Jiangxi (江西) · 15 places · 9 cities
15 places in Jiangxi, grouped by city. Under each one are two figures from the survey: how much daily life still goes on there, out of 100, and how far it has been turned over to visitors, out of 6.
Most common here: Old town (11), Old quarter of a city (2), Walled city (2). See all provinces, or the background on old towns.
4 places
Shangrao (上饶)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Hekou Ancient Town (铅山河口古镇)UNESCOThe starting point of the Tea Horse Road, a 1,000-year-old river port where 700 Ming-Qing buildings line stone streets, an 82-year-old tailor still uses a Butterfly sewing machine, and women wash clothes at the same river docks where tea boats once loaded for Russia.Lived-in 84/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Likeng Village (Wuyuan) (婺源理坑)A Huizhou village in Wuyuan, quieter than Huangling and a real village with Ming-Qing houses, a stream running through, elders washing clothes at the river, and almost no tourist shops.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Sixi-Yancun (Wuyuan) (婺源思溪延村)Two adjacent Huizhou villages with 150+ Ming-Qing houses, where elders still wash clothes by the river at dawn, drink tea under courtyard skylights, and occasionally perform Nuo opera, the setting of the 1987 film “The Bride with White Hair.”Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Wangkou Village (Wuyuan) (婺源汪口)A Yu clan village in Wuyuan. The ancestral hall’s wood carving is a standard example of the Huizhou style. Crops are dried on racks outside the houses in autumn because that is how they are dried, not for a photo.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
3 places
Jingdezhen (景德镇)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Jingdezhen Taoyangli (景德镇陶阳里（御窑·老里弄）)UNESCOA 1,000-year-old porcelain capital where 108 old alleyways are paved with kiln bricks, the imperial kiln site is a 2026 UNESCO site, and hundreds of young potters sell handmade ceramics in a converted factory night market every weekend.Lived-in 78/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · known abroad · easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
| Yaoli Ancient Town (瑶里古镇)A porcelain-clay town upstream of Jingdezhen, where water-powered hammers crushed the stone. Tea from Fuliang was famous enough for Bai Juyi to write about buying it.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Fuliang Old Town (浮梁老城)The old county seat that governed Jingdezhen, with its Qing yamen intact. Tea rather than porcelain is what the county is known for.Lived-in 68/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
2 places
Fuzhou (抚州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Liukeng Ancient Village (乐安流坑古村)UNESCOA 1,100-year-old clan village where 7,000 people surnamed Dong still live in 260 Ming-Qing houses, a village that produced 34 jinshi (palace exam graduates) and 2 zhuangyuan (top scholars), with no crowds and no commercialization, just elders listening to radios behind half-open doors.Lived-in 80/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
| Lichuan Old City (黎川古城)An old-town street where people still run their shops out of the ground floor of their own houses. Filled sugar candy is the local craft food.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Ganzhou (赣州)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Ganzhou Song City (赣州宋城（郁孤台·灶儿巷）)UNESCOChina’s only surviving Northern Song brick city wall, with a 1,000-year-old flood-control sewer (Fushou Gou) still working, a 200m Ming alley where locals cook and watch TV, and Xin Qiji’s famous poem “Yu Gu Tai” written right here.Lived-in 74/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Walled city | Lived-in, busy |
1 place
Ji’an (吉安)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Meipi Ancient Village (吉安渼陂古村)A 900-year-old village with 367 Ming-Qing houses, 4 ancestral halls, 3 academies, and a unique “red+ancient” culture. It was the headquarters of the 1930s Chinese Soviet Republic, with old merchant streets, a surviving old cinema (1930s), and villagers still living in ancestral halls.Lived-in 76/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Jiujiang (九江)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Wucheng Ancient Town (永修吴城)A fishing and farming town inside the core of the Poyang Lake migratory bird reserve, which is what brings people in winter.Lived-in 72/100 · Commercialised 1/6 · rarely visited from abroad · hard to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Nanchang (南昌)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Shengjin Pagoda Historic Area (南昌绳金塔历史街区)A pagoda with a residential district around it, partly rebuilt with some original residents kept. The food street is where Nanchang eats rice noodles and clay-pot soup.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · easy to reach | Old quarter of a city | Lived-in, busy |
1 place
Yichun (宜春)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Zhangshu (Yao Capital) (樟树)A medicinal-herb town: the trade, the processing and the annual fair in October, listed as one of the three largest herb fairs in China.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 2/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, quiet |
1 place
Yingtan (鹰潭)
| Place | Kind | Reads as |
|---|---|---|
| Shangqing Ancient Town (龙虎山上清古镇)Daoist priests keep their routine at the Celestial Master’s residence, and the town outside is still lived in. Local tofu is the dish everybody names.Lived-in 70/100 · Commercialised 3/6 · rarely visited from abroad · some effort to reach | Old town | Lived-in, busy |
Which of These Is Still a Town
The two scores narrow the list, and the last step is local: which lanes are worth the walk, which day of the week the place is itself, and where to stay inside the walls. Tell our local team the provinces you will be in and they will say which of these hold up.