Liye ancient city is located in the hinterland of Wuling Mountain, and on the conjunction of Hunan, Hubei, and Chongqing and Guizhou province. It belongs to Longshan County under the Miao and Tujia Autonomous Prefecture in Western Hunan, Human being settled down here as early as 6,000 years ago.
Streets and wharfs were built during the Qing Dynasty under the control of Emperor Kangxi. Liye tang was set up when the son of Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Yongzheng was on the throne, and then it was developed into a market. With its excellent traffic location, rich cultural heritage and previous prosperous trade, it has been granted as the Four Ancient Town in Western Hunan, along with Wangcun, Pushi and Chadong.
There are many ancient cities from Warring States, The Western Han Dynasty, Han city, Thousands of tombs of Warring States, Qin and Han Dynasties, and ancient cultural helic from Neolithic, Shang and zhou Dynasties; Liye town abounds in antique and ancient buildings of Ming and Qing dynasties. It has been particularly famous for the excavation of ancient cities and unearth of bamboo slips of Qing Dynasty. The profound history and culture has made Liye renowned all around the world. In November, 2002, Liye has enjoyed a privilege of being approved by the State Council as the fifth national key cultural relics protection units.
By Brenda
