Huishan Ancient Town
惠山古镇
A cluster of ancestral halls at the foot of Huishan. Its 118 Ming and Qing halls line Huishan Creek and Zhijie Street. Together with Jichang Garden, Huishan Temple, the Second Spring Under Heaven and Huishan clay figurines, they make up Wuxi’s cultural heartland.
Huishan Ancient Town lies on the eastern foot of Huishan, on the west side of Wuxi’s urban area. Centered on Huishan Zhijie (Straight Street), Hengjie (Cross Street) and Huishan Creek, prominent Wuxi clans built ancestral halls here from the Ming and Qing dynasties onward. The result is a complex of 118 halls, including those of Fan Zhongyan, Hua Xiaozi, Zhang Zhongcheng and Lu Xuangong. It is the largest and best-preserved group of ancestral halls in China, and it was added to China’s World Heritage tentative list in 2006. The town has a free old-street district and a paid Xihui Scenic Area. In the free area, you can visit the ancestral halls, admire the white walls and dark tiles along Huishan Creek, stop at the teahouses by Longtou River, and browse the Huishan clay figurine street. Huishan clay figurines are a national intangible cultural heritage, and at the China Clay Figurine Museum or in local shops you can try making a “Dafu” figure. The paid area includes Jichang Garden, Huishan Temple (with a Tang-dynasty sutra pillar and the Golden Lotus Bridge), the Second Spring Under Heaven (ranked by Lu Yu in the Tang dynasty and the inspiration for A Bing’s “Reflections on the Second Spring”), Zhulu Shanfang and the Longguang Pagoda on Xishan. Suggested route: metro station → Huishan Zhijie ancestral halls → Huishan Creek → clay figurine museum → Huishan Temple → the Second Spring → Jichang Garden → climb the Longguang Pagoda for a view over the city. The whole route takes about 4 hours. Xihui Scenic Area entry is about 70 yuan (includes Jichang Garden, the Second Spring and Huishan Temple). Getting there: Metro Line 1 to Huishan Ancient Town station, then a 10-minute walk. Notes: the area in front of Huishan Temple is crowded in mid-to-late November during the ginkgo season. Local snacks include Huishan flaky pastry (youshu), tofu pudding and magnolia cakes. Most ancestral halls are free, but some have paid exhibitions.
Opening hours
Old town open all day; Xihui Scenic Area 07:30–17:30
Nearby sights
- Jichang Garden
- Former Residence of Xue Fucheng
- Wuxi Zoo & Taihu Happy Park
- Xiaolou Lane
- Donglin Academy
- Nanchang Street & Qingming Bridge
- Wuxi Museum
- Meiyuan Plum Garden