Langzhong Ancient City

One Of The Four Best Preserved Ancient Cities In China; National 5A Tourist Attraction · Langzhong, Sichuan

One of the four best-preserved ancient cities in China, wrapped in a bend of the Jialing River in northeastern Sichuan with mountains closing the horizon on three sides - a setting chosen for its feng shui and still cited as a textbook example of it. Langzhong was a garrison and administrative seat for more than two thousand years, briefly the provincial capital in the early Qing, and its old quarter survives almost whole: a grid of grey-tiled courtyard houses along stone lanes, with carved doorways, latticed windows and roofs that step down toward the water. Landmarks include the Zhang Fei Temple, honouring the Three Kingdoms general who governed here and was murdered in the city, the Gongyuan imperial examination hall where candidates sat in rows of tiny cells, and the Huaguang and Zhongtian towers, which visitors climb for the classic view over a sea of tiled roofs. Langzhong also claims the invention of the Chinese lunar calendar through the Han astronomer Luo Xiahong, and it is famous for its vinegar, brewed here for centuries and sold from wooden barrels on nearly every lane.

Langzhong Ancient City, Langzhong, Nanchong, Langzhong, Sichuan, China

Old city lanes open at all hours; ticketed halls and towers keep daytime hours, roughly 8:00-18:00 (check).

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