Xingcheng Ancient City

🌟Highlights: Xingcheng Ancient City is one of the four most well-preserved ancient cities from the Ming Dynasty (Xi'an Ancient City, Jingzhou Ancient City, Xingcheng Ancient City, and Pingyao Ancient City). It is located in the central throat of the Liaoxi Corridor, a major traffic route from Liaodong to the Central Plains. It was first called Xingcheng during the Liao Dynasty, renamed Ningyuan during the Ming Dynasty, and reverted to Xingcheng during the Republic of China, known as the first city outside the Great Wall. The ancient city is a square garrison city, with well-preserved city walls, four gates (east, south, west, and north), and a central bell and drum tower. Yuan Chonghuan once defeated Nurhaci and Huang Taiji's two attacks here with less than 20,000 troops (the Great Victory of Ningyuan). It is a national key cultural relic protection unit. The ancient city is not large, with a circumference of just over 3,000 meters. No wonder my son told me it is not an ordinary city but a military stronghold, mainly a military base. 👎Least Recommended: Although the ancient city is well-preserved and a key cultural relic, Huludao is still a tourist city (Xingcheng is a county-level city under Huludao), and it has the added attraction of being a filming location for the show "Sisters Who Make Waves." However, tourism development is still quite lacking. In fact, it can hardly be called proper development. Only the city gates, city walls, bell and drum tower, and some repairs to the General's Mansion and Confucian Temple inside the city look relatively neat and tidy; the rest are very dilapidated or even in ruins. Most of the residents still live there, truly reflecting the living conditions of residents in economically backward towns in China (Xingcheng's GDP in 2023 was 15.5 billion, with a population of 518,000 and a per capita GDP of 30,000 yuan, compared to the national per capita GDP of 89,000 yuan in 2023). The south gate (which seems to be the main gate) is relatively lively, with more tourists gathered, but the shops along the street do not have the clean, petty bourgeois, and pleasant feeling of other developed ancient towns. Therefore, it is only suitable for a cultural and historical tour of the ancient city.