a history of more than 700 years.  We actually skipped this and instead walked around town and amused ourselves with the everyday goings on.

A favorite past time, I reckon

A lovely background sound it made while we were having our coffee

A contrast to lunch, in an alleyway in a small barbecue shop, dinner was the famous BBQ tofu

and a Jianshui original, rice noodle soup call Guo Qiao Mixian.

And with that satisfying dish, we ended our day ready for tomorrow’s trip the Yuanyang.

More of Jianshui:

The entrance to our guesthouse, Guilin Inn

A man on the square

Singing in the square

Inside the restaurant at lunch

the view of Lin’an Road from the tower

one of the many ponds of the Zhu Family Garden