Introduction to Qinglinkou Ancient Town: One-day Tour Guide

Qingkou Ancient Town is a small town with Bashu style and is very popular among tourists. It has an extremely long history, and some ancient buildings have been well preserved. The ancient temperament and culture here affect the hearts of every tourist, and it is a good place to visit.

I seem to remember that since I came to Mianyang in 2012, I have been to Qinglinkou Ancient Town no less than 10 times, all year round. But most of the time it was a rush. I didn’t seriously understand the history of the ancient town and feel the local customs.

Due to the weather, we stayed all day. As we had more time, we wandered around the ancient town slowly, carefully appreciating the style of the ancient town, slowly savoring the pastoral atmosphere of the town, and condensed it into our travel notes.

Linkou Ancient Town is located in a small ravine southwest of Erlangmiao Town, about 40 kilometers northeast of Jiangyou City. It is located on the main transportation road of Zitong, Jiange and Jiangyou counties, where Tongjiang River joins another small river - Qingyun River (He Qian). The ancient town is very small, not many people know it, and it maintains the tranquility that an ancient town should have.

In summer, the temperature in Qinglinkou is moderate, and the ancient town located in the mountains is more like a quiet paradise. The mountains in the ancient town are not high but beautiful and elegant, the water is not deep but clear, and the land is not wide but quiet.

Historically, it was an important transportation thoroughfare, with the Three Kingdoms Shu Road passing through it, and it gradually developed into an ancient town with developed commerce. Merchants gathered there, there were many guild halls, and temples were everywhere. It also became a market in northwest Sichuan. Beginning in 1999, the crew of the sequel to CCTV's "Journey to the West" filmed two sets of exterior scenes here, which made it famous.

In March 2013, the Qinglinkou Ancient Building Group was announced by the State Council as the seventh batch of national key cultural relics protection units. In August of the same year, Qinglinkou Village was rated as the second batch of Chinese traditional villages. It was built in the Yuan Dynasty and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Walking into Qinglinkou, the streets look a bit shabby.

The residential buildings include ancient eaves-type wooden structures, some courtyard houses, three-step terraced buildings, and strange stilted buildings. These buildings are decorated with carved beams, doors, windows, and green stone columns. They are typical antique buildings of the Ming and Qing Dynasties and have a typical style of towns in northern Sichuan.

Not long after entering the ancient town, you saw the Fu Family Courtyard, which is said to be the private residence of Fu Shoulong, the number one scholar in Long'an Prefecture in the Qing Dynasty. The house has not been renovated yet and feels rather shabby.

The streets in the ancient town are about two miles long. This street is divided into New Street and Old Street. The old street is built along the southern foot of Wangye Mountain, facing the river. The buildings on the old street were mainly built in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, while the new streets were built in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Lintong River is built at the southwest foot of Renzi Mountain, separated from Laojie River. The two streets are separated by the Qinglin River, which is more than ten meters wide, and connected by a covered bridge "He Yi Bridge" (now the Red Army Bridge). A wooden bridge was built across the river.

According to records, this wooden bridge named "He Yi Bridge" was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty (1791). In the spring of the third year of Jiageng's reign (1800), in order to prevent the Qing army from pursuing it, the Anbali Sect burned the single-plank bridge. After the war subsided, people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait raised 2,200 taels of silver to build a new three-hole stone arch bridge based on the original one.

The whole bridge is in the shape of a mountain. The stone bridge has three arches and is divided into three sections on the bridge deck. There is an archway at the head of the bridge, painted with various patterns and relief figures, and metal wind chimes are tied to every corner of the covered bridge. When the breeze blows, you can hear the bells ringing. It is built near mountains and rivers. The old and new streets seem to have some aura of the old town, so the old town is small and very elegant.

There is a Fujian and Cantonese guild hall in the middle of the ancient town, which was built during the Tongzhi period. There is a plaque on the door that reads "Civilized in the World" in the third year of the Qing Dynasty, and there are "Wannian Stage" and "Mazu Temple" in the hall. This was once the headquarters of the Red Thirty Army.

This ancient town is where the Red Army passed through. I deeply

One of the most unforgettable is the "Red Army Bridge". The Red Army stayed in Qinglinkou for more than a month and were ordered to move. During the withdrawal, a female Red Army soldier named Liu was seriously injured and could not be transferred with the team. She was placed in the home of a silversmith named Yang in the current town, but unfortunately she was discovered by the Kuomintang's "purge police".

The female Red Army soldiers preferred death to surrender under the cruel torture of the enemy, and died heroically on the wooden piles of the Heyi Bridge. In order to commemorate her, the locals renamed He Yi Bridge as Red Army Bridge.

The blood of the martyrs soaked the bridge body, giving this ancient covered bridge the mark of red culture.

"In the eyes of the people of Qinglinkou, the Red Army Bridge is not only a bridge connecting the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, but also represents the spirit of the Red Army that is not afraid of sacrifice or danger for the revolution." Today, the red culture with the Red Army Bridge as the core has become a business card of Qinglinkou Ancient Town. People often come to the "Red Army Bridge" at Qinglinkou to remember the revolutionary martyrs and inherit the Long March spirit of not being afraid of hardship and selfless dedication.

On the wall of the Huanggong Temple on the other side of the Tongjiang River in the ancient town, there is still a 25-meter-long and 2-meter-high painting hanging on the wall, which reads "The Red Army is the savior of the Chinese nation and the working people!" China The biggest slogan ever written in ink, it's amazing. According to records, after the Red Army went north, the Kuomintang changed the first "red" character in the slogan to "国", and the slogan was passed down. After liberation, the government changed the first word "国" in the slogan to the original "hong". This process is called the struggle of "words".

Today, there are not many villagers and tourists in the ancient town, but there are still many stalls on the street. Famous delicacies in the ancient town include tofu feast, peach blossom, wrapped eggs, dried tofu, etc.

The magnificent scenery of the rippling river and flying bridge attracts many tourists. The cable bridge across the Tongjiang River was originally named Yongji Bridge and is now renamed "Tongjiang Yidu". It is a newly built cable bridge after the earthquake. The poem "Tongjiang, Shuisuo Town, Yunlou, Zhang Sanfeng, Guilin, Qingyun Road, cottages, holy places, and ancient towns and green forests are all in the painting" is a praise of the human and natural landscape here. It was once listed as one of the eight scenic spots in Jiangyou.

After crossing the rope bridge, we came to the "Huang Family Courtyard", which is said to be the villa of a deputy director of the Public Security Bureau named Huang in Zitong County during the Republic of China. When the Red Army passed by, this place was used as a Red Army food regiment.

The old street connected by the "Red Army Bridge" is close to the "Qingyun River", which is the He Qian River. The streets of the old street seem a bit deserted. It’s just a better place to relax naturally when you’re tired from playing.

There is a teahouse called Qingyunshe here, which is very elegant and beautiful, with a traditional Chinese style flavor. The arrangement of items in the house is typical of northwest Sichuan style. Going upstream along the Qingyun River, I found an ancient Bodhi tree growing by the river. The exact age of the tree is unknown.

The lower street of the old street is narrower and longer. There is a "Fire Temple" at the end of the street. It is currently being renovated and we haven't been able to go in to see it.

We spent the whole day playing and were about to leave the ancient town after dinner. This day is a rare day to relax, as if time has slowed down here. I feel that anyone who is under a lot of pressure is suitable for a stroll in Qinglinkou Town.