Jinxi Ancient Town is located in the southern part of Suzhou and within the administrative area of Kunshan City. Jinxi, a AAAA scenic area by the China National Tourism Administration and one of the fourth batch of China's Historical and Cultural Towns, has 2 cultural relics under provincial-level protection and 12 cultural relics under municipal-level protection.
The ancient town area is in the center of Jinxi. As one part of the Dianmao water system of Taihu Lake basin, Jinxi has a complicated network of lakes, rivers, ports and creeks. It has 16 lakes, such as Dianshanhu Lake, Changbaidang lake, to name just a few, and 238 rivers big and small.
Jinxi is surrounded by waters. Six ancient water courses flow out of the town forming in the core area of the town the shape of Chinese Character “丰”. Rivers, streets, houses and alleys are connected through 16 ancient stone bridges in different place of the Town. The town's main river crosses the town from north to south, stretching 6 kilometers long. Along the river, there are stone banks, stone steps for getting off and on boat, stone docks for harboring boats, stone bridges and stone columns erected by the bank for fastening ropes of ships, comprising the fascinating part of the Watertown views.
As a famous historical and cultural town in China, Jinxi preserves over 4,000 traditional buildings that were built in Ming (1836-1644), Qing (1644-1911) dynasties and Republic of China, among which Zhudian brick kilns, Chen Muqu Residence, and Tongdao temple are the most famous. Within the 2-square-kilometer town center area, there are 14 museums such as Ancient Tile Museum, Red Porcelain Museum, Wonder Stone and Old Coins Museum. It is really worthy of the name of Home of the Folk Museums of China. Among all the museums, the most famous is the Ancient Tile Museum which is the first and only one in China, reflecting the unique Tile culture of Jinxi.
