Po Tan Ancient Town

Po Tan Town is located about 25 kilometers west of Xianju County. Po Tan is the unique confluence point of Yong'an Creek, where five streams, namely Zhu Mu Creek, Wan Zhu Creek, Jiu Du Keng Creek, You Huang Yu Keng, and Dian Hui into Yong'an Creek, hence Po Tan has the scenery of 'observing the reflections of five moons at night'. Po Tan is also a junction of water and land transportation, with water routes along Ling River and Yong'an Creek converging at Po Tan, and the ancient Cangling Trail leading to western Zhejiang starting from here. This advantageous geographical position, connecting the southeast coast with the inland of western Zhejiang, made it a famous commercial port in the ancient mountainous areas of southeastern Zhejiang and an important transfer dock on the ancient salt route. As early as before 998 AD, this place became a bustling market town along Yong'an Creek due to the convenience of water transportation. After a thousand years of changes and accumulation, Po Tan still preserves the three Huali long, cobblestone-paved 'dragon'-shaped ancient street. Along the street, there are ancient residences from the Tang, Song, Ming, Qing dynasties, and the Republic of China, the majestic and beautifully laid out 'Three Passages and Nine Gates Hall', the Tongjiang Academy where Zhu Xi once sent his son to study, and the needle-pricked boneless lantern that won the gold award at the China Art Exhibition and the fourth International Exposition. The profound historical and cultural heritage can make you appreciate the connotation of a thousand years of culture. The ancient street resembles a dragon, with the dragon's head to the west, the dragon's tail to the east, and the middle section curved into the dragon's body. Facing the dragon's head is the confluence point of the five streams. Whether this is a coincidence or the ancient totem worship 'fabricated' by the ancients is still subject to verification. At the location of the dragon's tail, there still stands a rare brick-carved archway in the country, 3.5 meters high and 8 meters wide, with a set of exquisite and lifelike patterns of dragons, phoenixes, qilins, cranes, deer, flowers, and figures carved on the surface of the bricks. During the prosperous mid-Qing Dynasty, Po Tan Ancient Town was quite large in scale. The main street was 'dragon'-shaped, paved with cobblestones, curving gracefully, and stretching for 2 kilometers. The street was lined with stone slab counters: in addition to 'Shui Bu Tou', there were five other 'Bu Tou' within the town: Wuyi Bu, Dongyang Bu, Jinyun Bu, Yongkang Bu, and Gong Bu. The ancient town area concentrated a large number of ancient Ming and Qing architectural complexes, rich and diverse, including old shops, ancient residences, academies, and temples. Since the early Republic of China, due to changes in transportation conditions and natural and man-made disasters, Po Tan Ancient Street gradually declined, especially after the railway was opened, which caused Po Tan's salt road to lose its original function, and Po Tan's market scene was no longer glorious, but the main buildings and structures were well preserved. Po Tan Ancient Town