Qianzhou Ancient Town is located in the south of Jishou, Xiangxi Tujia and Miao Autonomous Prefecture of Hunan Province. As a national 4A scenic area and provincial-level historic neighborhood, it has earned its name because of its special geographical conditions.
People began to settle down in Qianzhou as early as in the Xia and Shang Dynasties. The ancient town became an important commercial hub and port of Western Hunan in the Qin and Han Dynasties. It grew into a political, economic, cultural and military center of the Miao ethnic area during the Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties and one of four leading ancient towns in Xiangxi.
With an area of 0.47 square kilometers, the ancient town has become an important window through which people can appreciate the intangible cultural heritages and mysterious stories of Xiangxi.
"Qiancheng is a small and tidy place with lots of stone buildings. It has nurtured several historically renowned people over the past three decades," said Shen Congwen, a late 20th-century Chinese author and scholar from Hunan, in his literary work in 1938.
Qianzhou was a key link and occupied an important military status on the border region of the Miao ethnic group. The ancient town is still endowed with time-honored architecture, streets and endless stories.
Qianzhou is also home to many renowned historical figures such as Yang Yuebin, Luo Rongguang, Zhang Yizun and Yang Weishu.
