Walking the stone paths of Qingyan Ancient Town

China Daily's foreign reporter Jocelyn Eikenburg, an American expat, toured an original stone walkway in Bouyei ethnic garb on Sunday during the "A Date with China" international media tour at Qingyan Ancient Town in Guiyang, Southwest China's Guizhou province.

It would be no exaggeration to call Qingyan "a stone town". Almost everything is made of stone – houses, walls, roads, archways, stoves and other utilities. Within the town, well-preserved stone-slab lanes and archways testify to its past glory.

The ancient town, located 29 kilometers from the city center of Guiyang, is one of the province's four major ancient towns. It has a history of about 600 years and features exquisite buildings from the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).