The Millennium ancient city of Sichuan in the high mountain valley has been an important frontier defense town for generations, and its architecture still exists in tang style.

Under the blue sky and white clouds, between the towering mountains, a river named Zagunao divides Xuecheng Town into two parts. On the one hand, there is a new block with bustling vehicles, and National Highway 317 passes through it. There are many restaurants and shops on the street, and vendors are doing passers-by business enthusiastically. On one side is the quiet old street, where people live a quiet and ordinary life. This is an unremarkable town, but also a thousand-year-old city with a long history.

Xuecheng Town, located in the hinterland of the inland alpine valley in western Sichuan, belongs to Lixian County, Aba Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan Province. It is 23 kilometers away from Lixian County and about 18 kilometers away from Chengdu, the provincial capital. The Qiang nationality and some Tibetan and Han nationalities mainly live here, which is located in the core of the Tibetan and Qiang cultural corridor.

Xuecheng, an ancient land of Bianqiang, was incorporated into the territory of China in the period of Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty in 111 AD. It was guarded by Xuecheng in the Sui Dynasty in 584 AD, and Xuecheng County in the Tang Dynasty in 628 AD. Since then, it has been governed by counties in the Five Dynasties, the Song Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, and it has been nearly 2 years since it was liberated.

Because of Xuecheng's "the show of a golden official in the east screen, the hero of Minshan in the west, the danger of looking at the whole furnace in the south, and the silence in the north", since the establishment of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, all dynasties have been border towns and counties. Especially from the Wude period in Tang Gaozu in 623 AD to the Tang Dynasty's death in 97 AD, there was a long-term war between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo, and Xuecheng, as an important frontier of the Tang Dynasty at that time, played a role in defending the frontier and controlling the western regions.

Today, Xuecheng Town is no longer disturbed by war. It is just an unknown quiet town. However, when you walk into Xuecheng and the old street, you will find well-preserved ancient buildings and relics, such as Chubian Building, Ningjiangmen City Site, Red Army stone slogan, Xuecheng Old Street, etc. Many of them still retain the charm of the Tang Dynasty, which makes people feel its glorious past.

The Bianbian Building is the most famous and dazzling architectural attraction in the whole ancient city. It is located on the top of an abrupt natural rock in Xuecheng Town Folk Museum. The building consists of a rock abutment with a height of 7.9 meters and a two-story wooden building with a height of 18 meters. It is a square two-story single-eaved roof with plain tile roof, with hook dripping and bucket beam structure, which is simple and magnificent.

The preparation of the side building was made by Xuecheng, and Xuecheng was written for the preparation of the side building. In 83 AD, the Tang Dynasty appointed Li Deyu, a famous minister, as our envoy to manage the border area. Li Deyu came to Xuecheng, and in order to strengthen the guard, inspire morale and discuss border affairs, he built the Border Building. Only after thousands of years of wind and rain, the original border building has long been destroyed, and today's border building was rebuilt during the Tongzhi period in 1871.

When you climb the building, you can see the new look of Xuecheng Ancient Town, a legacy of the Tang Dynasty. At that time, Xue Tao, a famous poetess in the Tang Dynasty, was sent to Xuecheng. Because of her admiration for Li Deyu's virtue and character, she wrote in the preparation of the side building, "With the birds flying in the clouds, eight windows are full of autumn, and forty states of surprisingly strong pressure. The generals will not be greedy for Qiang horses, and they will see each other at the highest level. The Bianbian Building is not only a historical witness of the military confrontation between the Tang Dynasty and Tubo in western Sichuan, but also a symbol of the Tibetan, Qiang and Han peoples' aversion to war and love for peace. Now it has been listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit.

The inscription on the Chengmen Cave is dated "Five Years of Qianlong", with the words "Ningjiangmen" and "Safeguarding the Border" inscribed on it, which was engraved when the city was built, and is the embodiment of the important position of ancient Xuecheng in politics and military affairs.

There is also a stone inscription slogan of the Red Army on the doorway of Ningjiangmen city site, which was carved by the Red Fourth Front Army when it passed by in 1935. There are three slogans * * *, which are well-preserved and eye-catching. It is a historical witness of the Red Army's Long March passing through Lixian County and a well-preserved revolutionary cultural relic left by the Red Army's Long March. Now it has been listed as a cultural relic protection unit in Sichuan Province.

In addition to the border area and the military town, there are still fascinating beautiful scenery in ancient Xuecheng that few people know. Because of the strange terrain in the territory, there are unique "Ten Scenes of Xuecheng": the lion's head looking at the moon, the autumn wind in the bear's ear, the ancient snow in Longshan Mountain, the water flowing eastward, the sound of the stone gate, the strange pen holder, the evening light of the arrow mountain, the twilight of Yiguan Mountain and the ancient lights shining at night. Xue Tao, a poetess in the Tang Dynasty, once sang poems in praise of Xue Cheng: "Zitong Tower is in the south ditch, the peak of the pen rack penetrates into the clouds, and the bear's ears are high to see the beautiful scenery, surpassing Jiangnan as Xue Cheng."

The sword and shadow have faded long ago, and the border area has become history. Now people in the ancient city live a stable and stable life. Only the Bianbian Building in the Tang Dynasty and Ningjiangmen in the Qing Dynasty still stand on this land, telling people about Xuecheng's glorious past.