Guiyang offers a quaint taste of Qingyan town

The view of Qingyan town. [Photo by Liu Wei/chinadaily.com.cn]

Six centuries old Qingyan town in southwestern China's Guizhou province is preparing to be ranked as one of the most important national scenic spots.

Qingyan town, a small ancient town in southwest China, is on top of must-see list that Guiyang, the capital of Guizhou province, has promoted since the province launched plan to make tourism a strong part of local economic development.

As one of the four oldest towns in Guizhou province, Qingyan was acknowledged and awarded for its history and culture nationwide in 2005.

It joined the club of AAAA-level national scenic spots in 2010—1A is the lowest and 5A is the highest—and now it is going all out to upgrade its tourism facilities and capabilities to welcome growing number of tourists.

Qingyan is famous for its Zhuangyuan house, a house where lived the winner of the annual imperial examination in 1887 during Qing Dynasty ( 1644-1911).

The whole town was proud of him as he was the first winner born in Guizhou province since the imperial exam system began in Sui Dynasty ( AD 581-618).

To show their sense of pride, the locals even named their famous dish —stewed pig feet, as zhuangyuan pig feet, aka winner pig feet, expressing their good wish for being a winner after eating it.

The signature menu of this historical town doesn't stop at the pig feet. It has fudges containing eatable roses, hot chili chicken nuggets, all kinds of fried chill snacks, sour sweet turnip slices and more.

The town is located in Huaxi district on the south of the provincial capital, 29 kilometers away. The 222-square-km district has 38 minority ethnic groups, a characteristic that has given birth to diverse culture and traditions.

But it's not just culture. In this small town, there is not a monopoly of one religion. Different religions, such as Taoism, Buddhism and Christianity, have existed in harmony.

Qingyan has received about 723 million yuan ($111 million) to upgrade 65 infrastructure programs, including transportation, scenic spot management and promotion.