The ancient town of Jiaguan

古镇夹关

Jiaguan is a beautiful ancient town located about an hour and a half away from Chengu, the largest city of the Sichuan province in China. Jiaguan also happens to be the hometown of my wife so I’ve had quite a few experiences of being in the town. The ancient town is best known for its green tea picking culture, boasting a large number of green tea fields and those who work in the industry.

夹关是一个美丽的古镇，位于中国四川省最大城市成都约一个半小时的车程。夹关恰好是我妻子的家乡，所以我在这个城镇有过不少经历。这个古镇以其采茶文化而闻名，拥有大量的绿茶种植园和从事这一行业的人们。

Below, you can see a wide variety of photos I shot demonstrating the beauty of this ancient town. The streets similar to other parts of China are bustling with people going on about their lives. However, in Jiaguan people often greet each other or know each other which is a large difference when compared to a larger city in China. The busiest parts of the town situated themselves around the Baimojiang river, having created quite clearly anciently old bridges to be able to cross the river. The ancient homes and shops built along the river can be beautifully seen as reflected by the river water during the day. The structures around can be seen as clearly aged yet sturdy, built of high quality materials for that time.

下面，您可以看到我拍摄的各种照片，展示了这个古镇的美丽。街道上与中国其他地方类似，人们忙碌地过着自己的生活。然而，在夹关，人们经常互相问候或彼此认识，这与中国的大城市相比有很大的不同。镇上最繁忙的部分位于白沫江河附近，河上建有明显古老的桥梁，方便人们过河。沿河而建的古老房屋和商店在白天的河水映照下显得格外美丽。周围的建筑虽然显得古老，却依然坚固，采用了那个时代的优质材料建造。

The Chinese culture, more specifically the culture of Jiaguan can be seen throughout the town. The town demonstrates this through Chinese lanterns, through the style of their bridges and structures, as well as through little shrines in which prayers are offered to.

中国文化，尤其是夹关的文化，贯穿于整个城镇。这个镇通过中国灯笼、桥梁和建筑风格，以及供人祈祷的小神龛来展示这一点。

Above is a tower built near one of the bridges and now has a small coffee shop there. Coffee is not culturally popular in the ancient town of Jiaguan but is slowly growing its presence there. Being a green tea town, green tea is naturally a popular drink of choice along with milk tea.

上面是建在一座桥附近的塔，现在那里有一家小咖啡馆。咖啡在古镇夹关并不太受欢迎，但它的存在正在逐渐增加。作为一个绿茶之镇，绿茶自然是人们的首选饮品，还有奶茶也很受欢迎。

I hope you enjoyed viewing the shots I took of the ancient town of Jiaguan. It is truly a stunning town with several points of interest for anyone willing to pay a visit. They are not used to foreigners and will often stare, but I assure that the people in Jiaguan are just curious; they are very friendly and welcoming people!

我希望您喜欢我拍摄的夹关古镇的照片。这个镇真的很迷人，对于愿意前来访问的人来说，有许多值得关注的地方。当地人对外国人不太习惯，常常会盯着看，但我向您保证，夹关的人们只是出于好奇；他们非常友好和热情！

Have you ever been to an ancient town in China? Have you been to one anywhere else in the world? I’d love to hear your own stories in the comments below!

您去过中国的古镇吗？或者在世界其他地方的古镇呢？我很想在下面的评论中听听您的故事！