Jiangsu's Qintong Ancient Town – A Charmingly Refined Ancient Town Guesthouse with Elegant Vintage Beauty That Captivates

If you are a fan of ancient towns, you must visit Qintong Ancient Town. After thousands of years of baptism, it still retains its traditional cultural customs and architectural appearances. Many people who love ancient towns come here on reputation, and most choose to stay in one of the themed courtyard guesthouses located beneath the Qintong Tea House. Among them, the Huaide Xuan Guesthouse is one example.

The guesthouse is situated right in the ancient town, convenient for travel and close to the entrance. Along the way, you will pass various restaurants, hotels, inns, supermarkets, and snack stalls, making life very easy. The living environment here is relatively simple and conservative. Amidst the antique atmosphere of the ancient town, you can experience the influence of ancient culture while also feeling the simple and frugal modern rural life.

The guesthouse is a single-family, three-bedroom building in an antique style. The tall, blue-brick courtyard walls completely separate the inside from the outside: bustling outside, quiet and peaceful inside, as if in another world. In front of the guesthouse is a narrow alley paved with blue stone slabs, typical of the ancient towns in the Jiangnan region.

Pushing open the black double wooden doors and entering the guesthouse, you will find a small courtyard. The courtyard is also paved with blue bricks, and the diagonal pattern gives it some design sense. In the corner grows a cluster of green, slender bamboo, perfectly matching the antique Jiangnan courtyard.

Beneath a stone staircase on one side rests an oddly shaped rockery, fitting just right in this small courtyard. Going up the stone stairs leads to a small terrace on the second floor, where you can see the end of the alley. It's also a quiet spot for open-air chatting, stargazing, and watching clouds.

There are three high-quality modern guest rooms that can accommodate six people at the same time. All are exquisitely decorated double-bed rooms with a mix of ancient and modern styles. The printed, elegantly patterned wall-to-wall carpet adds considerable texture to the rooms.

The large beds, clothes racks, dressing tables, tables and chairs, daybeds, TV cabinets, desks, etc., are all made of light yellow solid wood furniture, paired with white walls. This creates a streamlined, fashionable look with a strong sense of elegance and refinement, stylish yet warm.

Every guest room has bright windows that allow sunlight to fill the room, making it feel even warmer. The rooms do not have private bathrooms; there is one shared bathroom. This setup is suitable for family trips and couples' honeymoons.

Amenities include LCD TVs, air conditioning, water heaters, Wi-Fi, and 24-hour hot water. There is dedicated cleaning staff who change the bedding and supplies.

The scenic area is surrounded by water. Legend has it that its name was personally bestowed by Qin Shi Huang. The town is full of shops, with a dense population, and all kinds of famous snacks and street stalls are everywhere. You can smell the aroma of food from afar. How can you enjoy a trip without food?

Stroll through the ancient town while tasting local snacks: osmanthus honey cakes, Huangqiao sesame seed cakes, Jingjiang dried pork slices, fish balls, Qinhu Lake Duan crabs, and more. Isn't that as joyful as being an immortal?

Besides delicious snacks, there are many fun things here: sugar figurines, old-fashioned popcorn popping on the spot, and other childhood memory trinkets. You can also watch a Ming Dynasty wedding procession performance on the street. The actors wear authentic Ming Dynasty costumes and have exquisite makeup. As they approach, it feels like traveling through time – curiosity, excitement, and admiration linger in your heart for a long time.