Yangliuqing Ancient Town

Yangliuqing prospered as a canal town on the Grand Canal, and from the Ming dynasty it developed a distinctive craft: New Year prints made by combining woodblock printing with hand painting, producing images of plump children, deities and auspicious scenes that were pasted up in homes across northern China each new year. The tradition is recognised as intangible cultural heritage, and workshops and a museum in the town demonstrate the carving, printing and painting stages. The Shi Family Mansion, built by a wealthy merchant clan in the nineteenth century, has around two hundred rooms across a series of courtyards and is the largest surviving residence of its kind in the region.

What to look for

• The New Year print workshops - woodblock carving, printing and hand painting.
• The Shi Family Mansion - a nineteenth-century merchant estate of some two hundred rooms.
• The print museum - the history of the tradition and its imagery.
• The canal town streets - the restored old quarter beside the Grand Canal.

When to go

April to May and September to October for comfortable weather; the print tradition is most visible in the weeks before Chinese New Year, when demand and demonstrations peak. Weekends bring local visitors.

Things to know

Much of the old town has been rebuilt rather than preserved. English interpretation is minimal. The prints sold range from genuine handmade work to cheap machine reproductions, and telling them apart takes attention.

Nearby

Central Tianjin lies east; the Grand Canal runs through the town.