Nianbadu Ancient Town
廿八都
A thousand-year-old town where Zhejiang, Fujian and Jiangxi provinces meet, lined with Ming and Qing residences and home to more than a dozen dialects. It is known as the “Town of a Hundred Surnames.”
Nianbadu sits on the ancient Xianxia Pass road at the southern tip of Jiangshan City. In the Northern Song dynasty it was a strategic military stronghold, and garrison troops and merchants settled there. The result is a unique town where more than a hundred surnames and over a dozen dialects coexist, earning it nicknames such as the “Town of a Hundred Surnames” and the “Dialect Kingdom.” The town preserves 36 Ming and Qing buildings, including the Wenchang Palace, the Great King Temple, the former residence of Jiang Shoudan and the old shops on Xinxing Street. Its architecture blends Hui-style horse-head gables with the vernacular houses of western Zhejiang, and its wood and brick carvings are finely crafted. Outside the town you can hike a section of the old Xianxia Pass road. A suggested plan: visit Jianglang Mountain in the morning and Nianbadu in the afternoon, photograph the old street in the evening when it is quieter, and stay the night in a guesthouse to enjoy the nightscape. Admission is about 80 yuan (check before visiting), and tickets may be waived during the winter free-admission event. Getting there: a taxi from Jiangshan Station takes about 50 minutes, or you can take a bus from Jiangshan to Nianbadu. Local specialties such as tongluo cake and dried tofu are worth trying.
Opening hours
08:00–17:00 (old street accessible all day)
Nearby sights
- Mount Fugai
- Xianxia Pass & Ancient Road
- Former Residence of Dai Li
- Sanqingkou Porcelain Workshop
- Xiali Lake (Xiakou Reservoir)
- Mount Jianglang
- Qingyang Mao Family Cultural Village
- Jiangshan Museum