Qikou: A Trading Port on the Yellow River
A river port of the Ming and Qing in Linxian, read through its five-li street of shopfronts, the Black Dragon Temple above it and the seven clusters of dwellings the 2006 listing covers.
Qikou
Qikou is a town of Linxian, Lüliang, on the Yellow River in western Shanxi, and in the Ming and Qing it was the water-and-land transport hub and trading town of the province's west. Its old street, known as the Five-Li Long Street, is lined with shopfronts, of which Yongyu, Yongshun, Tianjuyi and Xinyiyuan survive. The Black Dragon Temple stands on Wuwu Hill with a main hall and a stage, and the dwellings of the complex are preserved in seven clusters, at Qikou itself and at Xiwan, Gaojiaping, Zijishan, Yuanshang, Zhaizishan and Lijia Shan, built in earth and timber, brick and stone, and cave form. The complex entered the sixth batch of national key cultural relic protection units in 2006.