Daxu Ancient Town

The ancient town is located on the eastern bank of the Li River, circa 25km into Guilin's hinterland. While it was founded already some 2000 years ago in Qin Dynasty, it took until Ming Dynasty for it to develop into a regional trading center. It was one of the four large market towns in ancient Guangxi Province.

 

Daxu's charme lies in its well preserved architecture; little wooden as well as stone houses lined up along a 2km long and about 2 meter wide blue cobblestone street.

 

In the last years, waking up from its slumber, it has become much more commercialised, but it is still not as bad as Yangshuo. Many new businesses have popped up in the old houses, selling fake antiques and Mao Bibles to the few tourists visiting. Luckily a few of the old businesses like an old pharmacy, a rice wine factory and a workshop to produce straw sandals have survived.

 

The Hanhuang Temple and the Gaozu Temple, both constructed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) as well as the old the assembly halls are fine specimens of well preserved ancient Chinese architecture.

 

Longevity Arch Bridge

The oldest bridge in Daxu is the Longevity Bridge (Wanshou Qiao). It was build as a stone arch bridge in Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) and recently restored. The top of the bridge is a good place to look over the old part of the town as well as the Li River at its west side. From here you can also see the nearby hills (across the river bank).

 

Flooding

From time to time (about once a year), the Li River leaves its bed and floods the lower parts of Daxu town. It is not advisable to visit during or directly after the flood, as most people have escaped before and will come back when the water level is back to normal again.